[Fictionary] STONE rules Results

[Jim Moskowitz]

Thanks to all who participated in this variant round. Before I 
announce the winner let's review the entries and the comments they 
generated...



Eric: Initial reaction: no way!  Not one of those is a real game.



1) A large circle is drawn on the ground or floor in the center of 
the play space. At either end of the ground a goal is marked off. One 
player, chosen to be stone, sits on the floor in the circle. The 
other players stand around outside the circle, taunting the stone by 
stepping over into his territory. Suddenly, and the more unexpectedly 
the better, the stone rises and runs for the other players, who are 
only safe from tagging when behind one of the goals. Any one so 
tagged becomes a stone and joins the first stone in sitting near the 
center of the circle. They also join him in chasing the other players 
whenever he gives the signal. This continues until all the players 
have been tagged.

Eric: Would not want to play.
Ellen: One point, because I like the writing style
J-J: A combination of Duck-Duck-Goose and Red Rover that's too 
similar to my hayfield version.
Linda: I like that a kid  is the stone.  Plus the cumulative effect.
Elliott: Completeness:  Check.  Playability:  Check.  Compelling 
reason to involve ``stone'':  Not found.
   --a total of 1 point for The Real Rules [see the end of this 
message for details]


2) This is a game for 3-5 players.  Everyone stands along a line to 
start the game and throws in the same general direction.  In turn, 
each player throws a certain flat stone (with a letter or number 
painted onto or scratched into the top) chosen blindly from several 
in a small sack, tosses the stone away from the group, along the 
playing area, trying for the longest distance from the line.  The one 
who is IT uses a knotted or marked rope to measure the distances. The 
player who tosses it the farthest wins and becomes IT for the next 
round.  A more exciting alternative is to toss the stones toward a 
goal, like a stick in the ground, or another stone that can moved by 
IT with each round.  The player who hits another player's stone or 
the goal stone gets an extra point.  If you are near a body of water, 
stones can be pitched towards a target placed into the water, either 
floating or anchored.

Eric: Would not want to play.
Pierre: If the stone is chosen blindly, what happens if the player 
forgets which stone
he chose?
J-J: The first variant is shot put with random handicaps.  The second 
is bocce with balls that don't roll.  And the third version is 
probably pretty hard to score.
Elliott: Completeness:  Not complete (what are points good for?). 
Playability: Check.  Compelling reason to involve ``stone'':  Check.
   --a total of no points for Linda


3) An outdoors game, best played on leaves or turf. The players sit 
in a circle except for one player, the "stone mason" who goes off a 
distance. While the stone mason is absent, the players sit in a 
circle, with one of them sitting an a stone the size of two men's 
fists or larger. The players then call the mason to return, and he 
must detect which player is seated on the stone, the other players, 
of course, trying to seem as solid and comfortable in their seats as 
possible.  A good game for a mixed group of boys and girls, as this 
is one game in which girls may excel, by reason of their crinolines.

Pierre: Two points.
J-J: Just a liiiiittle creepy.  But after reaching bottom without 
finding anything I believed in, I have to give this one point.
Ranjit: One point.
Linda: Like that this is a seated game and someone is a stone mason. 
We used to play a circle game called, Button, Button, Who's Got the 
Button?  A button is in one player's hand while It is out of the 
room.  Once It comes back into the room, he others pretend to move 
the button from hand to hand around the circle while It watches.  It 
must guess who is holding the button.
Elliott: Completeness:  Check.  Playability:  Check.  Compelling 
reason to involve ``stone'':  Check.  Two points for plausibility.
   --a total of 6 points for Eric, our silver medalist


4) Three players each have a tire in front of them; the tires are 
fifteen feet apart in a triangle. The boundaries between the players' 
territories are marked with sticks or ropes, halfway between the 
tires. Each player starts with 30-40 stones in a pile next to his 
tire and throws stones at the other two players' tires. If a stone 
lands outside the tire, it may be thrown again by the player in whose 
territory it lands. Once a stone lands in a tire, it is out of play. 
The game ends when all stones are in tires. The winner is the player 
with the fewest stones in his tire.

