KounterKlockwise

In our last podcast we briefly discussed some of our favorite games from childhood. We only spent a few minutes on the subject, so I thought I’d continue that conversation by creating a list of the Top 15 Favorite Games From My Childhood. For games to qualify they had to be played in school, gym class, neighborhoods, playgrounds, or camps. There are no video games or board games on this list. I played many board games and video games when I was younger, but that’s another list.

There are different rules, variations, and names for some of these games. If you remember any games you enjoyed playing that aren’t on this list please leave a comment or shoot us an email. Without further ado…

• #15) Seven Up – This game was played in the classroom. Seven students are selected and come to the front of the room. The teacher says, “Heads down, thumbs up!” and the students who are not selected then put their heads down, close their eyes, and put up their thumb. The seven students walk through the room, secretly pressing down one thumb each and then returning to the front of the room. The teacher then calls, “Heads up, seven up!” All the students raise their heads and the seven whose thumbs were pressed stand up. Each in turn names the person they think pressed their thumb. If they are correct, the thumb-presser sits down and the winning student takes their place. The game then starts again. Sometimes the thumb-pressers cheat and select more than one person which messes everything up and you have to start all over. I used to always put my head down but open my eyes and look over the edge of my desk to identify the shoes of the person who pressed my thumb down. I think teachers enjoyed playing this game because it was a way to keep everyone quiet.
• #14) Pencil Wars – Pencil wars were big back in middle school. Two people just take turns trying to break each other’s pencils. One person, the holder, holds his/her pencil on both ends with both hands. The other person strikes the pencil with their pencil — trying to break it. You go back and forth until someone’s pencil breaks. Obviously there wasn’t much to this game, but I remember going through tons of pencils in middle school playing this game. Teachers weren’t too fond of this game. Also, certain pencils were made stronger and sturdier than others, so kids with those pencils had an advantage.
• #13) Twenty One – This was a basketball game we played at camps or on someone’s hoop. You can play with dozens of people, but three is the ideal number. The object of the game is to score exactly 21 points. Player #1 starts the game by shooting a free throw (or three pointer if you’re older). If he makes it he gets it back for another (up to three in a row), if he misses it the other two players go for the rebound. They must clear the ball past the foul line and then try to score while the other players defend them. All misses must be taken back to the foul line before trying to score. If you score you then get to shoot free throws (or three pointers) until you miss and the game continues like that until someone gets 21 points. Baskets are worth 2 points and free throws are worth 1 point. There is an additional variation to this game called “Tips”. In this case if a player tips in your miss without touching the ground they are awarded 3 points and your score goes back to 0 (or if you are above 14 points your score reverts to 14). I still love playing this game.
• #12) Bat Fishing – Okay, this one isn’t really a game and it’s unique to my neighborhood, but I included it anyway. I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of trees. Bats lived in these trees and they would come out at dusk. When we noticed them flying around we would take small rocks or pebbles and chuck them up into the air. We weren’t trying to hit the bats (though that DID happen occasionally), we were just trying to get the rocks in the bat’s sonar area. They would sense it and think it was food. The bats would swoop down and try to grab the rocks. Our goal was to try and get the bats to come as close to the ground as possible. I think part of what made this so fun was the feat that the bats would swoop down and attack us. One time a bat swooped down and went between one of my friend’s legs. I think this was when we stopped playing this game.
• #11) Steal the Bacon – This game was played in middle school gym class. I’m sure most kids remember this game. The object of Steal the Bacon is take the “bacon” back to your own side without being caught. Two teams are chosen, and there’s one umpire — usually the gym teacher. The members of each team are numbered. They form two opposing lines and place the ball (the bacon) in the exact center between them. The umpire then calls out a number. The players on each side who are assigned that number are the players for that round. Neither player may touch the other until someone touches the bacon. Once a player touches the bacon however, the other player may tag him/her. If a player is able to grab the bacon and carry it back over to his/her own side, that team scores a point. If a player is tagged after touching the bacon and before he/she returns their own side, the team that tagged him/her scores a point. This usually involves the two kids running out and hovering over the bacon, waiting for a slight advantage to grab it and run back before the other player can react. I was fast as a kid so I was super good at this game.
• #10) Run Down – This was also called Hot Box. We played it in gym class. Most people who know me know that I don’t like baseball, but this was one baseball drill (turned game) that I really enjoyed. You set up the two bases about 20 feet apart. Two kids would be selected to be “it”, one at each base. The other kids would divide and go to the bases. The game started by the two kids who were “it” tossing the ball to each other. The object of the game was to time running from one base to the other without being tagged by the ball. If you were tagged then you were “it” and the game continued, usually until all the kids were too tired to run anymore.
• #9) Bloody Murder (or Ghost in the Graveyard) – We used to play this game in our neighborhood. It’s best to play at nighttime when the moon is out. One person is chosen as “it” and he/she goes out to hide somewhere while the other players stay on base and count “One o’clock, Two o’clock, etc.” until they get to Midnight. The players go out looking for the person who is “it”. If you spot the person hiding you have to yell out “Bloody Murder!” and everyone runs back to base while the “it” person tries to catch and tag people. If you are tagged you must go out and hide in the next round too. This goes on until one person is left and then they are “it” and the game starts all over again. I used to change into black clothing if we we’re going to play this game.
• #8) Spud - This was another game we played in gym class. All players form a circle and count off (they must remember their number.) One player is chosen to be “it” and is given a ball. He/She throws the ball high up into the air and calls out another player’s number. Everybody runs away except for the player with that number. He/She must run to the ball. When he/she gets the ball, he/she calls, “Spud!” very loudly. Everybody must freeze when they hear, “Spud!” Then, the player with the ball can take two big steps towards any player and throw the ball at him/her. If that player is hit by the ball, he/she becomes “it.” If not, the player who called “Spud!” is still “it.” I’m not sure, but I think if you tried to dodge the throw you become “it” too.
