Rules
The game typically splits players into two teams, one of "hunters" and one of "prey". A confined area called "jail" is marked. Games often have set boundaries of how far from the jail pursued players can go. [11]
The goal of the hunting team is to catch the "prey" by grabbing hold of them and performing a chant. [12] This chant varies between regions, with different versions of the game using chants such as "chain chain double chain, no break away" and "Ringolevio, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3". [13] If the pursued person breaks free at any point during this brief recitation, the person is not caught and can still play. If the chant is finished, the hunter takes the prey to jail (also called the "base" in some variations) and the captive is considered "out". [14]
The prey can free captured team members by entering the jail without being caught, tagging the captives and shouting, "All in! All in! Free-all!" (other phrases used include "All in, all in, all in, free allo" and "Olly olly oxen free"). [14]
Hide-and-seek is a popular children's game in which at least two players conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chosen player counting to a predetermined number with eyes closed while the other players hide. After reaching this number, the player who is "it" calls "Ready or not, here I come!" or "Coming, ready or not!" and then attempts to locate all concealed players.
The Diggers were a radical community-action group of activists and street theatre actors operating from 1966 to 1968, based in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Their politics have been categorized as "left-wing;" more accurately, they were "community anarchists" who blended a desire for freedom with a consciousness of the community in which they lived. The Diggers' central tenet was to be "authentic," seeking to create a society free from the dictates of money and capitalism.
The Human Be-In was an event held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Polo Fields on January 14, 1967. It was a prelude to San Francisco's Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol of American counterculture and introduced the word "psychedelic" to suburbia.
Robert Stewart Culin was an American ethnographer and author interested in games, art and dress. Culin played a major role in the development of ethnography, first concentrating his efforts on studying the Asian-Americans workers in Philadelphia. His first published works were "The Practice of Medicine by the Chinese in America" and "China in America: A study in the social life of the Chinese in the eastern cities of the United States", both dated 1887. He believed that similarity in gaming demonstrated similarity and contact among cultures across the world.
Darren Ray Woodson is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 1992 to 2003. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, and was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 1992 NFL draft with the 37th overall pick.
Tag is a playground game involving one or more players chasing other players in an attempt to "tag" and mark them out of play, typically by touching with a hand. There are many variations; most forms have no teams, scores, or equipment. Usually when a person is tagged, the tagger says, "It!" or "Tag, you're 'It'!" The last one tagged during tag is "It" for the next round. The game is known by other names in various parts of the world, including "running and catching" in India and "catch and cook" in the Middle East.
Kick the can, is an outdoor children's game related to tag, hide and seek, and capture the flag, played with as few as three to as many as several dozen players. The game is one of skill, strategy, stealth, and stamina.
The question of the origins of baseball has been the subject of debate and controversy for more than a century. Baseball and the other modern bat, ball, and running games – stoolball, cricket and rounders – were developed from folk games in early Britain, Ireland, and Continental Europe. Early forms of baseball had a number of names, including "base ball", "goal ball", "round ball", "fetch-catch", "stool ball", and, simply, "base". In at least one version of the game, teams pitched to themselves, runners went around the bases in the opposite direction of today's game, much like in the Nordic brännboll, and players could be put out by being hit with the ball. Just as now, in some versions a batter was called out after three strikes.
Stickball is a street game similar to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City and Philadelphia. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, typically a spaldeen, pensy pinky, high bouncer or tennis ball. The rules come from baseball and are modified to fit the situation. For example, a manhole cover may be used as a base, or buildings for foul lines. The game is a variation of stick and ball games dating back to at least the 1750s. This game was widely popular among youths during the 20th century until the 1980s.
Emmett Grogan was a founder of the Diggers, a radical community-action group of Improvisational actors in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. The Diggers took their name from the English Diggers (1649–1650), a radical movement opposed to feudalism, the Church of England and the British Crown.
Steven James Grogan is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats and was selected by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 1975 NFL draft.
