The Games we Play

Is Self Isolation getting to you yet? Are you bored yet? Have you texted your friends &/or family with

‘I’m Boooooooooooored’

Have you dyed your hair pink? Or tried to make that soufflé? Built the Hogwarts Castle out of Lego or picked up the Ukulele that Aunt Fred bought last Christmas determined to learn it, only to discover it’s out of tune and you don’t have the ear to tune it? Or have you played Animal Crossing so much that you expected the Amazon Courier to be a Panda when he knocked on the door?

Yes? Well maybe you need to try something else, how about some good old fashion games? And when we say Old Fashioned we mean Old Fashioned. Yes forget the VR Headset and the Nintendo Switch, here are some classic past-times to try…

So we are assuming you are stuck in a house with one other, if not then it’s time your left brain met your right!

And if killing Zombies is boring, if making cupcakes is over and if you can’t learn Swahili then lets try a few simple games and creative outlets…

First off you may not be the next Bob Ross but painting can be very relaxing and pass the time, so you can follow along with his tutorials on YouTube and paint one of those amazing artworks of mountains and streams, a little hut in the woods or a crashing sea, all you need is a canvas and some oil paint – oh and an easel, some liquid white primer (Linseed Oil and White Oil paint mixed to a loose consistency, painted all over the canvas) and about a dozen 2″, 1″ & Fan Brushes! It’s easy to follow along if you have the set up

If that’s not for you try this;

Colouring In Pictures for Adults

Print out a couple of pages on the printer, get some Felt Tip pens and sit down to fill in the pictures, it’s supposed to be very soothing and relaxing, all the hard work is done for you and there is no wrong colouring.

Board Games

Of course we all have the Scrabble Board or Trivial Pursuit in the cupboard under the stairs, but if you are alone or have thrown the Monopoly Board skywards in frustration then maybe some older games might work.

Seriously when was the last time you played Uno? Or Patience if you are alone? If you haven’t bet your life away to the other person stuck in isolation with you

When was the last time…

You played Shove Ha’Penny?

It’s quite simple and just requires a board about 20×14″ with 10 lines drawn across it, creating 9 beds. If you don’t have a board you can use a table, draw the lines with chalk. Apparently my Dad’s Grandmother’s Kitchen Table was permanently scared with these lines where everyone used to play this game in her kitchen.

The Rules:

Two players (so you need another person, or a left hand and a right hand if you are alone!) place 1 of their 5 coins on the end of the board/table, with an edge overhanging and Shove the penny up the board to land in one of the ‘Beds’ and repeat taking turns.

At the end of the turn each coin that is completely within a ‘bed’ (between two horizontal lines and within the bordering vertical lines) scores a point for that player in that bed. The points are scored with chalk marks in the squares at either end of the bed on the edge of the board, one player owning the right side, the other, the left. The aim is to get three chalk marks in each of the squares – three scores in each of the nine beds. However, once three scores have been made in a bed, any further scores in that bed will be given to the opponent instead, unless the opponent already has three scores in the bed. The one exception to this is the winning point which must be scored properly by the winning player, not given away.

How About Quoits?

You remember this! It’s basically a stick and some rings, All you need is a Pringles Tube, cut into rings or something to make some larger rings, Cable Ties covered in fabric, or rings of stiff card and a wooden stick that will stand on its end and narrow enough for the rings to go over it and then you simply position the stick at one end of the room or (if you are lucky enough to have one) the garden and start throwing. There are no set rules, you can set wagers, bets or even dares to the losers.

If you live in a Trendy area you will have seen enough bearded blokes and girls in dungarees playing…

Kubb or Moikky,

This is basically Trendy speak for ‘No Ball Games Allowed’ – Ever noticed the Hipster don’t play games with round balls!

These are variants on Skittles, but if you don’t have a bag of skittle pins or a Petanque pitch in your back garden, then this is easier to make on your own if you have some old bits of wood laying around. Simply cut them down and paint a number on them.

Set them up in an area about 10m long and Place the king in the centre of the playing field, with 5 kubbs placed at regular intervals along each baseline – one at either end, one in the middle and the remaining two equi-distant between the first three.

Kubb is played by one team against another. A good number in each team is 1 or 2 players. Kubbs are thrown into the middle of the playing field and are erected where they end up. The game gets a little complicated from here so here are the rules in detail.

But if you want a much simpler version try this;

Moikky is basically Skittles but you throw sticks at sticks! Basically cut a few Sticks about 20cm and 10 skittles about 15cm long and then thrown the sticks at the skittles, there is no rule says you have to set them up in a triangle, you can set them up all over the garden/ room/ neighbourhood if you want! You just have to be able to knock them down from the throw line. Or you can always store up the empty Baked Beans Cans and play…

Tin Cann Alley.

Stack 10 cans on top of each other in a pyramid and throw a ball or a pair of balled up socks at it, it makes a lot of noise and is very destructive!

If all this is too much for you, you can always try

Origami

The Japanese Art of Folding Paper into random shapes, animals, flowers even projectile guns and of course the one everyone knows, paper airplanes!

There are millions of possibilities and pretty things to make and all you need is the stack of printer paper you’re not using any more!

But my favourite Rainy Day Game ever from being stick inside during ‘Wet Play time’ at School, was;

Shove Football/Rugby or Penny Football

You simply need a table – flat and wide enough for two people to sit opposite and still reach across, 3 coins for Football, 1 for Rugby and a ruler or folded piece of paper.

Football – Simply place the 3 coins on the table, a smaller one for the ‘Ball’ and two larger coins (of the same denomination) at either end.

One player shoves, ‘Kicks’ that is flicks or pings his coin with his ruler (or folded card) at the ‘Ball’ and tries to get it through the goal – two marks a hand’s width apart on the edge of the opponent’s end of the table.

Then the other player flicks his coin to move the Ball away from Player 1’s coin and move the ball down the table.

The Goal can be defined by placing fingers over the marks when the ball is likely to be shot at goal. Fouls and penalties are awarded if a player cheats, knocks the ball or his coin with anything other than the ruler.

Rugby is similar, but you only use one coin and you shove it towards the opponent’s side of the table, aiming to get the coin to rest hanging over the end, ‘A Try’ and not fall off but with enough overhang to allow the player to lean across the table and flick the coin up off the table and catch it.

If they catch the coin, they get a point and then can try for ‘A Conversion’. This involves a goal to be set up by the other player.

Player 2 interlocks both hands, with thumbs pointing down and resting on the edge of the table and creating two L-shapes with the thumb and index-finger of each hand. With thumbs pointing up and creating a goal.

The player spins the coin on the table and before the spin dies, the player should attempt to trap the coin between his two thumbs. Timing is important! Without lifting knuckles off the table, the coin should be catapulted up over the posts and into the opponents lap (or in their face if you weren’t that accurate!! For two more points.

And if by any chance you do have more than 2 people in your house you could always play a game of Cogent Role Playing as explained on this blog a while back.