Voice Cup

There's a game that all musicians in the Academy learn at one point or another called Voice Cup. The point of this game is to get a small gemstone into a cup, but it's complicated because everything must be completed with only music made with the human voice. The game requires intense focus and a quiet atmosphere, so it is tolerated within the Academy.
There are usually four players in a typical game of Voice Cup. The players sit at each edge of the game board. There is a pile of gemstones from which they may choose their pieces. Concentric rings surround a central recessed cup in the board. There are increasing point values for getting closer and closer to the cup. If you overshoot, there are penalties that get higher the further away from the cup you get. Players take turns trying to get their clay to fly into the cup. The process repeats until one of the players scores five cups. Other players cannot interfere with another person's clay except during their turn, although this often ends in them missing the chance to score their own cup.

Components

Voice Cup Board
Gemstones

History

It's rumored by students that Voice Cup was designed by one of the previous professors of voice due to irritation with the trainees of the Academy. This professor was frustrated that trainees spent so little time practicing their vocal exercises and relied too heavily on their instruments for making music and completing their daily tasks.
The reality was that a group of students in the 1950s designed the game as a way to pass the time underneath a particularly strict headmaster. They were able to justify the game as it was actually good practice for making magic.

by Emilian Robert Vicol

Rules

• The youngest player goes first.
• They choose a gemstone and remove it from the pile using vocal music only.
• They have one attempt to get the gemstone into the cup.
• The gemstone lies wherever it lands.
• The player to the right of the first repeats this process.
• The game continues until one player scores five cups.