Chinese handball is a form of American handball popular on the streets of New York City, Philadelphia, and Bridgewater during the 1950s, '60s, '70s, and '80s and still played today, mostly in New York City, Philadelphia, and San Diego. Different variations are played around the world. Its defining feature is that, unlike traditional handball, in Chinese or indirect handball, for a shot to be valid, the ball must hit the ground before it hits the wall. Because it is often played with large or irregular numbers of players, it is considered a more social and accessible alternative to conventional American handball, especially in schoolyard settings.
Forty Forty is a children's game combining elements of the games "It" and Hide and seek. One player is "on", or "It", and they must capture the other players by 'spying' them rather than by tagging as there is no physical contact with another player.
Skully is a children's game played on the streets of New York City and other urban areas. Sketched on the street usually in chalk, a skully board allows a game for two to six players. A sidewalk is sometimes used, offering greater protection from vehicular traffic; however, the asphalt on a typical city street is smoother and provides better game play than a bumpy concrete sidewalk.
Stoop ball is a game that is played by throwing a ball against a stoop on the pavement in front of a building. Historically, it has been popular in Brooklyn and other inner cities. In Boston, the game is known as "Up-Against." In Chicago, the game is known as "Pinners." In Chicago's Bridgeport area the game is called "Three Outs". The game is also known as "Off the Point". It first became popular after World War II.
The 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. In its third year under head coach Lloyd Carr, Michigan compiled a perfect 12–0 record, won the Big Ten Conference championship, defeated Washington State in the 1998 Rose Bowl, and was declared the national champion by the Associated Press, the National Football Foundation, and the Football Writers Association of America. Michigan finished second in the Coaches Poll behind the Nebraska Cornhuskers, resulting in a shared national championship.
Sua ghin gnua is a two-player abstract strategy board game from Thailand, formerly known as Siam. Another name for the game is tigers and oxen. It is a hunt game played on a 5x5 square grid with only orthogonal lines. One player plays the three tigers, and the other player plays the twelve oxen. The board is empty in the beginning. Players first drop their pieces onto the board, and then are able to move them. The tigers can capture the oxen by the short leap as in draughts and alquerque, but the oxen attempt to elude and at the same time hem in the tiger. Sua Ghin Gnua most resembles the tiger hunt games such as bagh-chal, rimau-rimau, main tapal empat, catch the hare, and adugo since they all use a 5 x 5 square grid. But tiger games technically consist of a standard alquerque board which is a 5 x 5 square grid with several diagonal lines criss-crossing through it which are completely missing in sua ghin gnua. There are however some variants of catch the hare which have missing diagonal lines also. Another game that resembles sua ghin gnua is from Myanmar, called tiger and buffaloes, which is a hunt game consisting of a 4 x 4 square grid with no diagonal lines. Myanmar happens to border Thailand geographically so there might be a historical connection between the two games. Another game from Myanmar is lay gwet kyah that is presumed to be similar to sua ghin gnua. Sua ghin gnua was briefly described by Stewart Culin, in his book Chess and Playing Cards: Catalogue of Games and Implements for Divination Exhibited by the United States National Museum in Connection with the Department of Archaeology and Paleontology of the University of Pennsylvania at the Cotton States and International Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia 1895 (1898). It's also briefly mentioned by H.J.R. Murray in his book A History of Chess (1913). It was also described by R.C. Bell, in his book Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations (1969).
Zohn Ahl is a roll-and-move board game played by the Kiowa Indians of North America. It is often cited as a typical representative of many similar Native American games. It is often equated with Tsoñä, also played by the Kiowa.
Adams & Co. (c.1860s-1880s) was a publishing firm in Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. It specialized in spiritualist authors such as Hudson Tuttle and parlour games such as "Oliver Twist." John S. Adams ran the business, along with George L. Stafford. It operated from offices on Bromfield Street (c.1867-1873), Pearl Street (c.1875) and Tremont Street (c.1880).
The traditional games of New York City are one of the notable aspects of New York City's culture; many of them were brought over by the diverse mix of immigrants that settled in New York City, particularly from Europe. Many of these games used street furniture and other features of New York City's high urban density and were therefore also played in other cities of the United States. Most of these games have declined or disappeared in the modern era.
