How to play Signs

Learn the rules to the parlor game Signs quickly and concisely - This visually rich video has no distractions, just the rules.
RULES:

The object of the game is for the person in the middle to figure out who has the invisible ball. The objective for everyone else is to play “keep away” and not get caught while possessing the invisible ball. Setup. Sit in a circle and each player picks a sign to represent them. Signs can be any sort of gesture, position, or motion of one or both hands. Your sign may interact with other parts of your body if you like. Players may not have the same sign as someone else nor a sign that is very similar. For example, if your sign was a thumbs up, someone could do a thumbs down as their sign but not a thumbs up that is pointing slightly to the side as it would be too similar.

Pick one person to start with the invisible ball. Pick a different player to be “it” and they go to the middle of the circle and close their eyes and count down from 10 out loud. Meanwhile, the rest of the group passes the ball a few times. When the player in the middle reaches zero, they may open their eyes and start guessing.

Only the player with the ball may perform signs. To pass the ball, you must perform the sign of another player, then that player must perform their own sign to acknowledge and receive the ball. Once you receive the ball, you can now pass it to someone else. You may not change targets for the pass once you have performed the sign of your first receiver. You may however perform the receiver’s sign as many times as you want until they acknowledge. When they do, you are no longer allowed to sign. A receiver may not refuse to accept the ball, but they may wait as long as they like before accepting.

You are not allowed to pass the ball to the player in the middle of the circle. However, at any point during the game, a player may do the sign of the person in the middle, to taunt them. Doing this does not change who has possession of the ball. Also, if a player has to itch or need to perform another task with their hands, they must raise one arm into the air to indicate they are not signing but instead satisfying an itch. If there becomes confusion as to who has the ball, the game pauses, the player in the middle closes their eyes, while the other players clarify or correct the issue. There should only ever be one ball being passed around.

Players continue to sneakily pass around the invisible ball amongst each other until the player in the middle correctly guesses who has the ball. To guess, the player in the middle points (or touches) a player and asks them if they have the sign. If they do, then the two players switch spots, the player in the middle sitting in their seat and the seated player becoming the new player in the middle. The player in the middle may guess as many times as they like and as often as they like.

If a player grows frustrated at not being able to escape the middle, someone may volunteer to take their place. Since there are no rounds or points, have fun playing for as long as you like.