Aqua Chess

The fine modern game of Chess Boxing has been in the news recently leading to probably futile hopes of even more newly combined sports such as Backgammon Wrestling or Tiddlywinks Kickboxing. There are, however, a couple of relatively undiscovered combinations of Chess and Watersports.
First up is Scuba Chess.
Not that far removed from a normal game of chess except you play with lead weighted pieces and the time to complete the game is limited by the capacity of your air tank.

Then there is Aqua Chess - a more novel approach to the art of sports combining.

Both players stand in the water at one end of a swimming pool with a chess board on the edge. The first player makes their opening move then sets off down the pool. When they are exactly at the other end then their opponent makes a move and sets off swimming too. Player one has now returned to the board and has to make his second move – quickly – because if they are caught in the pool then they lose. Players win either by winning the chess match or by catching up with the other player in the pool. A game both physically and mentally exhausting. It is important that both players should be evenly matched swimmers to make the game as interesting as possible.

Whistle for Your Nipple

After the last post concerning the violent playground game of Jam Sandwiches Strange Games has been inundated by an e-mail. The correspondence, from Steve 'Jumper' Brand, concerns a tortuous playground game presumably only played by boys. Steve writes:
Whistle For Your Nipple is a pointless schoolyard torture game that has almost no elements that make up a normal game but one big one that relates to pain. One player/joker stealthily approaches their victim, grasps their nipple through their school shirt and shouts out, “Whistle for you nipple”. The idea, if it can even be called that, is that the victim must put their lips together and whistle and as soon as they manage to do this then the attacker will relent in their vice-like finger grip of their sensitive body part. Obviously it is very hard, if not impossible, to whistle whilst someone is doing this to you (try it now if you don't believe me) and so the game often ends with confusion swiftly followed by a scream of startled pain, and then a fight.

If you've played something more stupid than this then e-mail:montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk

Jam Sandwiches

Another violent playground game from Strange Games contributor Duncan Flann. In his words: Jam Sandwiches is a simple, brutal and totally unnecessary playground game of violent punishment. It is named after the popular tea-time snack and just like the ingredients required to make a Jam Sandwich needs a couple of slices of bread and some jam, although in human form. The slices of bread are formed by the two burly lads and the 'jam' is an unaware victim in the school yard. The slices approach this player from opposite directions of the schoolyard at the same time.

Their aim is to create the perfect jam sandwich by hitting (with their stomach and bodies) the 'filling' at exactly the same time. This results in anger, some pain and often a bewildered wilting to the schoolyard floor by the squished 'jam' and occasionally the 'slices of bread'.

Of course the jam player can, if they are quick witted and agile enough, realise what is about to happen and dive out of the way at the very last moment, resulting in the breads smashing headfirst into one another and being toasted.
If you play odd games then contact me: montegue_blister@hotmail.co.uk and tell me all about it...if you want

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.

Cash Club

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?

Mini Dig / Beetle Bash

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"

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

Mini Golf / Crazy Golf

An e-mail from Mini Golf obsessive ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried (see his how to become an expert minigolfer video here) alerts me to the fact that the 2010 British Minigolf Association Tour is about to begin. The tour tees-off this Sunday with the BMGA National Open at Adventure Island Mini Golf, Star City, Birmingham.
Mini Golf is the game that used to be known as Crazy Golf (its name being changed possibly to avoid offence to putter wielding madmen everywhere) and is the often-found-at-the seaside game beloved by everyone who enjoys putting golf balls through windmills and drain pipes, up ramps and down slopes and between the cardboard cutout legs of Jade Goody (I may have imagined that last one)

Anyway I implore you to get involved in the diminutive and ever so slightly deranged world of Mini golf by visiting the event in Birmingham.
Key Mini golf sites to visit:
Richard Gottfried's Ham & Egger Blog British Minigolf Association World Minigolf Federation European Minigolf Federation Miniature golfer.com Top 10 UK minigolf courses
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Note: Previous strange golf games covered in Strange Games:
Lemon Golf hillbilly golf zombie 3 legged frisbee golf