Temper Tantrum - competition

Temper Tantrum is a game I hadn't heard of till it featured on the ITV2 series Minute to Win It.

Simply get a couple of basic plastic pedometers and attach one to each of your feet or ankles.  A velcro strap is ideal or you can sometimes get away with a couple of strong rubber bands. Set the pedometers to zero, then get down on the floor on your back and get ready to play.  
You have a minute to  frantically kick both your legs up and down as fast as possible - simulating an angst ridden toddler.  If at any time one of your feet touches the ground you are disqualified.  Once the minute is up it's time to check both pedometers and average the scores.  
I've just been having a go and managed an average score of 173 and noticeably tighter abdominals. As a Strange Games challenge the first reader who can beat my score, and prove it with a You Tube video will get a signed copy of my book Strange Games
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Minute To Win It is an eight-part series on ITV2, presented by Cadbury Spots v Stripes, which sees contestants compete in hilarious and bonkers 60-second challenges using everyday household objects. To find out more and play Minute To Win It games, visit the Spots v Stripes website here www.spotsvstripes.com

Bloody Knuckles - 2 versions

I thought that I must have covered this classic and brutal childhood game many posts ago..but checking I find that I haven't!

Bloody Knuckles 1
Here, players sit down at a table across from each other. One player then makes their hand into a fist and places it on the table. The other player takes a heavy coin (an American quarter, for example), puts it flat on the table then flicks it with as much force as possible at their opponents knuckles. Play then reverses and it is the first player’s turn to form a fist. The game continues until blood is drawn or one player submits or both realise they are wasting their lives and go and do something more productive instead.


Bloody Knuckles 2

The more usual version of Bloody Knuckles is the knuckular (a technical medical term) version of Slapsies. Here both players form their hands into fists and stand opposite each other, arms outstretched and fists touching. It is the aim of one player to lift their fist (no higher than shoulder height) and bring their knuckles down onto the top of their opponents fist. Obviously, it is the opponents job to pull their fist away and avoid a painful blow but they must not make a move until their opponent starts their attempt. Players can either take turns and gain points for each hit or maintain the strike if contact is made.
In the old-fashioned version of this game you are not allowed to move your hand to escape, you just leave it there to get hit then have your turn. Obviously that was just barbaric.

Bloody Knuckles even has its own governing body, the World Bloody Knuckles Association, who promote the game and organise regular events.

Minute to Win It sponsored by Cadbury Spots V Stripes... Press Launch

It's not often that Strange Games gets invited to the press launch of a brand new TV Game Show but on Tuesday this week I went to the launch of ITV2s new show A Minute To Win It sponsored by Cadbury Spots V Stripes. The show features two teams of friends undertaking a series of wacky challenges in an effort to win a cash prize. The show is presented by comedian and TV host Darren McMullen and the teams captained by Joe Swash and Caroline Flack.

 But, the stars of the show (from a Strange Games point of view) are the games. Each one is played within a 1 minute time limit. The games are a mix of tweaked classic parlour games and brand new ones. The first show featured Cherry Licker(sucking cherries off hanging strings), Knee Trembler (carrying oranges between your knees)  and Rapid Fire (firing rubber bands at stacked tin cans).  The best games were Flipper That Pancake (one player flips pancakes from scuba flippers and the team mate must catch them on a pie tin worn on their head!)  and Stirring It Up ( players transport marbles by spinning them around the inside of an upturned wine glass).
We then got the opportunity to play some of the games against team captain Joe Swash.  Triple Pong Plop (bouncing ping pong balls along 3 plates into a goldfish bowl) is a lot harder than it looks...Joe whupped me.

Talking to Darren and Joe it became clear that they had a real love for these sorts of games as well as strange sports like Cheese Rolling, Bog Snorkelling and even some of my favourite violent kids' games such as Slapsies and Bloody Knuckles.  Surprisingly they were both unaware of the prince of hand games Finger Jousting.   A quick demonstration later..they both whupped me.

Joe also talked about a particularly basic and beastly chasing game that he played when he was little, which I will cover in my next post.

All in all a superb launch for a good new game show.


