It's been known as the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", or "Six Clicks to Kevin Bacon." It is a game that has been rising in popularity over the past few years. It can be played either alone or with friends in teams. It has several versions, and it involves the use of a website you probably frequent. It's called the IMDB game.

Why is it so popular? No one really knows. Who invented it? Who cares!! This game is fun to play, and it builds one's knowledge of movies and the people who star in them. Despite the many versions out there, our own Dep55 came up with the version we play every chance we get.

The goal: Fire up your internet browser and head to www.imdb.com. Choose your movies or celebrities here. Connect two celebrities via movies (no TV series, direct to video movies, or video games) and celebrities (no directors, producers, or celebrities as directors or producers), in as few clicks as possible. You alternate movies and celebrities until you succeed or fail. On each movie page at the website, you will see cast list. Most of the pages has a general listing of the stars, then a link that will open the list further. Unless you know for a fact that a celebrity is in a movie, you are limited to only this general listing. Guessing someone in a movie and finding they are not listed counts as a click. You receive one point if you're successful, two points if you can do it in four clicks or less, and no points if you fail. Even more challenging: you are allowed to use a movie only once. If the movie is part of a series (ie: Star Trek, Superman or Batman), all of the movies in that series gets banned. Spin offs, on the other hand, are exempt. You also cannot use a movie that the two celebrities have worked together on. Banned movies cannot be accessed or used any more throughout the rest of the game. The team with the most points wins. One last thing: even if you know for a fact that the information on a movie or celebrity is incorrect, if they're there, they're there; if not, they're not.

Example: Go from Sandra Bullock to Sylvester Stallone.

Start with Sandra Bullock. Pick one of her movies. You cannot use "Demolition Man" because both the celebrities were in that movie together. I chose "Prince of Egypt."
Now select a celebrity from the general list. You are not allowed to click on the "More..." link unless you know a celebrity is going to be there. I chose Danny Glover.
OK...now click on the celebrity's name. This is your first click. Next, search this celebrity's list and choose a movie. In Danny Glover's list, I chose "Antz."
Here, choose a star from this movie. From "Antz," I choose Sylvester Stallone. Goal accomplished--in fewer that four clicks--two points.

See how many clicks you can get the following celebrities in:

Dolly Parton to Johnny Depp
Arnold Schwarzenegger to Madeline Khan
Christopher Reeve to River Phoenix
Ted Danson to Kirstie Alley
William Shatner to Leonard Nimoy

Check out IMDB online!

Too Easy?

If you're feeling up to the challenge, you can try the more complex version of this game called "Star Links." This IMDB created version of the game not only uses the movies and celebrities, but it also uses directors, too.