Bored Games
Age: 17
Postmark: California
This week…tell us about a game you used to play.
Name:
Number of Players:
Recommended Ages:
Objective (How do you win?):
Rules:
As always, you can interpret this any way you want…
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Name: “Heads Up Seven Up”
Number of Players: 14 or more (classroom of students)
Recommended Ages: 5 to 13
Objective: Guess which one of the seven students standing in front of the classroom put your thumb down, in order to switch positions with that individual and become a tagger. The objective of the tagger is to remain a tagger as long as possible.
Rules: Seven students in a classroom are selected to be “taggers.” The remaining students must put their heads down and thumbs up. The taggers circulate the room and each tagger chooses one student to be their target. The tagger must gently put the selected students thumb down indicating that he/she was tagged. When all seven taggers had each chosen one individual they all meet at the front of the room and say “Heads Up Seven Up.” The seven students with their thumbs down stand up and must correctly guess who has tagged them. If the student is correct he/she switches positions with the tagger and if the student guesses incorrectly they must sit down and hopefully have better luck next time around. This is repeated until the teacher decides to go back to teaching or the bell has rung indicating the end of the school day.
Ah yes… we used to play this too. It was very fun, though sometimes frustrating. When you finally get tagged, there’s only a small chance you guess right. And it seems every person that I chose when I finally got to tag guessed me right away. I’m slightly ashamed to admit that my friends and I would cheat. Yes, I wanted to win that badly.
So the reason your head was down was so that you wouldn’t be able to see the person who tagged you, and it would be more or less a purely chance based game. Well, there were two main tactics that I used to bend the “luck” in my favor. The classic way was laying your forehead on the edge of the desk, with your arms wrapped in front of your head. Your eyes are able to look straight down at the carpet. Your arms tightly coiled around you, nobody suspects a thing. With a little practice, you can see any potential tagger’s shoes. This is enough information to pick them out from the seven taggers. And it’s nearly impossible to detect. Another approach is putting your chin on the desk, and laying your arms one on top of the other in front of your eyes. You can part your arms just a tad bit to see who is tagging you. Easier to detect, but more comfortable.
As the word got out about ways to cheat and other people started doing it, strategies were eventually developed to beat these cheat tactics. At one point, we were letting people see the shoes of a would-be tagger, and then tagged them from behind with another person. They were always surprised when they guessed wrong.
Name: Ninja Tag
Number of Players: As many as you want, but having too many people playing at once can cause confusion about who is “it.”
Recommended Ages: Between the ages of 5 and 25
Objective (How do you win?): The objective of the game is to not be it. Ninja tag is similar to traditional tag, but with a twist. The difference between ninja tag and regular tag is that ninja tag adds parkour, free running, into the game. For example, my friends and I play at a massive playground that is fairly close to our neighborhood. The playground is perfect because it has giant wooden castles connected by bridges, slides, monkey bars, and much more. This makes the game much more interesting than traditional tag because you can climb, run, jump, and slide your way to freedom when being chased. Also, it is recommended that you play at night to make the game even more interesting.
Rules: If a person asks you if you are “it”, you must tell the truth or you are automatically “it” or remain “it.” The only safe area on the ground is the concrete, anything else is considered lava and whoever touches it is automatically “it.” When you become “it,” you must give the person who tagged you a two-minute head start before you are able to tag them back.
Well about 6 months ago, I stopped playing one of my favorite games I have ever participated in. The game gets lots of fire over it taking over people’s lives, or causing people to not be social, but I never had that issue. The game I used to play is World of Warcraft for the PC. World of Warcraft is a type of game called a massively multiplayer online role playing game. People also call these MMO’s for short. At any one moment while playing this game there are hundreds of others, if not thousands also playing. This allows for a lot of social interaction between new people while playing.
A lot of news reports talk about how this game ruins the social lives of people, but I never had that issue. I played it World of Warcraft occasionally, and still had a life outside of the house. Even with this though, I would only recommend the game for people ages 16 or over. This is not just because of the nature of the videogame though, it is mostly because of the nature of the other people that participate in the game. A lot of the players are older and talk about things that a pre-teen should not see.
The other neat thing about the game is that there really is no way to completely win the game. There are dungeons and bosses that can be defeated, but there really is no end to the amount of things you can do while playing. This is because there are also player vs. player matches where you fight other teams of players for victory. Even if you think you have completed everything it is most likely there are still hundreds of quests still out in the world. So it could be stated that the objective is to beat every quest, but that is a nearly impossible objective that I do not believe anyone has attained.
