Game 11: Touching Is Not Free

Objective: Train the defense of personal space against subtle physical invasions, learning to withdraw or block without aggression.

Players and Roles

Role A (The Octopus): Touches the arm, shoulder, or back of the other while talking.
Role B (The Sovereign): Re-establishes distance.

The Octopus must perform one of these physical actions while talking about something trivial.

Physical Invasion	Discomfort Level
Hand on Shoulder	Classic “buddy-buddy” or dominance.
Touch on Arm	False empathy or excessive emphasis.
Removing Lint	Maternalism / Primate grooming (very dominant).
Fixing Shirt Collar	Intimate invasion disguised as help.
Pat on Back	Unsolicited physical reinforcement.
Getting Too Close (without touching)	Invasion of vital space (proxemics).

Start a normal conversation.
The Octopus touches.
The Sovereign, instantly, must do one of these three:
- Step back: Increase distance until the other’s arm drops.
- Block: Put their own hand/arm as a soft barrier.
- Withdrawal: Take the Octopus’s hand and move it away gently while maintaining serious eye contact.
Goal: Keep talking as if nothing happened, but maintaining the new distance. If they get nervous or laugh, they lose.

The “Ear Tap” (pulling the ear or touching the face) is an infantilizing dominance gesture.

Mechanics: The Octopus makes the gesture of gently pinching the cheek or pulling the ear.
Defense: The Sovereign does not retreat. Uses their hand to stop the Octopus’s hand in the air, holds it a second looking into their eyes, and lowers it slowly. Without saying anything. It is an absolute physical “No”.