The willing game was an unusual telepathy-related parlour game popular in Britain towards the end of the 19th century.

In the game, one person (let's call them P) leaves the room. The others agree on some object or simple action for P to identify or perform. P comes back into the room, and everyone else has to remain silent and still, but they think hard in order to try to 'will' P to do the agreed thing. P then tries to guess what is being willed, and either retrieve the object or perform the action.

Reportedly, the game was often successful (otherwise it presumably would not have become popular). Rupert Sheldrake attributes this to telepathy, though others reckon that glances or small movements made by the 'willers' may have acted as subtle cues to indicate to P what to do.

See also

Derren Brown