I’m going to share a game with you. This game will reveal incredible things about whoever plays it; surprise, shock and delight complete strangers, and has kickstarted more friendships than I know how to count.

Play along and you’ll see.

I want you to imagine a desert, stretching out as far as your eyes can see. In this desert is a cube.

Your first task is to describe the cube. What does it look like? How large is it? What is it made of? Where exactly is it?

There are no right answers here, only your answers. Take a moment before you continue – the detail is important.

As you look at the desert and your cube, you notice there is also a ladder. Your second task (there are just five) is to describe the ladder. What is it made of? How big is it? Where is it, in relation to the cube?

Now imagine that in the scene there is a horse. (Yes, horse. I didn’t say this desert made sense). Your third task: describe the horse. Most importantly: where is the horse, and what is it doing? Where, if anywhere, is it going?

We’re nearly there now. In the scene before you, are flowers. Your penultimate task: describe the flowers. How many are there? What do they look like? Where are they, in relation to the horse, cube, ladder and sand?

Final question. In the desert there is a storm. Describe the storm. What type of storm is it? Is it near, or far? What direction is it headed? Does it affect the horse, flowers, cube or ladder?

If you’ve been playing along, this is going to be fun. If you didn’t, I must warn you: the next part ruins your ability to play this game ever again. If you won’t want to ruin it forever, go back now. Trust me.

Ready? There’s no going back.


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The cube is yourself.

The size is ostensibly your ego: a large cube means you’re pretty sure of yourself, a small cube less so.

The vertical placement of the cube is how grounded you are. Resting on the sand? You’re probably pretty down to earth. Floating in the sky? Your head is in the clouds.

The cube’s material conveys how open you are: transparent cubes belong to transparent people, opaque cubes are more protective of their minds. Glowing? You’re likely a positive person, who aims to raise the spirits of others. Made of granite? You’re likely protective and resilient.

The trick here is that when asked to describe a blank, abstract entity – a cube – your imagination will tend to project its own identity onto it. This trick is as old as time, but it’s about to get more interesting.

The ladder represents your friends.

Are your friends leaning on the cube? Your friends depend on you, and are close. Is the ladder frail, or robust? Tall or short? Does it lead inside the cube? Or is it cast to one side, lying unloved on the sand? By now you should be able to draw your own conclusions.

The horse represents your dream partner.

The type of horse reveals a lot about what you yearn for in a partner. Some people see a steady brown workhorse, others a shining pegasus or unicorn. Make of these people what you will.
Is your horse nuzzling your cube affectionately, or taking a bite out of it? Is it far from your cube, or walking away? This can represent a current partner, or an aspirational one, but the results are often a mix of touching and hilarious.

The flowers represent children.

The number of flowers relates to how many you imagine having. Some people see just a single,withered daisy; others a resplendent garden covering the cube and desert beneath. (Guys: watch out for those).

The colour and vitality of the flowers can speak to their health and presumed prosperity. The placement – particularly in relation to the cube – can reveal interesting relations; I met one woman whose horse was eating their flowers.

Finally, the storm represents threat.

This speaks to the current state of the person, and how they perceive risk in their life. Some may see a distant storm, on the lip of the horizon, fading from sight. Others may view themselves in the midst of a thunderous apocalypse, hailstones the size of tennis balls pelting their fragile cube and horse. Chances are those people have some immediate trauma in their life.

Now is this all correct? Of course it isn’t. You won’t be reading any peer-reviewed journals on the soothsaying properties of horses and ladders. This is a game, albeit one that has endured in various forms for thousands of years.

But if you play along – and I encourage you to try this on others – you will find it appears to have an uncanny sense of reliability to it. There might be many reasons: people seem to project themselves onto abstract objects (the cube), and their affections onto animals (the horse). Our nurturing of flowers bears some resemblance to that of children, a storm is a signal of environmental danger that taps into our sense of unease, and a ladder is something we find supporting.

Maybe it’s all just wishful psychobabble.

But I’ll tell you what. It’s an incredible tool for getting to know someone. In five minutes you’re able to discuss a stranger’s character, friends, partner, children, risks, dreams and aspirations. You will stand out as someone memorable, and you probably had a right laugh too.


I learned about this game from the book "The Cube" by Annie Gottlieb and Slobodan D. Pesic. For more on asking these questions and interpreting the results, you should check it out.

