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Invent a use 10 min 4–20 players

Patently Absurd.

Real patents. Ridiculous inventions. The weirder, the better.

Host this game → How it plays
LIVE · ROUND 1 4F—82

Patently Absurd

"Patent #US3216423 — a curved metal tube with three handles."
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How it plays

Four phases. 10 min.

Patently Absurd shows the room a real, often baffling patent diagram pulled from public archives. Each player has 90 seconds to invent a plausible (or wildly implausible) use for it. Inventions are read aloud, the room votes, and the highest-vote answer wins the round. The actual real use is revealed at the end — usually weirder than anything the players came up with.

Phase 01

Reveal

10s

A real patent diagram fills the host screen.

Phase 02

Invent

90s

Each player writes a one-line use case.

Phase 03

Read

120s

Inventions read aloud anonymously. Laughter ensues.

Phase 04

Vote

30s

Room votes for favourite. Real patent reveal at the end.

Why teams use it

It works because it’s structured.

01

Pure creative warm-up

Loosens the analytical brain before deeper ideation work.

02

Equalises the room

Engineers and designers and marketers all guess equally badly.

03

Shareable laughs

The weirdest inventions become team folklore.

Sample prompts

What you might play with.

01 "Patent #US3216423 — a curved metal tube with three handles."
02 "Patent #US4233942 — a hat with a built-in periscope."
03 "Patent #US1518248 — a chair with two seats facing opposite directions."

Best for.

Workshop warm-upscreative team kickoffsFriday wind-downsinnovation offsites

Host Patently Absurd now.

Free during beta · no credit card · room ready in 10 seconds. All 13 games share one host account.

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