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.

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)

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.

Wrong Pong

Strange Games inbox has been inundated by an email from James Michie who along with his colleagues Joe Kelly and Nicholas Wright run Wrong Pong competitions. The next one is being held as part of the Sneinton Festival in Nottingham on Saturday the 2nd of July.

Wrong Pong has been described as a combination of Ping Pong and crazy golf.  It is basically table tennis on specially designed tables that make the ball's movement unpredictable.  So , the table might slope at some crazy angle, or have different surfaces or obstacles attached such as strips of wood.

To find out more visit the International Wrong Pong Association website.

Table Wrestling - revisited

My previous post on Beer Pong got me to wondering whether it would be possible to combine the narrow Beer Pong table with Table Wrestling to enjoy two strange games at once. 

Even if the result would be a bit of a gaming disaster it is still worth revisiting the majestic sport of Table Wrestling.  The Table Wrestling website is a delight and visiting it I found this picture showing how to enjoy the great outdoors.

Even better is the picture below which shows a master of the technique that is known as the Sennewald Sh@g Special.  I have just been attempting this at my local IKEA on a small kitchen table named a Fuktar and can confirm that it is not easy.

Table Wrestling is a sport with a history that goes back to Roman times where slaves were forced to to mount their master's table and try to circumnavigate it whilst wagers were made...or it could be just an inspired made-up game by a group of bored sixth-formers in Worcester. Whichever it is, Table Wrestling is undoubtedly one of the greatest and strangest Wrestling events.

To play, simply get a table (a school size one works well, but one with more character can sometimes give greater opportunity for hand holds) lie on top of it (face down is best) then try and go 360 degrees around it without touching the ground with any part of your body. The most common technique is to stretch a hand all the way underneath to grab the opposing edge before the rest of your body follows and you fall to the floor. Then simply pull yourself underneath and then, hopefully, back onto the top. It's a little like keelhauling - only with a table and no risk of drowning.
Once you have mastered the basic move you can advance to travelling around the table length ways or if you are especially advanced in a figure of eight movement. For the hardcore table wrestler you could even attempt the 'altitude' version where you balance 1 table on the top of two others before going around it. If you are particularly speedy why not try and beat the world record which stands at 10 rotations in 1 minute!

Tights Racing

Strange Games has been inundated by an e-mail from Elmo McDonald :'Montegue, can you tell me the best Christmas party game to play that is fun for the whole family, is energetic and which uses some of the crap that is left around the place at this time of the year?'  I had a good think about this request and remembered a game from my own childhood: Tights Racing.

Tights Racing is a superb childrens' party game and it is yet another one of those kids' games that is even more fun when played by adults. To play pair up the players into teams of two. One player in each team is given a pair of nylon tights and both are surrounded by a large pile of light, bulky items such as: toilet rolls, fruit, empty plastic bottles, cuddly toys...etc. Basically, as much stuff as you can find around the place. On a starting command one player must jump into their tights and then with the help of their partner shove all the items down the legs as quickly as possible and then once everything has been safely stored there they must race each other to the other end of the room.
 

Even better, delight your neighbours by playing the game outside.

The sight of players running along with elephant-man-like nylon cladded legs is what gives this game its unigue charm.

Happy Christmas to all Strange Games readers...and don't forget if you play something truly obscure and odd and would like to share it with the world then send it to Strange Games: montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk 

UK RPS Championships - Report

Excellent UK RPS tournament report with lots of photos and videos by Richard 'the Rock' Gottfried over at the Ham and Egger blog (your first stop for UK mini golf news)

UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships 2010

Strange Games reader and mini-golf guru Richard Gottfried  highlights the running of the UK RPS Championships.  It is to be held at the Durrell Arms in Fulham this Saturday 13th.  It's only £5 to enter which would be money well spent if you end up being the UK champion in what is essentially a random sport....or is it? 
If you want to brush up on your RPS skills you could do worse than visit the World RPS Society here they detail essential strategies for victory including the 'possible':"Rock is for Rookies because males have a tendency to lead with Rock on their opening throw. It has a lot to do with idea that Rock is perceived as strong and forceful" 
The 'surely that's cheating':"Tell your opponent what you are going to throw and then actually throw what you said"  and the desperate:"When All Else Fails Go With Paper"

Here at Strange Games we are slightly disappointed that they are not having categories for two of our favourite variations:
Extreme Rock Paper Scissors - If you win with paper you slap your opponent, if you win with scissors you poke them and if you win with a rock you punch them. 
RPS 101 - the ultimate in hand game complexity.  A total of 101 different hand combinations need to be learned to play. An example hand position is 'baby'. This move will spill 'beer',  ruin 'guitar'  but unfortunately be unaware of 'satan'.  Visit the official 101 RPS site to play the most terrifyingly complex game ever.

World Series of Pong Festival

Andrew Essa, or King Pong to his friends, has written to Strange Games to highlight the marvelous festival of Ping Pong that is currently taking place in London.  The World Series of Pong Festival consists of 64 weekly ping pong nights as part of a 100 day festival - starting on September 20th and going all the way to the final on December the 4th.  It is a fun, two player team event - although there is a prize of £5,000 for the eventual winners.
Andrew writes, "Not a strange game per se but a little different, playing ping pong in bars whilst getting p*ssed and and having dance-off's on top of the tables?"

