A recent e-mail from main man and Strange Games fan Daryl Hrdlicka brought to my attention the delightful game of Cash Club. A possibly entirely fictitious game, featured on the 
website Chain Bear, Cash Club is a twisted amalgam of a nice, gentile party game and Fight Club and is the perfect game for these credit crunched times.
All players stand in a circle facing inwards. Players take it in turns to take money (coins, notes...credit cards) out of their pockets and wallets and throw it onto the floor in the middle of the circle. This activity continues until one player can take it no longer and dives into the middle with the aim of grabbing as much as possible. As soon as one player commits themselves then all other players are free to grab, punch and kick and generally persuade them that it might not be such a good idea. Any money the person manages to pocket they can keep and the game continues. Greed and violence with the possibility of monetary gain and the odd bruise...what more do you want of a party game?
Upon seeing this game being played recently (on the top deck of a bus) I assumed that it was merely a charmingly violent local variation of the innocent 
childhood game of 'who can spot the most things whilst travelling'. After some research, however, I discover that it is seemingly played world-wide with more variations than you can shake a stick at.
The version I saw being played is as follows. Players sit in a car (or bus) and as they travel they keep their eyes open to the cars passing them in either direction on the road outside. The idea is for players to spot certain car types, shout out a determined phrase, and if they do so first then they get the chance to physically punish the other player according to the type of car seen.
So in my version, if you see a Mini car you shout, "Mini Dig" and if shouted out first you can dig your opponent(s) in the ribs. If you see a Volkswagen Beetle then you shout, "Beetle Bash" and then you can bash the other person in a place of your choosing. The highlight in the game though (at least in my local version) is that if you see an old fashioned Volkswagen Beetle you shout out, "Herbie" and can continue striking your opponent until the next qualifying vehicle is seen. Marvellous fun for all.
The variations on this game are legion. One of the most common is the addition of the colour yellow which adds points / punches. So if the mini you spot first is yellow then you can make two digs rather than a solitary blow. One of the most obscure is extra punches for bald-headed drivers. I particularly admire the following rule found on the Facebook group devoted to the game:"Also one of the rules should be that you can only call a yellow car whilst in another form of transport. Me and my friends added this rule after kicking the shit out of each other in a carpark"
My last post about the delights of Mini /Crazy golf led to an e-mail from Strange Games reader Stuart 'Stiffy' Johns. In it he describes possibly the greatest indoor golf game ...ignoring Lemon golf of course. Stiffy writes:
'We play a game called Eggy Golf, an indoor game that is stupid, random and has lots of cleaning up to do afterwards...what more do you want from an indoor game? To play each player will need a golf putter and a fresh (unboiled) egg. A course is created in the carpetted living room - this can be simply a starting line and a finishing point with the inbetween space being as obstacle-filled as you like. Each player must try and get their egg to the finishing position in the fewest strokes possible. Obviously, the egg is the problem in this game with its ovoid shape making direction of roll a major issue...the other being that if you hit it too hard it will break and you are going to automatically lose that round and have a messy carpet to clean up. We have found that the game is extremely difficult with a 'raw' golf club so each placer is allowed to wind a couple of cushioning elastic bands around the club head. Even then games are exciting nervous affairs and it is often the ultra-cautious player that wins."
If you are like 'Stiffy' Johns and get up to unusual things in the privacy of your living room that are game related we would love to hear from you. E-mail: montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk
website Chain Bear, Cash Club is a twisted amalgam of a nice, gentile party game and Fight Club and is the perfect game for these credit crunched times.
