Game shows are all the rage on television. Board games are still America’s favorite pastime, even in the technological twenty-first century. The game show continues to attract large audiences. Shows such as "Jeopardy," "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?," "Family Feud," "Wheel of Fortune," and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to board games, all over the country families and friends get together to play games such as "Trivial Pursuit," "Monopoly," "Mastermind" and a whole plethora of games. So in this How2, we’re going to look at games, even combine them a little, and show you how to enjoy them with ActiveHome.

So assemble the audience, audition the contestants, and get those prizes ready, because you’re about ready to be your own game show host.

Make sure you have a reliable scorekeeper. To keep the score, set up a whiteboard, or a large piece of construction paper.

Get your host ready (if you’re not that person). Make him or her an impartial emcee that will ask the questions and keep an eye on the time. Also, look for someone who is entertaining and good at improvisation to keep the game moving along.

Next, divide up your players into two teams.

Set up a board similar to the setup on Family Feud, where you can rotate two or three contestants into the game at a time. Or you can use one switch, and just have whoever’s fastest hit the button. But whoever hits the button has to give the answer. Allow for coaching, but once that button is hit, the contestant has thirty seconds to answer the question, or it’s automatically thrown over to the other team.

To set up the board, you can use two long tables, or even opposite sides of one table. If you’ve got a bigger budget and an urge to build something, you can even make your own "game-show-looking panels."

On the panels (or the sides of the table), set up however many SlimLines you plan to use. If you plan on using three people per team, then set up three SlimLines on each side of the table. On the back of the SlimLine you can peel off the paper and stick them snugly to the table. Don’t worry; they’ll come off again. Or a 2nd option would be the SlimFire remote. It has 4 buttons (A1 on, off - and A2 on/off). If you plan on having one contestant answer for the bunch, then set up one SlimLine or one SlimFire Pocket Remote per side.

Now decide if you want to use the Remote Chime, or a small desk lamp. A lamp may be easier to keep track of, so we’ll use a lamp here.

Hook your lamp into and ActiveHome Lamp Module. Set the first lamp on A1.

Set your second lamp on A2

Set your third lamp on A3, and do this with however many contestants and SlimLines or SlimFires you plan to use.

So now you as the moderator can take something like Trivial Pursuit, and divide up the teams. You or your lovely assistant can work the game board, determining who gets what question and so forth.

Then wherever the dice rolls, that’s the question. For this game, give the question to whoever hits the button first. If you’re playing with two or three or more contestants, then whoever hits the button has thirty seconds to answer the question.

If you’re playing teams, and someone hits the button, they have thirty seconds, and they can be coached, but they must answer in thirty seconds. You can even set up penalties for those who keep hitting the button without really knowing the answer.

Once they answer has been given, then that person hits the off button, the light goes out, and your ready for the next question.

What if they don’t answer on time? How about having your own SlimFire hooked up to a chime? That way, once the thirty seconds are up, you hit the chime, and that alerts the teams that the time is up.

The possibilities are endless here. It all depends on how "game-show-savvy" you tend to be. You can make up your own "Star Wars" trivia, or "Rock and Roll" trivia, or "Bible" trivia, or "Sports" trivia. It all depends on what you’re interested in. The point is to have fun.

And while we’re thinking of it, what kind of game would you come up with for your ActiveHome system? We’d be interested in hearing some of the ideas. So interested in fact, that we’re going to put a gift certificate on the line. So come up with some creative games, and we will judge the best entry, and that person will receive a gift certificate for $30.00 from X10. The contest will close on September 21, and the winners will be decided by September 30. Good luck.

That’s it for today’s How2. If you have anything you would like to see done, let us know, and we’ll use your ideas for our next How2.

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