Strange Games

Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4

General Post
2006-12-12 15:28:03
Another ancient game that I remember playing at one of Herbert Rowsell's now legendary parties is Gene ra l Post . At first sight this fabulous game appears to be just a blend of Blindman's Buff and Musical Chairs but it is vastly superior to both and is long overdue a renaissance. Line up two rows of chairs facing each other (other chair formations can be tried). Each player is allocated a town which he must memorise because he will 'be' that town for the remainder of the game. Players then choose a chair to sit down upon, except for one who is blindfolded and stands between the rows of chairs. A further player is picked to be the Postmaster General. The Postmaster General's job is as follows: he calls out the names of two of the sedentary towns, "I want to post a letter to Crewe and Scunthorpe". Upon which command each of those two towns must stand up, clap their hands, and change seats as quickly as possible. If the blindman catches one of them then places are changed, else the...

Roadside Whist
2006-12-06 03:25:06
Roadside spotting games still retain some popularity for children on long journeys. Games such as 'counting the number of legs and arms in Pub names' or 'decoding car registration plates'. However Roadside Whist surely deserves a comeback - especially if you follow these original instructions from 1900.One person takes the left side of the carriage, the other player the right. The coachman teaches both players the rules and the journey commences. If you see:A baby in arms you score 1A baby in a perambulator scores 3A white horse scores 5A ladder against a house scores 2A woman in a white apron scores 1A butcher's cart scores 1A postman scores 5Then there are things for which points are deducted if they appear on your side and it is the job of your opponent to make sure they are counted. If you see:A pug dog you lose 2A piebald horse loses 4An open gate loses 2A flock of sheep loses 3A soldier loses 10And the best rule of all, no matter what the score, whichever side sees a cat ...
More About: Side , Road , Hist , Roads

Warring Couples
2006-12-02 15:22:08
I am indebted to Strange Games German correspondent - Heinrich Guntergarten - for telling me about this very odd party game. War ring Coup les is an ice-breaking party game that Heinrich has played at an adults party - but it would be suitable for children too.Players are paired up and have their adjacent legs tied together (as in a three legged race) and stand with their adjacent arms over each others shoulders. One player is give a desert spoon to carry in his free hand. On a table at one end of the room is a pile of tangerines. The objective for each player in the pair is different: the player with the spoon has to walk to the table, collect a tangerine on his spoon and return to the start. His 'partner' must try to stop him, which they can do by using their free hand to knock his orange off his spoon or stopping him picking one up in the first place. However they must comply with any leg movement he makes - they must walk wherever he wants to walk. As can be imagined, pandemoniu...
More About: Couple , Couples , Ring

Walnut Fights
2006-12-02 15:22:08
As conker fighting season draws to a close it is time that the world relearned the joys of its distant cousin...Walnut Fight ing - the true king of seed related fight games was last big around the 1900's and not many people today realise that capital contests can be had with just the empty halves of a walnut shell.A dinner plate is turned upside down (the 'ring') and two fighters place their walnuts (empty halves of the nut shell) point to point in the middle. They then begin to push one against the other using steady pressure of finger and thumb on the stern of the shell. The game is over when the prow of one shell crashes through the prow of the other which happens sooner or later. Like conkers some battles are long and hard fought.The owner of the victorious walnut can then write the number of victories on his walnut half shell. Also like conkers if he has beaten, for example, a 23-er then 23 is added to his previous number of conquests.weird web: Leavenworth Nutcracker Museums...
More About: Fights

Mangelwurzel Throwing and other Strange Games with food
2006-12-02 15:22:08
My recent post concerning Mangelwurzel Skittles led to a reader telling me about another weird and wonderful game involving them: Mangelwurzel Throwing. This in turn led me to research into the use of vegetable and other foodstuffs in Strange Games . Some of these merge into Strange Sports but they are all bizarre enough to be included here.Below are the greatest Strange Games / Strange Sports involving food ever.Mangelwurzel Throwing:A traditional Somerset game that requires skill, strength and cunning. Mangold Hurling has a well developed set of rules. Players take it in turns to stand in a pitching basket and hurl a Mangold / Mangelwurzel at a Norman (A Norman being a pre-placed fixed position Mangold) The player that gets his Mangold the closest is declared the winner... it's what you get if you mix boules and strong cider. Mangold Hurling is usually performed during October each year.official Mangold Hurling Website - unbelievably brilliant site - includes full rules and faq an...
More About: Food , Other , Angel , With

