The new craze of online videos where YouTube stars and celebrities guess weird, mystery items inside a box only by touch has gone viral, and now, kids — and players of all ages, really — can bring the viral game home with the What’s in the Box? challenge box from Blip Toys, arriving on store shelves this May.
The object of the game is to stump other players by finding difficult-to-guess household items to place inside. The game gets increasingly harder as players have only 10 seconds to feel the object before making a final prediction.
The game includes a Challenge Box, complete with doors that open and armholes on the side to stick your hands through, as well as a built-in timer, bags to store mystery items, and scorecard sheets.
Before the game begins, players uses their black bags to hold and conceal two mystery, random, and challenging items that their opponents will need to guess. Items can be anything, such as a roll of toilet paper, a spoon, a blueberry, a container of glitter; the possibilities are limitless. (Safety tip: The instructions do note that items that could cause bodily injury or harm, including sharp objects, chemicals, and live animals should not be placed inside where the guesser cannot see.)
To play, kids will take turns guessing. Each player will start the timer, place their hands in the holes on the sides of the closed box and feel the hidden item inside without looking. Each guess will be documented on scorecards before the Challenger reveals what was placed inside. For each correct answer, players gain a point, and after all everyone has made it through all the items, the player with the highest score wins.
There are many more ways to play the game, including adding more players, rounds, or switching up objects such as a mashed banana or slime-covered toy to up the difficulty level in an attempt to stump your opponents.
There’s a lot of trust needed for this family-friendly game because you could be touching anything. For example, does a glow stick feel a certain way? Or does a singular berry feel weird to touch without other senses? The notion that literally anything could be in that box places blind faith into competitive opponents’ hands, which makes the game an excellent way to test out trustworthiness amongst friends.
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Seriously! This game is so much fun! You never know what you are going to get! Something slimy. Something pokey, Something gross! Or maybe it’s just a teddy bear! Your imagination will get the best of you as you stick your hands in those holes and give the object a feel!
How to make the box
Luckily- with all my amazon shopping- I have lots of boxes laying around. I picked one that you can put your arms around (like a hug) Because you have to put your arms in the holes and still be able to reach the object in the middle.
I cut off the top and then added some circle arm holes using a box cutter.
I added some white paper on the inside so you can see the objects better but that part is totally optional! As well as putting he top part with the title on (that’s just hot glued on! (I included some printables down below for the name of the game!
How to play What’s in the box
This is how we we played the game:
We gathered up a pile of “gross” or weird things. Then as each person volunteered to go, we picked the thing for them to feel. We knew that some little kids would not appreciate some of our choices. But we knew the adults would be fine with a pretend used q-tip.
The person would stand behind the table and we would bring out the box. Everyone would run up and look so they knew what it was. If you planned ahead you could make a sign so the crowd would know exactly.
Also keep in mind. We told all the kids- the more you act disgusted or laugh at what we put in the box-the person who has to put their hands inside will be scared! So overreacting is the best.
Things to put in the Box
Food in general is fun but here are a few favorites:
- mayo or mustard
- corn syrup
- frosting
- jelly
- corn
- peeled grapes
- cooked spaghetti
- butter
- cotton candy
- melted chocolate
- soggy bowl of cereal
- chewed up gum (if you aren’t grossed out about that! I am!)
- shrimp
Other fun items you might have around the house:
- Slime
- playdoh
- pokey plants
- water balloon
- dirty dish
- mouse trap or sticky spider trap
- We put a toothbrush and told the person it was used You could do a q-tip that you dipped in mustard too!)
- hair from a brush (this makes me cringey!)
- Any toy that has a battery so it moves or shakes. The kids were expecially freaked out anytime it looked like the box was moving or there was noise in the box.
- You could even cut a hole in the bottom and have a head or hand stick up there.
ANYTIME you can find anything REAL to put inside-it’s going to be a big hit. Turtles, gerbils, cats, works, spiders, snake. If you have a neighbor with a pet animal—borrow it!
HALLOWEEN version of what’s in the box!
You can adapt this for Halloween very easily and put all things “gross in it”. You could tell the person what you it is (ie ear wax) and see if they can guess what it actually is.
Here is a list of fun Halloween themed items:
- Eyeballs (melon balls or peeled grapes)
- Brains (big cooked noodles like penne)
- snot (slime or jello)
- spider (fake spider–or real)
- teeth (pomegranate seeds -keep the pulp on them so they are slimy )
- Blood (ketchup)
- bat poop (cocoa puffs)
- ear wax (melted marshmallow)
- cotton candy (ghosts)
- witch nails (candy corn)
- dead man’s toe ( hot dogs)
- Skin (bologna or sandwich meat)
- scabs (frosted flakes or chips)
- Witch’s warts (raisins)
- maggots (green beans from the can cut up)
- cockroaches or bugs ( olives)
If you need more ideas- check out my monster mix post! I have lots of good substitutions for food!
I hope you like this super fun group game! What’s in the box is great because all ages can play- and adults will love is as much as the kiddos!
Here is the printable for the sign! You can cut it apart and place it across the edge.