Heart, Gun, Bomb is one of the newest and funnest ESL Games in the world. This game is specifically for ESL teachers that want to help their students learn faster and have fun at the same time.
Heart, Gun, Bomb can be played solely on the blackboard but I will explain to you how to play a variation of this game using cards.
The rules to play Heart, Gun, Bomb are as follows:
Divide the class into two teams.
Write all of the students names under their team name and give each student three hit points.
Team 1
Barry OOO
Sally OOO
Mitch OOO
Susan OOO
Bill OOO
Team 2
Susan C. OOO
Jerry OOO
Sean OOO
Amy OOO
Jill OOO
Next, draw a grid on the board with the number 1 – 10 on to the top; and write the letters A – J on the very far left side. Now the students will be able to choose which box they want to pick.
Then ask every student to stand up; after they answer an English question they can sit down. After every student has answered an English question.
One player from team 1 gets to pick a box then it always switches to the other team; so that the game is fair.
In Gun, Heart, Bomb
— a Gun can shoot one hit point off the opposing teams player.
— a Heart can give one extra hit point to someone on that players team.
— a Bomb will blow up and destroy one hit point off from who ever picked it.
The game is over when one team has no more hit points; thus the other team would win.
To play this game with cards the ESL teacher would first write on the whiteboard:
A = 4 guns
K = 3 guns
Q = 3 hearts
J = 1 gun and 1 heart
10 = 3 bombs
9 = 2 bombs
8 = 1 bomb
7 = pick another card
6 = pick two cards
5 = 2 guns
4 = 1 gun
3 = 2 hearts
2 = Miss your Turn
When it is a student turn to pick a box on the grid; he/she will pick the box and then pick a card from the top of the deck. Whatever number he/she gets — the teacher will write the gun/heart/bomb in the box.
Play until there is a winner. And of course this is only a guide line. Feel free to be creative and add new items, twists or feel free to change what each card means.