Egg Throwing
2006-12-02 15:22:08
There are various forms of egg throwing games: Egg Relay, Distance, Accuracy and Throw ing and Catching.In 'Throwing and Catching' teams of two stand 10 metres apart and throw an egg to each other. The distance between the players is increased with each successive, successful throw. Greatest distance for an unbroken egg throw wins. The world record was established in 1978 Texas, when Johnie Dell Foley threw an egg the almost incredible distance of 323ft 2in (98.51m) to his cousin, Keith Thomas.In the discipline 'Distance', obviously, the greatest distance thrown with the egg remaining intact wins - here the egg is not caught but must land on grassy ground and remain unbroken.The World Egg Throwing Championships are held in Lincolnshire, England in June.World Egg Throwing FederationStrange Games no 78..category: new olympic sport?
More About: Wing , Rowing

Walking Relay & Sleepwalking Relay
2006-12-02 15:22:08
I still remember playing Walk ing Relay at 'Biffer' Henderson's 10th Birthday party - a party mainly memorable due to Biffer being sick after his failed attempt at the world record for eating Fondant Fancies. Walking Relay deserves to be rescued from its current obscurity.Players are formed into teams and then the teams are split into two groups at either end of the room. Upon a starting command a player from each team 'walks' as quickly as possible to his next team-mate. In this instance 'walking' means placing one foot's heel directly in front of the other foot's toe...and so on as fast as one can.A brilliant variation is Sleep walking Relay in which the walking players must keep their eyes closed, still walk in a toe to heel style, whilst being directed by their fellow players' shouts.weird web: Silly Walk Generator - easily create animated silly walksstrange games no:73..category: party games
More About: King , Sleepwalking

Human Skittles revisited : Mangelwurzel Skittles and Conger
2006-12-02 15:22:08
Strange Games number 69 (Headstand Human Skittles) reminds me of one of the greatest Strange Games of all time: Mangelwurzel Skittles. Mangelwurzel Skittles is an ancient UK Westcountry game that has that magic combination of simplicity and stupidity. A mangel-wurzel (a large whitish-yellow root vegetable from the beetroot family) has a rope tied to it and this is then attached to the ceiling of the room. 'Skittles' are created by players standing on narrow 6 inch-high wooden blocks. Players are best arranged in a traditional diamond formation with location decided upon by drawing straws. The mangel-thrower then launches the mangelwurzel into the skittles. The game continues until a victorious skittle remains on his perch.A more recent version of Mangelwurzel Skittles has appeared in Dorset in the last 30 years. Conger Cuddling is the same except, instead of a root vegetable, a dead conger eel is used. Ideally the eel should be about 5 feet in length. Animal Rights activists have ...
More About: Angel , Site , Visi , Uman

What Are We Shouting
2006-12-02 15:22:08
Everyone seems to be talking at once, it's giving you a headache - you can't stand it anymore. What ever you do don't start playing What Are We Shout ing. A fun game for two teams. One team decides upon a well known phrase (or line from a popular song) which has the same or fewer words in it than players in the team. Each player is assigned a word (if there are more players than words then some words can be allocated to more than one player). Then, upon a pre-determined signal all players face the opposing team and shout out their words all at the same time. It is the opposing teams job to decipher the phrase. If they are successful then it is their turn to shout.We always used to play with phrases such as "under the spreading chestnut tree" and "a stitch in time saves nine". No doubt, these days, phrases such as "hit me baby one more time" or "you know my hips don't lie" would be deemed more approriate.Weird Web: Alan Bates Site - covering his film The Shout about a man who could...
More About: Outing , Hat