我要与你们分享一个游戏。这个游戏将会令参与者难以置信，让素不相识的人感到惊讶、震撼和高兴，将会引发更多不计其数的友谊的产生。

一起来试试你就会明白。

我要让你想象一片一望无际的沙漠，沙漠里面有一个立方体。

你的第一个任务是描述这个立方体。它是什么样的？有多大？是用什么做的？它具体在哪里？

没有标准答案，只有你自己的答案。往下看之前先等等——细节极其重要。

当你看着这片沙漠和立方体，注意到这里还有一个梯子。你的第二个任务（一共只有5个任务）是去描述这个梯子。它是由什么做的？它有多大？在哪里？与立方体的方位关系是怎样的？

现在想象在这个场景中有一匹马。（是的，马。我没说这个沙漠有什么意义）你的第三个任务：描述这匹马。最重要的是：马在哪里？它在干嘛？它可能会去哪？

接近结束了。在这个场景中，你的面前有些花儿。倒数第二个任务：描述这些花儿。这里有多少花儿？它们长什么样？它们在哪里？跟马、立方体、梯子和沙漠的方位关系是怎样的？

最后一个问题。在这片沙漠中有一阵风暴。是什么类型的风暴呢？离你近还是远呢？它在朝哪个方向移动呢？它会影响到马、花儿、立方体或者梯子吗？

如果你一直在认真完成这个游戏，那接下来会很有趣。如果不是，我必须警告你，接下来的部分会让你永远丧失玩这个游戏的能力。如果你不想这样，重新开始吧，相信我。

准备好了吗？不能往回看咯。


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立方体就是你自己。

立方体的尺寸代表了你的外在个性：一个很大的立方体表示你对自己很有自信，小立方体表示你不太自信。

立方体的垂直高度代表你有多实际。落在沙子里？你可能比较现实。漂浮在空中？你比较理想主义。

立方体的材质揭示了你有多坦诚：透明的立方体代表了坦率的人，不透明则暗示了你对内心更强烈的保护欲。发光的？你可能是一个乐观积极、善于激励别人的人。花岗岩制成的？你很可能有很强的自我保护欲并且适应力很强。

这个游戏的诀窍在于，当被要求去描述一个未知的、抽象的实体——一个立方体——你的想象会趋于保持它本身的特征。这个诀窍由来已久，但将会变得更加有趣。

梯子代表了你的朋友。

你的朋友靠在立方体上吗？这说明你的朋友依赖你，并且跟你亲近。梯子脆弱还是坚固？高还是矮？能通往立方体的内部吗？或是被扔在另一面，被埋在沙中而不为人知？现在你应该能自己得出结论了吧。

马代表了你理想的另一半。

马的类型揭示了你想在另一半身上期望得到的一切。有人看到了一匹呆立的棕色驮马，有人看到了一匹闪耀的飞马或者独角兽。按照你设想的样子去塑造他们吧。你的马正在用鼻子亲昵地蹭着立方体，还是咬了它一口？马离立方体很远，还是直接走开了？这代表了你现在的伴侣，或是你梦寐以求的ta，但结果往往是感动而且滑稽的。

花代表了孩子。

花的数量跟你想象了多少有关。有人只看到了一朵凋谢的雏菊，有人看到了一片华丽丽的花园，将立方体和沙漠盖在了下面。（同志们，小心这种人啊。）

花的色彩和生命力象征了他们的健康和他们期望的成功。花的位置——特别是跟立方体的关系——可以揭示一些有趣的人际关系。我遇到一个女人，她的马正在吃那些花。

最后，风暴代表了潜在的威胁。

这说明了这个人的现状，和他们怎样去感知生活中的威胁。有人可能会看到风暴远在天边，正慢慢从视野中消逝。其他人可能会看到自己在雷鸣般的末日毁灭中，网球大小的冰雹击中了脆弱的立方体和马。那些人很可能是正在生活中遭受着某种创伤。

所有这些都是准确的吗？当然不是。你不会去读任何同行评阅的关于占卜马和梯子的杂志。这只是个游戏，即使它形式多变并且已经流传了几千年。

但如果你完成了这个游戏——我鼓励你也在其他人身上试试——你会感到一种神秘的可靠感。理由是充分的：人们会将自己投射到抽象的物体（立方体）上，将情感投射到动物（马）身上，我们对花儿的培养与对孩子的培养有相似之处，风暴是危境的象征，它将带给我们不安的感觉，而梯子是我们可以依靠的东西。

可能一切只是一厢情愿的心理诱导。

但让我告诉你。这是一个了解他人的神奇的工具。在5分钟之内你可以与一个陌生人讨论他的性格、朋友、伴侣、危机、梦想与愿望。你会让对方难忘，也会开怀大笑。

我在Annie Gottlieb 和 Slobodan D. Pesic的书《The Cube》中了解到这个游戏。想了解更多类似问题以及解析的话，你应该去看看。