The one of the issues with the game is the learning curve. World of Warcraft is not a game that anyone can just pick up and play, it takes some time to learn how to play it, and the premise of the game. This did not turn me off though; I played and learned stuff from my friends that also played the game.
Name:
“Rock Game”
Number of Players:
The Rock Game must be played by at least two people. However, it is recommended to play with no less than five players. For the game to truly take form, six to eight players are necessary.
Recommended Ages:
5-15 years
Objective:
The object of the game is to be the first player to complete two laps through the obstacle course. Two or three players run the course at a time. During officially sanctioned Rock Game tournaments, a single elimination, head-to-head format is used.
Game Setup:
There is only one course that is currently in use. This is at my Aunt Ree’s house. Racers begin in the side yard, at the bottom of the ditch. They will make their way around the house, traveling first through the backyard and then around to the front. After two laps have been completed in this direction (clockwise), runners advance to the large oak tree just past the ditch. Touching this tree signifies the end of the race. The game is meant to be played at night, and is more fun in light rain.
Players who are not racers are assigned to one of two different positions. These players become the obstacles in the obstacle course. Unlike the trees, bushes, puddles, and other naturally occurring obstacles, the players deliberately try to hinder racers’ progress. The two positions are:
1. Rock – Two players are assigned as Rocks. Rocks are located at the start of the ditch (really a short, steep hill that produces a grassy, valley-like area). Their job is to tumble (roll, fall, etc.) down the slope in an attempt to knock the racers back down the slippery hill. It is best to pick a target before the round begins and discuss it with the other rock. The object is not to injure anyone, just to knock them back. After the racers pass the Rocks, they become Ghosts for the racers’ second lap (or first if they are fast enough).
2. Ghosts – Ghosts make up the remainder of the non-racing players. Ghosts are stationed throughout the course- lying in wait to surprise the racers. When racers pass by, the Ghosts leap out and try to deter the racers’ progress through whatever means they choose. Again, the object is not to inflict harm. It is advised that Ghosts hold the lead racer for longer than the losing racer. Ghosts may also change positions while racers are on the other side of the house, and it is recommended that they return to the large tree for the home stretch.
Rules:
1. A Rock will decide exactly when the race begins.
2. Two laps will be completed by the racers.
3. There is no rule against going after your brothers to try to make them lose.
4. Any controversy will be decided by voting.
5. When playing with a variety of ages, go after someone who is your size.
Variations/House Rules/Notes:
Details such as the number of laps, Rocks, Ghosts, racers, and others, are allowed to be modified if the players decide on it. Round-robin style seasons are a suggested way to play recreationally. Formal events will take place each Christmas and Easter.
Name: Man Hunt
Number of Players: Any even number above 6
Recommended Ages: 12 – 18
Objective (How do you win?): Similarly to hide and seek, the goal is to find the opposing players and tag them before they reach the base. If you are on the hiding team, the goal is to reach base before getting tagged.
Rules: Man hunt is a game that must be played at night. It is very similar to hide and seek. There are two teams with the same number of players on each team. Players are limited to boundaries set at the beginning of the game saying how far the team hiding may go. The hiding team must try to reach the assigned home base in order to be safe. The hiding team may not hide inside of any houses or buildings. May not hide in cars, and may not enter the backyards of nearby houses. If someone on the hiding team is tagged they must go to the assigned jail. Once in the jail they may be tagged out by a teammate, but the opposite team may guard the jail. Although they are allowed to guard the jail, they may not guard the home base.
Name: The Big Blue Ball Game
Number of Players: 2
Recommended Ages: 3-103
Objective: No real object besides throwing a ball up on a house and watching it bouncy down.
When I was 4 years old my Dad and I used to run around outside throwing a blue ball around kicking it, throwing it, bouncing it, everything. I used to love watching it hit the top of our roof and then bounce down. At that young age, I was amused by how high in the air my dad would throw the ball. Its a game I’ll always remember, even though it didn’t have a serious objective.
I really like this! It’s so simple, yet beautiful.
Name: Silent Ball
Number of Players: 4-20
Ages: 6-12
Objective: be the last person left standing.
