Saturday, December 20, 2008

Scrumpy Bucket

Strange Games reader, and self styled King of the Scrumpers, Christopher Trigg sent in the Autumnal game of Scrumpy Bucket some time ago and it is only now that I am getting around to write about it. Scrumping is the noble childhood activity of stealing apples from someone elses orchard and the Game of Scrumpy Bucket could be seen as some sort of celebratory game of this activity.Christopher

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Blongo Ball/ Ladder Golf / Hillbilly Golf

Strange Games is indebted to reader Jerry Coffey for drawing our attention to the classy American game of Blongo Ball. To play, you will need a Blongo Ball set consisting of two sets of bolas (two rubber balls connected by a short length of cord) and a goal, which is a little like a plastic clothes-dryer with three crossbars. The aim of the game is to throw your bolas and get them to wrap around

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Hat Ball

Strange Games is often deluged by at least a couple of e-mails a week detailing odd and obscure games that readers play. Many of these games we feature in the blog and a few are touched by the hand of genius...Hat Ball is one such game. Hat Ball was sent in by reader Daryl Hrdlicka.To play the game you need to be outside on a patio (or some other solid flat area) that adjoins a wall. Both players

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Balance Ball Slapsies

Regular readers will know that at Strange Games we love Slapsies. The ultimate, brutal, playground game that has the magical combination of steady nerves, skill and pain. Simply hold your hands together, prayer like, your fingertips touching those of your opponent then try and strike the back of their hand with the palm of your own before they withdraw. Everytime you hit you get another go. The

Saturday, November 15, 2008

High Noon

High Noon is a game that is a little like a combination of a playground clapping game and rock paper scissors, but is much better than both. It is harder to explain than it is to learn and play...but here goes. For two players, each faces the other over a table. Like a clapping game each player makes their moves simultaneously. The game begins with both players hand slapping the table (no:1 in

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Newspaper Wrestling

Staying with the theme of strange wrestling we present Newspaper Wrestling. An unusual game for two people and an ideal use for a newspaper that's been read.Simply place a sheet from a newspaper flat on the floor. Both players stand on the page - they will be standing very close to one another even if they use a broadsheet. Now, on a start command, each tries to push (or pull) the other off the

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Table Wrestling

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

Monday, October 27, 2008

Extreme Bucket Ball

The previous post about Extreme Swingball prompted an e-mail from Strange Games reader Rob Edwards. In it he details a similarly painful game he calls Extreme Bucket Ball. 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

Friday, October 17, 2008

Extreme Swing Ball

Extreme Swing Ball is the name for a superb combat-type game sent into Strange Games by regular reader Duncan Flann. It is like some sort of bizarre blend of conkers, swingball and sword fencing.Mr Flann writes: "Me and my friend Steve Brand invented Extreme Swing Ball a few years ago and we play quite regularly. It's simple and quite addictive to play and can be unpleasantly painful when you

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Get on the F***ing Floor

Does watching violence on television and in films create a more violent society? You could debate this all night...but far better to play Get on the F***ing Floor instead. This is another marvellous game sent in by Strange Games reader Katie Jacobsen.Kate writes: "All you need to play is a toy gun. Choose one player to exit the room with the gun. The remaining players establish conversation. They

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Spit in the Bottle

Strange Games previous post, the gross bare feet-raisin to mouth game called Raison d'etre prompted reader Bill to email in a game that he played in his childhood that is, if anything, grosser. Bill writes, "Dear Strange Games... when I was a kid we played this game that we called Spit in the Bottle. Usually we played two at a time. Each player places a narrow-necked pop bottle on the ground

Friday, September 12, 2008

Raisin D'etre

Strange Games recently received an email from Findlay Caldwell detailing a bizarre, and frankly quite horrible party game he claims to have invented. Called Raisin D'etre for reasons that will become clear - all you need to play are a packet of raisins, paper cups, toothpicks and a strong stomach.Split partygoers into teams of three who then stand in a line. The person at the front has an empty

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Sofa Titanic

It's often the case that the simplest (and stupidest) ideas make the best games. Strange Games reader Kate Jacobson contacted us about one such game that she played 'in her collage days' called Sofa Titanic. This is a marvellous game that simulates all the glamour,fear and excitement of being on a luxurious sinking liner but with none of the fear of drowning, and no Celine Dion singing."One or

