# What's the most fun thing to do with a Pen and a piece of paper? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592 "2003-10-26T00:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/21 "2003-10-27T07:10:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skeezix \* > \*\*There was this game we used to play in grade-school, sort of a pen and paper version of the old classic “Battleship.” > > What you’d do is, two people sit on opposite sides of, for this example, a library table. Each draws a small number of “military units” on the bottom third of the page closest to him. Soldiers, tanks, machine gun bunkers, and so on. > > You agree on the number and types of units to be used ahead of time, of course. Then, when your forces are laid out, whoever you’ve decided is gonna go first, does the following. > > Somewhere on ‘your’ side of the battlefield, you draw a small dot, going over it a bit so that there’s a decent amount of ink on your ‘shot.’ Then you fold the page down the middle, and rub the back of the page over your little dot with the back, or the cap, of the pen. > > This transfers the ‘shot’ onto your opponent’s side of the field. He then ‘explodes’ or crosses out any units touched by the dot, and returns fire in the same way. Firing from a spot too close to one of your own forces always lead to devastating return fire, of course. Sort of like firing at an opponent’s muzzle flash in the dark, I guess. > > The first one to have all his ‘units’ blasted loses. > > It’s a little tough to describe without actually seeing it, but we used to while away a lot of hours with this game. What usually got us busted was the sound effects we invariably ended up making _sotto voce_ whilst ‘blowing up’ our units. \*\* Heh, this was the first thing to come to mind when I saw the OP. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/22 "2003-10-27T07:54:03Z")
Draw two small identical squares, say 1 inch apart. Draw a circle in the middle of one, and slightly off to the side in the other. Like so: ```auto ------ ------ | | | | | o | | o | | | | | ------ ------ ``` What you have is a crude stereogram. Now cross your eyes and see if you can see the floating above (or below) the square. From there experiment with different shapes. Hand-drawn stereograms are more fun than computer generated (or computer drawn) ones because the imperfections manifest as distance (depth) variations. ---
**Author:** ![stupidgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@stupidgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stupidgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/23 "2003-10-27T10:48:03Z")
Squares! Explained much better than I could manage here: [http://www.groveroad.herts.sch.uk/kids/squares/howtoplay.html](http://www.groveroad.herts.sch.uk/kids/squares/howtoplay.html) Although I suppose you need a pen and a piece of paper **and** a friend. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/24 "2003-10-27T13:56:41Z")
Thanks, **twickster**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/25 "2003-10-27T14:24:30Z")
Writing a ransom note is always a good time. ---
**Author:** ![criminalcatalog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/26 "2003-10-27T16:55:42Z")
You could make $$ with it! Write, in big sloppy lettering, “WAR VET NO JOB NO HOME GOD BLESS”, and hold it up at your favorite on-ramp so someone can hand you $5 out their car window while the following drivers fume and froth at the delay in traffic. ---
**Author:** ![ABBAJen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@ABBAJen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ABBAJen)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/27 "2003-10-28T01:49:32Z")
WOW! No one’s done MASH or the dot game so far. MASH (Mansion Apartment, Shack, House). Make categories, like “future spouse”, “wedding dress color”, “tux color”, “pets”, “kids”, you know, whatever. Put 3-4 options in each category. Then get a random number somehow, like a die or if you’re doing someone else’s, make dots or draw a spiral till they tell you to stop and count the dots/spirals. Then, use that number and count each option, including MASH (which is at the top of the paper), and when you get to that number, cross off whatever you land on. Continue on, and skip over that one in the counting next time you reach it. Circle the only remaining option in each category. 🙂 Dot Game Make evenly spaced dots in a large square over a piece of paper. Connect the dots with an opponent. If there is only one side of a square “open”, then you can close the box and “win” that box. After you win a box, or multiple boxes, you must make a line. However, you, of course, cannot make a line, be like AHA! BOX! then take the box you just sort of made. 🙂 It’s easier to show someone, I think. LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/28 "2003-10-28T03:13:19Z")
Write: HAND OVER THE MONEY. I HAVE A GUB Then take it to your local bank and act out a Woody Allen movie. I take no responsibility if anyone is actually stupid enough to take my advice. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/29 "2003-10-28T18:58:56Z")
Work on solving P vs. NP. ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592/30 "2003-10-29T18:27:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pervert \* > \*\*Write a very dirty story and share it with the SO of your choice 🙂 \*\* How many SO’s do you have? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-fun-thing-to-do-with-a-pen-and-a-piece-of-paper/209592.md?page=1)