Jugger

Jugger is in the class of games that have been invented for a TV show or movie but which are now being played for real. Strange Games is indebted to Linus Smid for sending in a link to the video below.
Jugger was created for the film Salute of the Jugger but has now taken off especially in Germany and Australia. It is a team game where each team tries to move a plastic skull into their opponents goals.  Only an un-armed player may handle the skull - the rest of his team mates being kitted out with swords, poles and chains to defend him from the opposing players. As the video shows, it is only slightly short of total mayhem.

Jugger from Linus Smid on Vimeo.

main jugger site

Strange Games News: British Mini Golf Tour

More than just an excuse to post a video of cool American mini golfers...The British Mini Golf Association have just published this year's tour calendar (see below and on their website here)

Thanks to Ham and Egger for the email

The British Minigolf Association can confirm the dates for ten of the 2012 season’s tournaments, including all three Major competitions. Dates, tournaments and locations of the confirmed events can be found below:

-       22/01/12 BMGA Star City Open, Adventure Island Mini Golf, Star City, Birmingham

-       22/04/12 BMGA British Masters, Splash Point Mini Golf, Worthing, West Sussex

-       23/06/12 – 24/06/12 BMGA British Championships, Pirate Adventure Golf Course, Hastings, East Sussex

-       14/07/12 & 15/07/12 Oswestry Games – multi-sport event, Oswestry Shropshire

-       22/07/12 BMGA British Matchplay Championships, Lost Island Encounter, Sidcup, Kent

-       21/09/12 BMGA Players Championship, Strokes Adventure Golf, Margate, Kent

-        21/09/12 BMGA International Players Championship, Strokes Adventure Golf, Margate, Kent

-       22/09/12 – 23/09/12 BMGA British International Open, Strokes Adventure Golf, Margate, Kent

-       14/10/12 Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open, Seafront Courses, Hastings East Sussex

-       27/10/12 – 28/10/12 Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships, Seafront Crazy Golf Course in Hastings, East Sussex

-       11/11/12 Kent Open, Lost Island Encounter, Sidcup, Kent 

Seance Pass It On

Last week's Stupid Ninja Game reminded me of a similar game which can be played by a group of people standing in a circle.  This time the group stands around a table and each person places their hands palm down on the surface. But, everyone's arms are intertwined...so your left forearm is over the person on your left's forearm and your right forearm is underneath that of the person standing on your right.  Now the game begins with one player slapping their hand on the table once.  This action ( a single slap) means the next hand (going clockwise) must also be slapped on the table. However, if someone slaps their hand twice then the direction is reversed.  If someone slaps their hand three times then the direction of flow is maintained but a hand is skipped over.  The object of the game is not necessarily to eliminate competitors that are slow or who make mistakes but to try and get the pulse of slaps, reversals and jumps going as quickly as possible.

Stupid Ninja Party Game

There are a few well known party games where players stand in a circle and take it in turns to do something and then get another player to do the same thing (or related thing) by pointing at them or saying their name.  The Stupid Ninja game is therefore, at first glance, not that different...but the addition of ninja noises as well as adjacent players activity raises it to a different level.

The starting player makes a ninja 'hai!' whilst pointing at a player elsewhere in the circle.  That player must then put their hands together in a samurai sword shape whilst emitting a ninja grunt.  Adjacent players must then, simultaneously make their own ninja arm swords and aim toward the new player's stomach, again with their own sounds.  This player makes a second ninja 'hai!' as he redirects somewhere else in the circle.  The video makes it perfectly clear.  Players slow to respond are out of the game and play continues.

1st Irish Egg Throwing Competition

The noble art of egg throwing - apparently invented in 1322 and now almost sure to be a demonstration sport in the UK Olympics of 2012 - is crossing the water to Ireland.  This Saturday, 29th October, sees the first National Open Egg Throwing Comp at the Culchie Festival, Mohill,Co. Leitrim. Events include the Throw and Catch and the marvellous Russian Egg Roulette.

Head Egg, Andy Dunlop writes "We can already confirm the attendance of the current Egg Throwing World and Dutch National Champions http://www.eiwerpen.nl/  and the previous World Russian Egg Roulette Champion Englands Opal Upton-Brooker. International Judges will be present to ensure fair play"

The World Egg throwing Federation is proud to recognise these games and looks forward to the rapid growth in its popularity under the leadership of Irish Egg Throwing President Paddy Rock, who said “This is a great opportunity for the people of Ireland to show what they are made of. We recognise it’s a new sport to some but we will be training people all day to take part in the finals and a chance for glory and world fame”

Rock Paper Scissors - UK Championships

Sally 'Wacky Nation' Raynes has emailed Strange Games to mention that the UK RPS Championships  will take place in the JD Wetherspoon Knights Templar pub in Chancery Lane, central London on Saturday 22nd October 2011.

Over 300 people are expected to take part -there are no World RPS Championships this year so this will be the big one.

Everyone knows how to play the game so I'm not going to cover the rules but the UK RPS website has some fascinating tips on strategy and nomenclature of different RPS combinations. So, to encourage you to enter the event:

Rock Paper Scissors Gambits:

The Avalanche - Rock, Rock, Rock (beginner’s choice)

The Bureaucrat - Paper, Paper, Paper (boring, but effective)

The Crescendo - Paper, Scissors, Rock (crank up the pressure)

Scissors Sandwich - Paper, Scissor, Paper (very cheeky) 

Denouement - Rock, Scissor, Paper (the surprise factor)

Fistful o Dollars - Rock, Paper, Paper (won 1967 World Championship)

Paper Dolls – Paper, Scissors, Scissors

The Toolbox – Scissors, Scissors, Scissors (a lethal combination)

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.