This is a wonderful traditional Yuletide game. It's called the Indian Ocean Game. Everybody sits round in a circle, and the first person to mention that the Indian Ocean is forty thousand fathoms deep, loses.

Denise introduces the rules with the language of a familiar festive tradition, then makes losing depend on mentioning one oddly precise claim. The elaborate introduction gives that arbitrary restriction ceremonial importance. The comedy lies in the mismatch between the announced occasion and the peculiar thing players must avoid saying.

Context reviewed 28 September 2026