Tissue Paper Laserquest
2006-12-02 15:22:08
I am indebted to my nephew James ' the chicken' McDonald-Blister for information on Tissue Paper Laser quest - a fun, Summer's garden game and a delightful update of cops and robbers.Team members cut out small 'target' discs of tissue paper which they attach to the front of their clothes using safety pins. Each team member is given a large water pistol, or super-squirter and a container of backup water. Teams then separate to each end of the garden and then battle commences. Any player whose tissue disc becomes fully soaked is 'dead' and drops out of the game. Continue until there is one remaining player/victor.To see this game in action is marvelous with players adopting various battle styles from all out aggression (rarely a winning strategy) to the lone hitman hiding in the Hydrangeas. Even as I type there still may be one, poor soul at the back of the herbaceous border - who like a WWII Japanese, jungle fighter doesn't realise that the battle is over.Weird Web: Toy Ray Gu...
More About: Quest , Issue

Vitamin C High Noon
2006-12-02 15:22:08
My last post (Tissue Paper Laserquest) caused one of my old friends (Maurice Tweddle) to e-mail me details of a game he has seen played that bears some similarity. The name we have created for it is Vita min C High Noon.For two players: each attaches an effervescent Vitamin C tablet to the middle of his forehead. These are the large, high strength, 1000mg tablets that come in a tube of twenty and dissolve readily in water. They can be easily attached onto the forehead using some strong double sided adhesive tape (I've tried). Each player has a full water pistol.Now, battle commences. Stand a few yards apart, face each other and prepare to draw your pistol. You aren't allowed to dodge your opponents fire- it's simply the first to dissolve the other's tablet that wins.What other games can you play that cost virtually nothing and prevent you getting scurvy.Weird Web: Directory of Names of Cowboys and Indians and their horsesstrange games no:68...category:outdoor games
More About: High Noon

Rats and Rabbits
2006-12-02 02:13:07
In my youth, no party was complete without the squeals of delight and panic that occurred whenever Rats and Rabbi ts was played.Split the partygoers into two groups. Line them up standing back to back in the middle of a large room and designate one team Rats and the other Rabbits. A non-playing shouter then shouts out either "Rabbits" or " Rats". If Rats is shouted then the Rats must run to their end of the room as quickly as possible whilst the Rabbits must turn tail and chase them. Any Rat caught before reaching the sanctuary of the wall changes teams and becomes a Rabbit. If "Rabbits" is shouted out then obviously all play is reversed. The game continues with the shouter calling out randomly until everyone is either exhausted or totally confused, or there is no player left on one of the teams.weird web: games to play with your pet rat!strange games no:82..category: party games

Egg Cap
2006-11-27 23:15:03
Fleetness of foot and throwing accuracy are what is needed to win at Egg Cap - a playground game that has unfortunately all but died out.Each player places his flat cap in a line and then everyone stands inside a chalk drawn circle a couple of metres away from the row of caps. One player has a tennis ball which he rolls towards the line of caps. If the ball misses then nothing happens - however if he gets the ball to land in a cap all the players scatter. The person who rolled the ball must now retrieve it as quickly as possible and throw it at any one of the retreating players. The one he hits has a pebble ("egg") placed in his cap and becomes the new ball roller. If the ball roller misses then he himself has a pebble added to his cap and the game continues. Such fun! Weird Web:Ayup Magazine - Flat Cap Special Feature strange games no:67...category: playground games Chin chin!...Montegue Blister - 2006