• #7) Sharks and Minnows – We used to play this in the pool at my house in Michigan. It can also be played on dry land, but it’s most fun in the water. The game starts out with one person selected as the shark and the rest as the minnows. The shark starts in the water on one side of the pool. The minnows begin to dive in to swim to the opposing wall. If the shark manages to tag a minnow before he/she touches the wall, that minnow becomes a shark in the next round. After all the minnows have either reached the wall or been tagged, the shark(s) swim to the other wall and the cycle starts again. If some of the minnows refuse to enter the pool, the shark may swim to the other wall and tag it after waiting a reasonable amount of time; whoever was still out of the pool when the shark tags the wall becomes a shark. The game is played until all of the minnows have been tagged, then the last person tagged becomes the shark who starts the next round. Some people play with the rules that the shark cannot tag you if you are under water, so the goal is to swim all the way across without coming up for air.
• #6) KnockOut – This was another basketball game we played at camps. You stand at the free throw line in a single file (as many kids as possible, no max). The first two in line have balls. The first player in line begins the game by taking an initial shot. As soon as the first player has taken the initial shot, the second player takes his or her shot. If either player’s initial shot does not go in, he or she may rebound the basketball and attempt to make a basket from any location (most often, a layup would be attempted because it is an easier shot to make than a standard jump shot). Once a player makes a basket, he or she must pass the ball to the next person at the front of the line and then go to the end of the line (if there are only two players, a player takes the ball with him back to the free-throw line to attempt his or her next shot). If the second player makes his or her shot before the first person, the first person is “knocked out” and is out until a new game starts. If the first player makes his or her shot before the second person, the next player at the start of the line may shoot as soon as he or she receives the ball from the first player. This new player then attempts to knock out the original second player. The game continues until everyone is knocked out except for one final player, who is deemed the winner. Unfortunately this game is best with a lot of players so it really only worked at basketball camps, but I loved it.
• #5) Freeze Tag (or TV Tag or Flashlight Tag, etc.) – Everyone knows how to play freeze tag. One person is “it” and he/she runs around tagging other kids. If tagged you become frozen unless someone comes by and unfreezes you by tagging you. The alternate versions of this are more fun. We used to play TV Tag which just meant you had to be tagged AND name a TV show to be unfrozen. No TV show could be repeated. You can do this with anything really. Apparently some (geeky) adults play this with Nobel Peace Prize Winners instead of TV shows. Flashlight tag is similar, but you play it at night, in the dark. If someone shines the flashlight on you you are frozen unless someone unfreezes you. Fun times!
• #4) Sardines – Sardines is another neighborhood based hide-and-seek game. It’s best played with a large group of kids. The whole group hides their eyes and counts out loud together to 50, while one person goes and hides. Then everyone begins to look for the sardine. When you spot the sardine, you don’t tell anyone, then when no one is looking, you slip in and hide with the sardine. Eventually everyone starts to disappear, and the one left notices he’s all alone, and rather embarrassed to be the last one left. The first one to find the sardine, gets to hide as the sardine in the next round. Imagine 5 or 10 kids all huddled together in a tight spot trying to keep from laughing and being seen. I loved playing this in our neighborhood.
• #3) Red Butt (or Wall Ball) – This was played at the playground during recess in middle school. It’s a very sadistic game, but I loved it. You play with tons of other kids. The basic activity of the game is throwing the ball up against the wall, letting it bounce on the ground if you want, then catching it. The fun starts when one of two things happen: 1) if a person throws the ball and it touches the ground before hitting the wall or 2) a person fumbles or drops the ball in any way. When either of these things happen, the fumbler/bad thrower must run to the wall. Meanwhile another player is trying to throw the ball so that it hits the wall before the fumbler can touch the wall. If the fumbler can make it to the wall first, the game continues. If the ball gets there first, the fumbler has one out, then game play continues. If you get three outs you have to go up to the wall and stand there, spread eagle, with your butt facing out. Someone then gets to pelt you in the ass with the ball. If you flinch or look back before the throw comes they get to throw it again. I remember getting welts on my ass from playing this game, but it was tons of fun!
• #2) Kick the Can – This is a neighborhood game. Supposedly there are many variations to this game. I’ll just explain the version we played. You get an old coffee can or soad can and put it in the middle of a safe place because this is base, where at any given moment several people will be running toward it. One person is it. The rest of the crowd must go and hide. The “it” person leaves the base to go look for people. When they spot someone they must run back to the base and put their foot on the can and say, “I spy John Doe under the patio!” or “I spy Jane Doe running to kick the can!” When this happens the person who has been “spied” is out and must come to base while the “it” person continues to look for people. If, at any point, someone manages to sprint to the can and kick it without being caught then everyone on base is free to go hide again. The best bet is to wait until the “it” person leaves base to go looking for people and then sprint to the can before they can get back. I was good at this game because I was fast.
• #1) Capture the Flag – The classic favorite. Everyone knows this. But it’s still probably my top game. There are many variations, but here’s the gist: Team 1 had the front yard and Team 2 had the back yard, or a field was split between the two teams. The teams were given a time period, like 5 minutes, to hide their flag in their part of the yard. When the flag was hidden you call out that you were finished. Then you simply try to get the other teams flag. If you get caught and tagged by the opponent on their territory you had to go to jail and could only be freed by a teammate who grabs you when your opponent isn’t looking. The first team to capture the flag wins. In most versions you had to both get the flag, and bring it back to your side. This game is great to play when you have a large group of people and a house with a large front yard and backyard.

So that’s it. My list of Favorite Childhood Games. What are some of your favorite games from childhood?