There's a famous quote that says,

"Necessity is the mother of invention."

This of course referring to the fact that in times of great need, the demand for innovation and scientific development swells to try and compensate for whatever society is needing.

A lesser-know variant is "Boredom is the father of innovation". For some reason, given 2 or more bored people in an enclosed space, it is almost guaranteed that somebody will come up with a stupid game. Examples:

Water Jousting

While bouncing around a foam ball one day, my roommate and I had the brilliant idea of creating the exhilarating game of water jousting. To play, fill a cup about half-way full with water, and place it on the very edge of the counter (a bar-like counter), and take turns trying to knock the cup over by bouncing the ball off the floor.

The fun part? The person not trying to knock over the cup stands directly behind it, ensuring that if the other player successfully hits the cup, the loser gets soaked. The best part? Its also the loser that has to clean up the floor afterwards.

Shuffle Phone

This game came about on a slow night during tutoring. At work, all the tutors sit around a huge conference table until a student comes in that needs help. When not many students showed up, some of the guys had the bright idea to play "shuffle phone". Exactly like shuffleboard, except you use your phone instead of a puck, and there's just a target circle drawn in pencil in the middle of the table. The winner walks away with pride, honor, and a phone thats scratched as hell.

That was one of the few times in my life that I wish I had a shitbox of a phone so I could have participated...

Plate Frisbee

As another game born from late night boredom with a roommate, this example is illustrative of how even while doing work, you can still have fun. While emptying the dishwasher, we were tag-teaming the plates... but instead of just placing them back in the cabinet (boring), I found it significantly more entertaining to try an under-the-leg frisbee toss to put them up.

It's a lot harder than it sounds (think about the angles), and it soon became competitive. Especially with the glass dishes*.

Omega

The classic boredom game, I actually got this from an episode of Malcolm In The Middle (though I've heard the game dates back even before the show, and is known as "The Circle Game").

The aggressor makes the "OK" sign with his index and thumb touching, with the rest of the fingers extended. If he holds that hand below his waist and somebody else looks (the victim), then the aggressor gets to punch the victim without fear of retaliation.

I've been playing this game with my equally-immature friends of mine since the 8th grade, and the game has since exploded into something much more serious. With rules and regulations, as well as advanced moves such as the Around the World, the Gravy Train, the Solid Snake, and the Willy Wonka... the game only gets deeper and deeper.

I'm sure there have been plenty more, and there's no doubt in my mind that there will be plenty more to come.

I can't wait.