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Chair Wars~a possible trial game for London 2012 Olympics

The UK's continuing success in sailing and cycling events at the Beijing Olympics has led to Australian comments that 'the UK only do well at sporting events where you have to sit down'However, not only does the UK triumph in all the sitting down events it invents the best ones too.Strange Games is honoured to write about Chair Wars.Chair Wars is a bizarre attempt to marry Skateboarding and

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Eye Shoe Shirella~chant for playing Spectacular Deaths

If, like me, you still enjoy the odd game of Spectacular Deaths (fall down on the ground and pretend to die in the most spectacular/gruesome/humorous way possible) then you may be interested in this recently discovered,charming, chanted intro to the game. Simply shout out the rhyme...then fall down and expire after the "like this". Probably not the best game to play amongst total strangers who

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Bagheads

Strange Games receives many an email containing lines like this, "Montegue, my child is having a party and says he doesn't want any of those 'boring, cliched, idiotic old-fashioned party games'...what can I do? My son is 5"One answer is Bagheads...disorientation, humiliation and the odd bruise in one complete party game package. To play simply give all the partygoers an opaque paper bag (grocery

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Chinese Knitting

Trick games are a superb way to have fun whilst annoying enemies and losing friends, and Chinese Knitting is one of the best. To play you need access to some meadow grass - the ideal variety is one in which the seed heads are quite loose and will come off easily if pulled. Pick two stems of grass (with the stems being about six inches in length) and reverse one so that the seed head of one rests

Friday, July 18, 2008

Faith, Hope & Charity

There are various Victorian parlour games involving guessing the identity of a person hidden behind a sheet - this is usually attempted by examining the person's feet or hands, or listening to them cough, etc..Strange Games' reader Jean Bingle has sent in details of a similar, but far better, game that her Mother used to play at parties in the 1950s. This is possibly one of the best party games

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Victorian and Extreme Blow Football

Remaining on the subject of Blow Football mention must be made of ancient versions of the game. In Victorian times there was a superb indoor football game. To play all you needed was an un-carpeted drawing room, some paper fans and a blown hen's egg (prick a pinhole in each end and blow out the yolk). Goals were created at either end of the room and then teams tried to propel the egg towards them

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Underwater Blow Football

Possibly the oddest, and therefore the best, indoor football game for two players is Underwater Blow Football. To play get a flat bottomed rectangular tray with high sides (a large lasagne dish works well – the most important thing is that the bottom is as flat as possible). Now fill to the brim with water, furnish each player with a straw and then place a large marble in the centre. The level of

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Hotelball

Strange Games reader Nate Hoffert sent in the description of a game he plays and calls Hotelball: 'My friends and I have invented a game called "Hotelball" which can be played in a typical, at least by North American standards, franchise hotel room containing one king size bed or 2 queens.The only equipment needed is a hackey sack or firm nerf-type ball no larger than a tennis ball. Balls with

Saturday, June 21, 2008

International King of Sports: Downhill Giant Slalom Running

Possibly the worlds greatest odd sporting event, the recent Cheeserolling championships at Coopers Hill, highlighted the fun that can be had with just an extremely steep grassy slope, fearlessness of being hurt and a nice mature cheddar. But if you have the first two and are lacking the cheese you could do worse than play Downhill Giant Slalom Running. This invented sport was featured on Channel

Monday, June 16, 2008

Fizzy Dizzy

After the recent entry "My Granny Went To Guantanemo" Strange Games received an email from Bryan Mayoh detailing an inane game he loves to play that has some similarities. He calls the game Fizzy Dizzy. Fizzy Dizzy is for as many players as feel brave enough to try it, each is given a glass full of fizzy coke which they must drink yet hold in their mouth without swallowing. Still holding the

Thursday, June 12, 2008

US Swingball

As the European Football Championships are being staged at the moment it only seems right that Strange Games should highlight an unusual new soccer-related game.When you mention Swingball thoughts immediately turn to the well loved tennis-on-a-string garden game, but that is about to change as the new US version of Swingball takes off in popularity. Devised in 2001 by high school students in