World Serıes of Pong The newest, coolest way to party, socialise, celebrate, network,
have fun, compete, and unleash your inner Balls Of Fury

Cheesey Daddy Cans

Strange Games welcomes contributions from readers...the weirder the better. However, reader Matt Stiff has gone the extra mile and actually produced an illustration to go alongside his game: Cheesy Daddy Cans - a delightfully messy and moronic version of football skittles. It is possibly the ideal game for Wayne Rooney - it might increase his chances of scoring.
Matt writes,"I thought you might like to know about a great party game that myself and a few friends invented. It's called 'Cheesey-Daddy-Cans' and it goes like this.... Place a coffee table in the centre of the room (or outdoors). On top of the table arrange a bottle of squeezy cheese, a bottle of Daddie's Brown sauce and a pyramid of 6 empty drinks cans. The idea of the game is to kick a 99p plastic football (available at all good seaside bucket and spade merchants) at the array of table top items and knock them off. However, to get points, you need to knock the item clean off the table. Any item left on the table but in a dishevelled state will result in points being deducted. The difficulty with this game lies in the unpredictable flight path of such a cheap and nasty plastic football. It is a great way of passing time on a rainy day and as skill levels increase so does the ferocity of the competition! Scoring is as follows: Daddies sauce - 3 pts, Squeezy Cheese 2pts and Cans 1 pt each.
All items carry a 1pt deduction if lying on the table after three attempts ( three attempts per player) A bonus of 20 pts is awarded if there are no items left on the table and knocking the table over is cheating, a re-kick must be enforced."
Matt doesn't say in his e-mail what his day-job is, but if it isn't something related to either game or graphic design I'll eat my hat.
Send your strange games to : montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk

Doorknobs...a game for the flatulent

Strange Games reader, and occasional contributor, Duncan Flann sent in an e-mail detailing the gross and violent game of Doorknobs It is one of those marvellous open-ended games that never stops (a little like Beetle Bash), instead when the right situation occurs the game is on.
Duncan writes, "We used to play Doorknobs in the house we rented as students. A game would kick off whenever someone farted loud enough to be heard by anybody else in the room. When that happened a non-flatulent player could shout the word 'Doorknob'. The person who had let-off then had to rush and touch the doorknob of any door in the room as quickly as possible. And he had to be quick because as soon as the word Doorknob is shouted all other 'players' have the right to punch the offending farter as frequently and as hard as possible. As soon as the farter reaches the sanctity of the doorknob they are safe and the game is over. We also played the rule that the person breaking wind would avoid any painful beating by shouting the word 'Safe'... as long as they shouted it before the shout of 'Doorknob' went out."

If you have any unusual/gross/stupid games you play that might be of interest, then e-mail: montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk

Top 10 Strange Jousting Games

Jousting is the noble medieval martial art of knights on horseback, pitting their wits and lances against each other in order to gain money, prestige and the favours of a fair maiden or two. The following list details the ultimate modern equivalents - the only thing that the victors of these battles gain is to look slightly less stupid than their opponents.

10. Garden & Household Equipment based Jousting. If you are considering taking up home-based jousting there are probably two main forms to consider: Wheelbarrow Jousting


and Wheelie Bin Jousting.



9. Piggyback Jousting. Piggybacking lends itself to fighting and racing and even a spot of Piggyback Polo, but Piggyback Jousting is possibly the ultimate game for this position.



8. Bicycle Jousting. There are many forms of this dignified jousting. Straightforward Bicycle Jousting to the bizarre Chap Olympiad version (contestants wield rolled up umbrellas and carry shields decorated with pages from the Times).


Then there are Tall Bicycle competitions:


and even Unicycle Jousting.



7. Chair Jousting. The tedium of office life can be instantly relieved with a spot of Office Chair Jousting



6. Heelie Jousting.



5.Motorised Jousting. Available in a wide variety of vehicles from 4 by 4s to LawnMower Jousting,


MiniBike Jousting,


and my own personal favourite Scooter Jousting.


Mods on Vespas with jousting rods! It doesn't get much better than this, except perhaps...

4. Skateboard Jousting. Note the work that has gone into making the capes in this video



3. Finger Jousting, possibly the most dignified of the jousting events, and I'm not just saying that because I am Obscure Sports Media Mogul of the WFJF (World Finger Jousting Federation)



2. Mattress Jousting. A perfect dorm-based alternative.



1. Exercise Ball Jousting. A stupidly, random sport, and possibly more dangerous than the real thing.

Crotch Ball

Staying in the same sort of area as previous post P-Ball is the charming game of Crotch Ball. Just sit down on the floor a few yards from your opponent, legs apart, and aim your powerball. It's a sort of slightly gentler version of the famed pain-game rochambeau.

P Balls

At Strange Games we normally only cover games that require little or no equipment; games that minimise brain usage and maximise pain thresholds. But we will make an exception for P Ball. A P-Ball is ping pong sized ball of toilet freshener that is designed to give men some fun in the toilet while at the same time making them aware of male cancer - particularly prostate cancer. Simply pop the ball into your urinal and direct your urine at it and try and make it dissolve as quickly as possible. A decreased flow of wee means the double blow of the game taking longer to complete and the possibility that you've spotted a disease at its early stages. In South Africa the ball is sold by Cansa to raise money for charity. As it says on the box, 'You need balls to play this gam' ...although it is probably one you will play on your own rather than invite friend 'round. Many thanks for Yehuda (who runs a brilliant board game blog here) for bringing the P-Ball to the attention of Strange Games

If you play any strange games with your we then contact us: montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk

Bang!

Bang (it may have many other names) is a children's party game that needs lots of concentration, fast reactions and gun play.
Everyone forms a circle with one gun toting player standing alone in the middle. This player spins around, arms extended with an imaginary gun in their hands. Without warning they point this gun at one player in the circle and shout, 'BANG'. On being shot this player rapidly crouches down which means the the two players that are standing on either side of them must raise their own hands in a gun shape and try and shoot (shout BANG) each other first. The player that achieves this first remains in the game, the other player collapses to the floor (dead) and plays no further part in the game. The original player to be targeted also (bizarrely) returns to the game. The player in the centre then begins another round and the game continues until there a winner is found.

Eggy Golf

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