Head Stand Human Skittles
2006-11-27 23:15:03
Head Stand Human Skittles is a human skittles variation requiring only some footballs and a modest degree of gymnastic ability to play. HSHS, as it shall be abbreviated, is best play ed on a beach. The skittles are formed by (ideally) nine players performing headstands on the sand. They should do these close enough together so that if one falls over he has a good chance of knocking over a neighbour or two and ideally they should form the familiar skittles diamond formation. Also the players should perform their headstands so that their backs are facing the two ball players. These two players take it in turns to kick three soft footballs each into the group of skittles. Whoever knocks over the most skittles wins. I am indebted to Mr Jolley (Strange Games South of England Correspondent) for the description of this wonderful and stupid game. weird web: London Skittles Club - rules, history, interactive strange games no:69...category:outdoor gamesChin chin!...Montegue Blister...
More About: Uman

Cheese Rolling
2006-11-27 23:15:03
World reknowned and extremely popular, Cheese Roll ing takes place annually in Gloucestershire, England in May. Simple, fast, brutal; a large, disc of cheese is rolled from the top of a very steep hill. Competitors, of which there are a large number, hurl themselves down the hill after the cheese. The first person to the bottom wins. The hill, varies in gradient between 1 in 1 and 1 in 2 and has been described as "so steep is it, that the rays of the sun rarely fall on the slope itself!" Official Cheese Rolling Site - lots of pictures and details Strange Games no: 75...category:new olympic sports?Chin chin!...Montegue Blister - 2006

Cherry Pit Spitting
2006-11-27 23:15:03
Baseball is just Rounders dressed up, Basketball is a gaudy facsimile of Netball and American Football is just a confused version of Rugby...but in Cher ry Pit Spit ting , America has created a true sporting classic.The rules: simply spit a cherry pip as far as possible. Current world record a staggering 93 feet. Cherry Pit Spitting Handbook Strange Games no:76...category: new olympic sport?Chin chin!...Montegue Blister - 2006
More About: Pitt

Pea Throwing
2006-11-27 23:15:03
A superb game / sport, Pea Throw ing involves finding out who can throw a frozen pea the furthest. The current world record is amazingly around the 38m (around 124 feet) mark.World championships (now in the eighth year) occur in a Sussex pub in October of each year.If any sport deserves olympic status it is Pea Throwing.article on 2006 Pea Throwing World Championshipstrange games no:77...category: new olympic sport?
More About: Wing , Rowing

One Legged Tug of War
2006-11-27 23:15:03
There are innumerable ways a staid game can be enlivened by variations. As Aphra Behn said, "Variety is the soul of pleasure." I saw One Legged Tug of War being played for the first time on a windswept beach in Kent last Summer.As for standard tug of war, a rope and two equal teams of similar sized players are all that is required. At the start of the game all players lift one leg off the ground and start to pull. The skill of hopping and pulling a rope at the same time is not a skill that many people naturally possess - as you will discover if you play.Any person putting a foot down is eliminated from the team. Continue until victory is achieved or there is only one man still standing. Weird Web: UK Tug of War Association strange games no:64...category: outdoor games STUPID GAMES Chin chin!...Montegue Blister - 2006

Heinz and Seek
2006-11-27 23:15:03
Dragging uncooperative children around supermarkets is hell at the best of times. Heinz and Seek (created by my brother Eustace Blister) is the perfect game guaranteed to keep them entertained all the way from the cheese to the checkout.Very simply one parent enters the supermaket first and moves an item ( one that is easily recognisable by all players - such as a branded tin of baked beans, packet of crisps, etc). The item must be placed somewhere else in the store, at a reasonable height for the players to find.Then all the family enter the store and are informed what the product is. Whilst shopping, the players must find the moved item before the checkouts are reached.Weird Web: Bean bible - everything to do with beansstrange games no.54 STUPID GAMES

Battle Lautrec
2006-11-27 23:15:03
Imagine, if you will, a rainy afternoon and there is no form of electronic entertainment available, you have read all your Biggles books at least twice, Nanny is being uncooperative and you are in a doltish mood; what do you do? I and my dear, lamented brother Eustace invented Battle Lautrec. A bizarre, imbecilic game for two people, Battle Lautrec is guaranteed to banish boredom and raise at the very least a smile. To play you must first master the Lautrec balance. To do this you kneel on the floor then reach behind your knees grabbing an ankle in each hand and lift up your lower legs. With practice you should now be able to balance and move around (albeit quite slowly) on your knees. You must maintain a hold of your ankles at all times. Now the battle...face your opponent, go into a Lautrec balance and try to make him lose his balance and fall. You may use any means left open to you - body weight, pushing with your head, shoulders..etc. First person to release hold of h...