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

UPDATE: Pub Bounce 2008

An update on The Pub Bounce 2008 (bounce,binge,barf) first mentioned on Strange Games here. The perfect English event Pub Bouncing combines two of the country's most notable traits: nostalgia for the 1970s and binge drinking. The event, a pub crawl performed wholly on space hoppers around 9 pubs in Newport Pagnell, was successfully held on June 7th.Spacehopper head honcho Mike Jones takes up the

Friday, June 6, 2008

My Granny Went to Guantanemo

Of highly questionable taste, this was sent into Strange Games by one Boris Spedding. It's the sort of game you would get if you crossed a memory test (My Granny Went to Market) with some light torture techniques so it's probably not one to play at the next kids' birthday party.Boris writes: "Me and my friends devised this game at college. Everyone who's playing contributes to a list of words,

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Human Buckaroo

This is a marvellous game for young children or particularly childish adults sent in by Strange Games reader Lurch Latronico. Human Buckaroo is a human version of the popular kids' table top game.To play make some simple cards containing parts of the body such as 'Neck', 'Left ear', 'Right ear', 'Left shoulder', 'Head', 'Bottom' etc.. One player forms the bucking bronco by kneeling down on the

Friday, May 23, 2008

Strange Board Games #2: Marching Season

We recently highlighted the odd board game of Feel Safe. Another brilliantly odd board game for lovers of the strange is The Marching Season Game. For three and only three players, in The Marching Season Game one person takes the role of Loyalist, another is the Republican and the third plays the part of The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)The game is set during the Orange Marching Season and the

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Dunce Wars

Some of the greatest party games are little more than brainless, violent fun and Dunce Wars, one of the stupidest, is also one of the best.Simply give everyone at the party a cone shaped dunce's hat with elastic to hold it under the chin and also furnish them with a stick (or rolled up newspaper).Then get them to try and violently knock their opponents' hats off whilst all the time trying to

Friday, May 16, 2008

Strange Board Games #1: Feel Safe

Strange Games normally covers childhood and childish games as well as unusual festivals and sports. Board games are not really covered, however, there are some really odd ones that need more players. One in particular is a game called Feel Safe. What Monopoly does for the celebration of rampant consumerism Feel Safe does the same for the loss of human rights. It's a satirical board game based

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Strange Games with Maggots: Modern Art

The modern childrens' party is a mixture of additive laced junk food and a handful of staid and dull party games aimed more at avoiding parental litigation and accusations of bias than actual entertainment. The hyped up kids are then sent home having all won a prize and all with an I Pod in a goody bag.All that can change if you play Modern Art. The simple requirements to play are some paint,

Saturday, May 3, 2008

More Fun with Buckets

After writing about the superb game of Bucket Ball, Strange Games has been inundated by an email detailing a couple of other games worth playing if you have a spare plastic bucket to hand.Bucket Basket Ball is an old Scout game, apparently. Two teams are formed and one player from each team forms the basket by standing at one end of the room, on a chair and holding a bucket upright on their head.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

My Mother Says...Slapsies variation

An interesting Slapsies variation is the My Mother Says version. For two players, each places their hands alternatively on top of one another's on a firm surface such as a table, as if they were playing the game My Mother Says That You Are This High. Now, with their hands in position, the player whose hand is at the bottom must withdraw it as swiftly as possible and attempt a hard slap on the

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

World Dry Foam Flinging Championships

It's not every day that Strange Games hears from a World Champion - but recently we have been e-mailed by Mark Rye(28) who is not only a world champion at Dry Sponge Throwing he is also the world record holder at the event!The World Dry Foam Flinging Championships are held annually as part of the Bromsgrove Folk Festival (an event of folk music, folk dancing and folk throwing of bathroom sponges)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Pub Bounce 2008

Strange Games wrote recently about the Krispy Kreme Challenge - a healthy/unhealthy running and doughnut eating event in North Carolina. The Facebook group Pub Bounce 2008 are organising the UK response...a pub crawl on space hoppers. All you need to take part is your own hopper, money for beer and the address of the nearest accident and emergency department. The event, hopefully the first of

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Pin Pin & Timothy Torture

Pin Pin is a childish, pointlessly violent game of pain that has recently come to light most famously on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show. On the show Russell's friend/co-presenter, Matt Morgan, has recounted the tale of when he was 10, walking home from scouts and his friend Darren French came up behind him, shouted the immortal phrase, "pin pin" and jabbed him hard in the upper arm with a naked pin