In elementary school and in middle school my teachers would have us play a game on silent ball. All the students would sit on the top of their desks in the room and there would be one ball. Someone would throw the ball to someone else and you would have to catch the ball. As the game went on you would add things like clapping before you catch the ball. If you miss the ball your out and you sit down. The last person sitting on their desk wins the game.
In high school one of our favorite games to play in the classroom was seven up. When we completed class work and other stuff we would just say let’s play seven up. I wasn’t a big game fan but it was that everyone would put their heads down on the desks with their thumb up. There would be a certain amount of students up at the front of the room. And the students at the front of the room would walk around and push your thumb down on as many people as they could. Then when they got everyone they had you lift your head up and you had to guess which person it was that put your thumb down. If you got the correct person you would just simply switch places with the person. And it would go on like that for a while.
Another game we did that I vaguely recall on I don’t remember the name was a thing we did in math class it was like jeopardy in some way. There were multiple categories and each time you chose obviously you answered the question. Same as in the jeopardy show you either got the points or you didn’t.
My girlfriends from high school for some odd reason we also had like a habit of coming over to my house after school or on weekends and play Monopoly. I’m sure I don’t need to give an in depth explanation as I’m sure most if not everyone has played Monopoly. Honestly not even sure we followed the rules correctly. We just did it for fun to enjoy our time together and to pass time.
Name: Baaji
Number of Players: 2-4 Players
Recommended Ages: For all ages
Objective (How do you win?): The point is to get all four of your pieces into the center square of the game board first.
Rules: This game is for two to four players and there is a cardboard box with 39 squares. Each player has four pieces and every time you roll the dice, you move that many spaces around the board. If you roll a pair, it is your turn again. There is a big track and then a small one. When you are on either track, if another player lands on the same spot as you, your piece goes back to your home spot. Once you complete the big track, you can enter the small track. To win, you need to get all four of your pieces in the middle square of the board.
Game: Crashin’ Bashers
Players: Two
All ages
Objective: Knock your opponents Lego guy off his vehicle before he knocks off yours.
Rules:
We each had equal time to prepare a Lego vehicle that was not only designed to protect a Lego character, but also dismantle the other car. Four wheels per cart is the standard setting, but if players are feeling rambunctious, then six, or even eight wheels may be used. After the construction period, you sit a few feet apart and say “1, 2, 3” and smash the two vehicles together. Your hand, however, cannot be touching the cart when they collide. Parts will fall off and must be put in each players discard pile. Wheels may always be reattached (unless starting with six, then wheels can be attached to total four). After 5 rounds, the pieces remaining on the cart may be rearranged in a strategic fashion to protect your guy as effectively as possible. The first guy to fall off loses. There are ties in this game. If both guys fall off in the same round, it is a tie. You can call it a tie or redo the round but reattaching all pieces used in the round (basically another pit stop).
Copyright: North Hills Brothers
Name: Sorry!
Players: 2-4
Ages: 8+
Objective: Get all 4 game pieces around the board first before your opponents.
Rules:
Each person has four game pieces. All the pieces start in your start box and in order for them to be eligible to move around the board you must draw either a 1 or 2 card. Everyone takes turns picking cards and each card indicates how many spaces you are able to move one of your pieces. If another player lands on any spot that you are currently on around the board you automatically get sent back to the start box. There are however some cards that say you can push any opponents piece back to start. Whoever gets all four pieces around the board first wins. It’s a very easy game to play and gets exciting at times.
Name: Bang
Players: 6+ (The more the merrier)
Ages: 8+
Objective: To not get shot
Rules:
Everyone stands in a circle. One person starts by shouting “bang!” and pointing a pretend “gun” at someone else around the circle that is not next to them. Then the person who got “shot” ducks while the two people next to the shot person turn to face each other. As these two players turn to face each other, they also shout “bang!” while pointing a pretend gun at each other. The person who shoots and “shots” the other player first is safe while the other person is out/dead and steps out of the circle. The game continues in this fashion, until four players remain. Then everyone comes back into the circle to begin again.
Variations include the “dead” person not stepping out of the game and also saying other random noises/words besides “bang!” (i.e. “zap!”). Be creative! This is fast paced game that can get pretty crazy and just makes people laugh. It is often played while at camp or club meetings and there is free time, but no equipment or pieces for other types of games are available.
