Читать книгу Montegue Blister’s Strange Games: and other odd things to do with your time - Alan Down - Страница 22

Is there a better sight than that of a group of adults reliving their early childhood with a Bottom Shuffling Competition? There is much to be said for regressing to one’s childhood whilst playing one of the inane, stupid games below.

Drinking Competition is an old party game. For two or more players at a time, each is given a cup of water and a teaspoon and the aim is to drink the water as quickly as possible using only the teaspoon. For adults, replace the water with an alcoholic drink or try a paired drinking competition: pair players up and give them each a drink and teaspoon, as before, but now they must feed each other simultaneously in the fastest time possible.

Human Knotting is a game that exemplifies the maxim ‘the more the merrier’ as everyone is tied up in knots. All players, bar one, link hands in a long line. Both ends of the line then begin to thread themselves through the others, pulling those behind them (always keeping hold of each others’ hands) and continue in this way until a human knot has been created. The solitary player now has to unknot the rest of the players in the quickest time possible.

Collapsing Bridges is tremendous fun—as long as you don’t have back problems or a phobia of being trapped under heavy weights.

For two evenly sized players; one makes the ‘bridge’ by kneeling on the floor and then placing their hands on the ground, leaving adequate space for the second player to crawl beneath their stomach. This second player crawls through a maximum of three times and the player being the bridge has to decide on one of those times to collapse (much of the excitement of the game is not knowing when this will happen). This they do by letting their weight take over and flopping onto the player crawling beneath them. The aim of the crawler is to get free in the quickest time possible. The bridge player cannot use arms and legs to keep the other trapped, but must use purely their weight.

Bucking Bronco has been played by every child at one time or another but few carry on playing to adulthood—which is a shame because it improves and gets much funnier as you get older. For two players, one plays the Bronco by kneeling on the floor and supporting their upper body with their arms. The rider now sits on them, not in the centre of the back but nearer the bottom, takes their feet off the floor and holds onto the collar of the Bronco with one hand only. It is now the Bronco’s role to dislodge the rider in the quickest time using sudden movements, spins and turns, but keeping knees and hands on the floor at all times.