Mullet Throwing
2006-11-27 23:15:03
An Pythonesque American game/sport. A one and a half pound mullet(the fish not the hairstyle) is thrown by competitors from the Florida side of the state border into the Alabama side. Throw s of around 150 feet are commonplace. It happens in April. Interstate Mullet Toss Strange Games no:79...category: new olympic sports?Chin chin!...Montegue Blister - 2006
More About: Wing , Rowing

Squeaky Sheets
2006-11-27 23:15:03
There are many guess-the-identity party games but Squeaky Shee t s is my favourite variation.Divide the players into two teams. One team leaves the room taking a large sheet with them. One player then re-enters the room under the sheet and crawling on all fours. He must crawl into the centre of the room and then squeak loudly once. The opposing team have ONE guess regarding the identity of the squeaker. If they are wrong then the sheet-squeaker must make one final squeak and another guess is made. If correct the teams change places. If incorrect the sheet-squeaker crawls back out of the room to be replaced by another member of his team. The game continues. Weird Web:Discover how mice sound in other languages!! strange games no:59...category:party games STUPID GAMES Chin chin!...Montegue Blister - 2006

Slaps / Slapsies revisited
2006-09-08 21:51:00
I previously wrote about Slaps or Slapsies (one of the most brutal yet satisfying playground games) in post:27 - yet I have just discovered a fantastic computer simulation of it. The game, called Operation Slaps or Hand to Hand Combat Facility allows you to play slapsies against a friend or against a computer opponent.You can decide to be one of five different characters ranging from Lieutenant Lindequest ( a cold and cruel female Russian Ground Force operative) to Seargant Shaw ( a tough and hard marine from Guantanamo Bay). To slap your opponent you depress your keyboard 'Z' key until the required force has built up then jab it again to slap. The 'X' key allows you to feint or to dodge when it's your opponents turn. All this is accompanied by realistic slapping sounds, brooding atmospheric music and a pain meter.A top drawer computer game.Weird Web: Slapsies computer gamestrange games no:27 and a half...category:playground gamesStrange Games the Videos: SlapsiesChin chin!...M...
More About: Visi , Visit

Dorka
2006-08-24 18:00:00
If you have ever had the sort of day where every person you have met is slow-witted and maladroit but still feel like playing a game then Dork a * is the game for you. Dorka is one of the most directionless, simple-minded and nugatory games going.Out of all the players a group of 4 or 5 is chosen to be the 'team'. One of these is chosen to be the 'Dorka' and is given a minute to look at each team members' shoes - the idea being to memorise which shoes belong to which person. The 'Dorka' then has a large upturned bucket placed on his head. This acts (as in the game Bucketheads) as both a disorientating device and a partial blindfold. He will only be able to see a small area of the floor close to himself. The 'Dorka' is then taken to the centre of the room and spun around numerous times until quite dizzy. All other players (both 'team' members and non- team members) scatter randomly around the room and then remain fixed in position. The aim of the game is for the 'Dorka' t...

Mummies
2006-04-29 00:49:00
Mummies is a game that forms the perfect start to many a party. Split the partygoers into threes. Arm two of the blighters with a toilet roll each. The third person must remain still whilst the two envelop him in tissue from head to foot. The object being to create a simulacrum of an Egyptian mummy. The team judged to have the best mummy wins. I always like to enthrall partygoers with my own twist. Whilst they are playing I change into my pith helmet and dusty brown fatigues. I then walk into the room with another adult who says, "What can you see?" I reply, "I see things...wonderful things"strange games. no.7...category: childrens partiesStrange Games the Videos: MummiesChin chin!...Montegue Blister - 2006