Friday, February 22, 2008

Bucket Ball

Bucket Ball has a similar feel to Hanet Ball in the sense that the player actually stands within the goal but it is much weirder, more fun and... uses buckets. For two competing players. At the start of the game each player stands facing the other a few yards apart. Both have placed their feet into plastic buckets, one on each foot. For children playing the game a standard bucket is usually

Monday, February 18, 2008

Hanetball

HanetBall is the game you would get if you crossed a game of basket ball with a trip to your local Mothercare store. The game is currently played in Florida but as its creater calls it “THE game of the 21st century” expect it to make an appearance near you soon. The game is played with two teams of seven players using a Hanet Ball (basically a basketball) on a rectangular court (similar to the

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Nose Licking...the game

Strange Games is indebted to Sian Mc for sending in details of this bizarre game that she plays with her friends. A really odd standoff game, what Nose Licking lacks in hygeine it makes up for in genuine weirdness and the hilarity of actually playing it.For two players, each faces the other and hold the other's shoulders. This hold must be maintained throughout the game. Now, simply, each player

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Hockern / Sport with a German Milking Stool

Is it a sport, art or maybe dance? No, it's Hockern!Germany's contribution to the world of odd games and sports is truly bizarre. Hockern (German for 'stools') is a little like competitive break dancing...only, break dancing using a milking stool. Competitors stand in front of the Hockern judges and show off their best stool movements (sorry). These will include spinning the stool on the floor,

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Finger Jousting: Photo Competition

The king of finger games, Finger Jousting, is having a competition to find "the most epic photograph of finger jousting in the most unique places and situations" Run by the World Finger Jousting Federation, headed by Julian 'Lord of the Joust' Gluck the competition is open to jousters from around the world, just send them a photograph of yourself in an 'insane' joust or in an extreme environment

Friday, February 1, 2008

It's My Balloon Snot Yours!

A disgustingly fun party game for any age group. Each player is given a balloon and a competition begins to see who can blow up theirs in the quickest time. However, there is a catch because players can only use their noses to blow them up. The best technique is to stretch the balloon's neck over both nostrils, breath in through the mouth whilst pinching nose and balloon tight, then exhale hard

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Pegs

Strange Games reader Lemoncat sent in this childhood game, a variation on hide and seek and various defending the base type games. "Three wooden clothes pegs leaning against the bottom of a wall two either side and one resting on top. Two teams are formed, however many kids are up for it. The first team take it in turns to lob a tennis ball and smash the sticks far and wide, once this is achieved

Monday, January 28, 2008

The Krispy Kreme Challenge

As we are on a strange-food-related games then...If you are trying to lose some weight then moderate exercise is a great way to shed a few excess pounds but you should try and avoid the Krispy Kreme Challenge . The perfect sporting event for all budding Homer Simpsons is held annually in Raleigh, North Carolina and was started in 2004 by the state's university students.Around 3000 competitors run

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Wagon Wheel Rolling Championship...even more biscuit fun

Continuing the theme of unusual games involving biscuits there is news of an exciting event in May. The world's first Wagon Wheel Rolling Championships to be held in the Black Horse pub near Slough. Slough is the birthplace of the famously large, chocolate covered marshmallow biscuit and this event will celebrate its 60th birthday. The competition itself is a bit like a biscuit bagatelle...each

Friday, January 18, 2008

Biscuit Throwing~more biscuit fun

Staying with the theme of fun with biscuits we have Biscuit ThrowingThe one biscuit you should never pick if you enter a dunking competition, the humble Rich Tea, is the very one chosen for its aerodynamic properties in Biscuit Throwing. The World Biscuit Throwing Championships, an irregularly held charity event, were first held at the 2002 Glendale Show, Northumberland. Contestants have three

Friday, January 11, 2008

Strange Games with Biscuits: Malteser Blow Football & Competitive Biscuit Dunking

Inspired by the advertisement for the delicious ball shaped chocolates Malteser Blow Football is a great game for football fixated chocoholics everywhere. Make two teams containing two players. One player from each team forms a goal by kneeling down on opposite sides of a small table so that their bottom lips are at table level, they now open their mouths as wide as possible. Their team mates
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