| This is a pattern recognition and memory game that does well on car trips, campouts, beach parties, anywhere where there's a group of four to twenty fun loving people.
The game goes like this: One person is the Leader. They come up with a set of rules (in their mind) that he or she uses to determine weather or not people can come to the moon with them. The Leader's mission is to keep it going as long as possible, without having too many conditions in their set of rules. The other players are trying to get to the moon with the Leader. It goes around the circle, each person saying what they will bring to the moon, and the Leader will say whether or not they can come, based on what they said they'd bring (if it fits the rules they've chosen in secret, the player can come). Pay close attention to what the Leader says each round; this is the key to decoding the pattern they have chosen. Also note what is causing other players to be left out of the moon fun. Everything is a clue.
A game will go something like this:
Leader: I'm going to the moon, and I'm taking with me: a hamster.
Player 1: I'm going to the moon, and I'm taking with me: a hamburger.
Leader: You can't come.
Player 2: I'm going to the moon, and I'm taking a cat.
Leader: You can't come.
Player 3: I'm going to the moon and I'm bringing a mouse.
Leader: You can come.
Other players: Hmmm...
And the game continues until all or the majority of players know what the pattern is.
Do not state what the pattern is right away, it is more fun to watch the other players try and figure it out. After it has gone on long enough (if there are just a few stragglers who can't get is or the pattern is too difficult) players can try and guess on their turn. In the example above, it is pets you keep in cages.
Other rules I've encountered include:
Birds that can't fly
Edible green things
Things you can see yourself in
Things you would actually need on the moon
Things beginning with the first letter of each players first name
Cities in Europe
Anything that begins with the same letter as the word the leader uses in that round
This pattern recognition game is fun, especially when playing with people who are new to it. When it comes to thinking up new rules and patterns, the possibilities are only limited by the imagination of the Leader! | 