Thanks Sophia :-)


Cadbury's Spots v Stripes

ITV2 Minute to Win It

Dancing Rock Paper Scissors

Walter 'Bloody Knuckles' Brown has written to Strange Games to tell me of his favourite Rock Paper Scissors variations.  There are many forms of this game - I have already covered Extreme RPS, RPS 101  and Bear Hunter Princess.

Dancing Rock Paper Scissors still contains three throws and is different from the standard game only in how each throw is created.  
If you throw Drum and Bass then you drum the air with both of your hands.  If you throw Techno then you wave both your hands in the air.  And if your throw Waltz then you position your arms as if holding an imaginary waltzing partner.  Techno beats Drum and Bass which in turn beats Waltz.  Waltz, of course, beats Techno.
For the most fun play the game at your local discotheque.

Indian Leg Wrestling

American Indian Wrestling is based upon pitting different parts of the body against your opponent’s one part at a time.  There are many different forms such as back wrestling (standing back to back and trying to push each other a set distance), one legged wrestling (standing on one leg and trying to push your opponent over), thumb wrestling and of course Leg Wrestling
 
In Leg Wrestling two players lie flat on their backs side by side.  They should be next to each other and touching but pointing in different directions – so the feet of one player are next to the head of the other and the players hips are touching. They then raise their adjacent legs straight up simultaneously three times.  On the third raise players should hook ankles and try and pull their opponent over.  No other part of the body is used and the non playing leg should remain flat on the floor and not be used for leverage.  Games usually last a much shorter time than Arm Wrestling and successful play depends not just on muscular strength but on stealth and speed.

Minute to Win it TV Show: A Game of 1 Half & Knife Throwing with Cards

This Autumn ITV2 launch a new game show Minute to Win It. The new eight-part series, in association with Cadbury Spots v Stripes campaign, sees two popular TV hosts captain groups of friends as they compete head-to-head in hilarious and bonkers 60-second challenges using everyday household objects.

One of the games they are going to play has been named A Game of One Half (see video below) This is basically a game where you throw playing cards at half watermelon in the hope that some of them remain
embedded in the watermelon flesh. 

Throwing cards at fruit appears to be quite a popular past-time if You Tube is anything to go by, with melons, cucumbers, tomatoes and even apples all being used by fruit salad loving card throwers.

However, if you want to play a more hard-core card throwing game I would recommend the playing card version of Knife Throwing. Simply get a willing victim  accomplice to strip off their top and adopt a crucifix position.  Then fire cards at them with the intention that they just miss their body.  Obviously, the occasional mistake adds to the fun. And remember as the video below says,"Please do not try this at home. Cards may look harmless but they leave welts and scars when hit."

Ironing Board Surfing

As summer arrives and everyone migrates to the nation's beaches to sunbathe and play in the surf, body board and even surf board we at Blister Towers prefer a more unusual sporting activity - Ironing Board Surfing.  Simply borrow one of the servants ironing boards and head for the stairs.  The embedded video from students at Hertfordshire University perfectly demonstrates the thrill to be had from this great sport.

repost:Extreme Bucket Ball

In the excitement of writing my previous post all about games involving buckets and balls I forgot about Extreme Bucket Ball which has previously been covered in Strange Games

The game works best with smallish teams of two or three players each. Teams take it in turns to have one of their members be the Bucket Boy - this player stands in the centre of a 3m chalk-drawn circle on the floor and uses both hands to hold a plastic bucket on top of their head. The game starts with Bucket Boy's team mates trying to toss as many tennis balls as possible into the bucket - Bucket Boy can aid this by moving around but he must remain inside the circle at all times. Similarly, team-mates must throw the balls from outside the circle. The opposing team however must try to disturb Bucket Boy, getting him to miss balls or even better spill his bucket. They do this by firing any tennis balls they can get at Bucket Boy's body (again, they have to remain outside the circle) You can make a no-headshots rule if you like. Whenever a ball becomes free there is a mad scramble for control of it from both sides. Play for a set time, count the bruises and the balls in Bucket Boy's bucket then swap sides and play again. Good clean fun.