Name:
-Assassin
Number of Players:
-unlimited
Recommended Ages:
-8+
Objective:
-each player is given a picture, card, etc. that they are supposed to keep away from other plays
-players are to hid from each other
-goal is try to and find and “kill” as many players as possible by collecting their item
-the last person standing wins
Rules:
-once you capture someone else’s item they give you all the items they have collected from their victims
-the “dead” then go to a safe area to wait for the game to be over
-the game takes place in a limited space of an area
Name: Capture the Flag
Number of Players: 6 or more
Recommended Ages: 8+
Objective:
To find the other teams flag before they find yours and bring it back to your side without getting caught.
Rules:
Everyone is divided up into two different teams. You also divide up the area in half and each team gets a side. Each team will get a flag that they have to hide somewhere on their side, but the flag as to be slightly visible so it can be found. Then people go to the other side and look for the other teams flag. If one team finds the flag, people from the other team can tag them which forces them to drop the flag where they were and return to their side. The team that gets the other team’s flag to their side first wins.
Name:Red Rover
number of players: 6 or more
Recommended ages: 7+
Objective: You have to try and get as many people on your side
Rules: You get evenly divided into two teams, everyone has to hold eachothers arms, next you yell out someones name on the opposite side and tell them to come over to your side. That person then has to try to run into the line of people. If the person can break through your line then the person gets to go back to the original team they came from, if the person cannot break the line they have to now be on the original team. The team that gets everyone on their side first wins.
Name: Punch Buggy
Number of Players: 2+
Recommended Ages: 6 and up
Objective: Punch people before they punch you
Rules: Punch Buggy started out as a simple game where people bunch each other whenever they see a Volkswagon Beetle. There are general rules for this such as No Punch Back where the person can’t punch you twice for the same Beetle and then then there are individual rules such as if the car moves you can punch for it again. This comes into play when you see the same car parked in a different spot every day or if it is driving around the block. Additional adaptions of Punch Buggy include, but are most certainly not limited to Yellow Car, ‘PT Cruiser you’re gonna get a bruiser’, Jeep Jab, Orange Commercial Vehicle, Ghetto Car, Mini Cooper, Box Car, Yellow Tandem Bicycle and just plain-strange vehicles such as iridescent purple cars or the painted trash trucks.
Name: Backyard Fear Factor
Number of players: Ideally, more than 4, no less than that.
Recommended ages: 8 and up
Objective: Whoever successfully completes the most stunts (whether it be crossing the monkey bars with one hand, eating bugs, jumping off the roof of our tree house) in the shortest amount of time, wins.
Rules: One player takes on the role of Joe Rogan, the host of Fear Factor, and decides on the stunts that will be completed by the “contestants”. Incompletion of the given stunt means disqualification. Winner gets bragging rights for a week.
Name: Blind Mans Bluff
Number of Players: unlimited
Recommended Age: 9-up
Objective: Blind fold one person, tree is the base. You yell things and let the blind man find you
Rules: Cant move outside the boundaries, obviously and you cannot lie to the blind man.
Name: Don’t Touch the Lava
Number of Players: If extremely lonely or bored by yourself, if not handful of people would work.
Recommended Ages: As long as you can walk, jump, and have a little imagintion you can play.
Objective (How do you win?): You cannot touch the floor (or the designated “lava” area) and as long as you don’t you are still alive in the game.
Rules: The only rules is that you have stay alive, the world is your playground. Have fun
Name: Wall Ball
Number of Players: 3 or more
Recommended Ages: 8 and up
Objective: Be the last one standing
Rules: People throw a ball against a wall and catch it when it bounces back. If someone goes to catch it and they miss then they have to run and touch the wall before another person throws the ball against the wall. If the person touches the wall first then they are still in. If the ball touches the wall first then the person is out.
Name : Egyptian rat screw
Players: 3+
Ages: 12~40
Objective: get all of the cards
Rules: everyone flips a card sequentially. If double cards, ie, two twos, show up in a row, then everyone slaps the pile. The first slapper gets the pile. You slap for doubles, sandwiches, and jokers. If a face card shows up, the person after the person who flipped the face card puts down the number of cards represented by the face card. Jack is one. Are and ace is 4. If the person after the face card flipper gets a face card, then the next person flips the cards represented by the face card.
Sorry, my post got messed up 🙁 if no face card is drawn after the first face card, then the original face card gets the entire pile!
Name: sharks and minos
Number of players: 10+ (the more people, the more fun the game is to play)
Recommend ages: 8 and up
Objective: The objective of the game is to run across the football field with out being touched by the people that are called sharks. The last person standing, the last mino, is the winner of the game.
