"Sure, I know Kate. We were good friends. How do you know Kate?"

"I don't really know her. I'm friends with her sister's boyfriend."

"Oh."

"He's a nice guy."

"Kate's real nice, too."

Typical Orientation Week conversations commonly use this technique of seizing upon any obscure connection as a way of keeping the conversation going. In this game of "Do you know...?" the goal is to find common ground, as worthless as the ground itself may be.

Don't underestimate the power of finding common ground, though. Not only does common ground pay dividends on the name game scoreboard, it can also be a way of starting many future conversations when the games are over. But by now, the games are starting to become more competitive and even a little brutal.

The SAT Score Game.

"I heard that this guy down the hall--you know, the one who's always carrying a Rubic's Cube--got 1600 on his SATs."

"Wow. That's pretty amazing, huh?"

"Yeah, I mean, I did pretty well, but that's incredible."

"You did pretty well, eh?" Slowly but cautiously.

"You know, 1560, something like that."

"Yeah, that's really grea-..."

"What did you get?"