Rules: To begin the game, you have to determine who will be the starting shark in the fishbowl, which is the football games. People usually determine this by doing rock, paper,or scissors or the game bubble gum in a dish. Once one has determined the sharks, the remaining people, the minos, line across the goal line of the football field and the sharks line across the 50 yard line of the field. Once everybody is ready, the sharks yell, “Minos out!”, to ultimately release the minos and allow them to run across the field. Then, its the sharks job to run up and tag as many people as they can so they can turn them into sharks. The remaining people line across the other side of the field to run out and do the process all over the again.
Name: Sardines
Number of players: 3+
Recommended ages: 5+
Objective: This game is like the opposite of Hide-and-go-seek. Don’t be the last person to find the hider.
Guidelines:
– Define boundaries and possibly a time limit
– Select a person (or people if a big enough group) to have hide somewhere within the bounds.
– Have this person (or people) hide. Provide them with a reasonable amount of time, based on area in bounds.
– At length, everyone else goes out to seek the original hider(s), as individuals or small groups.
– When a person if found, hide with them. Continue until everyone is hiding, or crying.
Name: Phase 10
Number of players: 2-6
Recommended ages: 6+
Objective:Complete each phase indicated on the “phase card”. Be the first person to complete all ten phases. In the case of a tie, the player with the most points wins.
Guidelines: everyone gets ten cards. Each round requires you to complete a different task. The first for example is two sets of three, the next is a set of three and a run of four. They get increasingly more difficult until the end. Phase ten is a set of three and a set of five.
Name: Ceasar’s Rocks
Number of players: 2 or more
Recommended ages: 11+
Objective: kill boredum by hitting rocks around with sticks
Rules: 3 medium sized rocks are bound together with duct tape. Tie the bounded rocks to a rope and throw the rocks over a tree branch. Pull the rocks up with the other side of the rope so the rocks are hanging 4-5 feet off the ground and tie the rope to a tree. Each person has a strong stick. You just hit the rocks around and avoid getting hit. If your stick breaks, the rocks go over the tree, break, or the rope gets messed up you lose and a new game is started. This is not a safe game so please play with extreme caution.
Name: Poop Sticks
Number of players: at least 2
Recommended ages: 5 and up
Objective: Whoevers stick gets to the other side of the bridge first, wins
Rules: There really are no rules to this game. You’ll just need a bridge, and a small stream. Everybody grabs a small stick and throws in it the water at one side of the bridge and runs to the opposite side to see whose stick comes sailing out first. Obviously make sure you know which stick is yours
Name: Dance Battle
Number of Players: two
Recommended ages: seven and up
Objective: to make it seem like you were dancing with your partner, but really being fighting them. Whoever hit’s the floor first wins.
Rules: There were no rules, me and my brother watched it happen on spy kids and made a game out of it.
Name: Monopoly
Number of Players: Minimum 2
Recommended ages: 7 and up
Objective: Own the most properties and have the most money
Rules: Too many…
name: mummy
number of players: 4 or more
recommend ages 5 and up
objective:the objective is to not get caught
rules: this game is played on a trampoline. One person becomes the mummy and lies down in the center. then there is some saying that starts the game but I don’t remember. The mummy stands up and with his eyes close and he has to try and tag someone on the trampoline. The rest of the players have to try to avoid the mummy. when someone gets tagged they become the mummy and it starts over.
There are many different ways to not get tagged or get other people tagged. The easiest way for the mummy to find you is by noise or movement since when you move on the trampoline it becomes easy to tell where you are. So to hide from the mummy you just have to stay still and not make any noise. The other players can mess you up here though. They can run by others so that mummy goes over there or they can make noise. The one way to cheat or mess with the mummy is to go on the outside of the trampoline. If only one person does this they get called out but if everyone does this it is really fun to see what the mummy does.
Name: Hide N’ Go Seek
Number of players: 5+
Age: 7+
Objective: The objective of the ones who are hiding is to stay hidden as long as possible in your best hiding spot. The objective of the seeker is to find any one of the people hiding and tag them.
Rules: The seeker must count to 60 at the base while everyone else hides. The game can be played indoors or out, but boundaries must be specified; anyone outside of them is automatically “it”. The seeker proceeds to hunt the ones hiding after counting, and must find and tag any of them in order for that person to be “it”. The one who was found takes the role of the seeker. There is no time limit or score, the point is to just have fun!