Eric: Plausible, except wasn't the game Victorian?  No tires.
J-J: I might have voted for this except for the likely lack of 
availability of Victorian-era tires
Linda: Were there so many spare tires so long ago as the book was written?
Elliott: Completeness:  How are the territories established to begin 
with? Playability:  What if you hit someone in the head?  Compelling 
reason to involve ``stone'':  Check.
   --a total of no points for Pierre


5) Players gather in a circle around a large tree suitable for 
climbing. A small stone is required. On his turn a player must throw 
the stone over a target bough, called the WHIP. If the throw is not 
high enough, or the player misses the tree completely, he is out. 
After making his throw, the current player, or CRACKER, must climb to 
the WHIP to mark its location. Spectators and players alike should 
cat-call the CRACKER during climbing; if he falls, he is out. 
Previous CRACKERS already in the tree may attempt to dislodge the 
current CRACKER as he climbs, but may not leave their WHIP to do so. 
The next player must throw the STONE over a new WHIP at least as high 
as the previous CRACKER. The first CRACKER in a round can choose a 
WHIP at any height he believes he can throw over and reach by 
climbing. Play begins with the shortest player, and proceeds in 
increasing height order, so as to ensure a fair chance to all. One 
round is complete once the tallest player takes his throw; all 
players should come down out of the tree, and the next round begins 
anew with the shortest remaining player. Play continues until all but 
one player is eliminated. If any player hits any other player with 
the stone, they are both immediately out; if a throw causes a player 
sitting on a previous WHIP to fall without hitting him with the 
STONE, such as by cowardly flinch, only he who fell is out.

Eric: Would not want to play.  Ten creativity points.
J-J: Good lord!  This reminds me of the stories that my friend Jimmy 
used to tell me in college, which invariably ended "...and then Floyd 
went to the hospital".  This will probably turn out to be real, and 
I'll be deeply disturbed.
Linda: Kids used to play dangerous games in the olden days and you 
weren't supposed to be afraid of a little blood and a few bruises. 2 
points for danger.  But isn't Cracker a derogatory term?
Elliott: Completeness:  Check.  Playability:  Risky!  Compelling 
reason to involve ``stone'':  Wouldn't a nice, soft ball be better? 
One point for creativity.
   --a total of 3 points for Nick, good for the bronze medal.


6) The players form a pentacle surrounding the victim. They chant the 
appropriate words. Should the victim attempt to break free, restrain 
him, but do not shed his blood. When It comes to feed, the players 
plead for parts of the victim. It will toss one part to each player. 
The players then use these as blunt instruments upon each other, but 
do not shed one another's blood. The surviving player offers the 
bodies of the others to It, uttering "stone," but must take care not 
to enter the pentacle. It then will grant a desire; but be careful to 
formulate that desire carefully, for It has a sense of humor.

Eric: Would not want to play.  Ten creativity points.  One real point.
Pierre: This doesn't sound like a children's game. Witch fictioneer 
came up with it?
J-J: Yeah!  But no, I don't think so.
Ranjit: One backing-away-slowly.
Linda: Too zombie-like.
Elliott: Completeness:  Cryptic.  Playability:  Risky!  Compelling 
reason to involve ``stone'':  None that I can see.
   --a total of 1 point for David



7) The players array themselves as they wish around an open yard. One 
player closes his eyes and counts aloud to twenty whilst each other 
player selects a stone from the ground, remove a boot, place the 
stone into the boot, and replace the boot upon his foot.  Upon the 
count of twenty, the counting player opens his eyes and all players 
begin walking about the yard.  The counting player then attempts to 
guess in which boot each player placed his stone.  A player whose 
stone is so located retires from the yard.  The game ends immediately 
upon an incorrect guess from the counting player, the player winning 
who fooled the counting player, or the counting player himself if 
none fool him.  In common practice, a number of games are played 
consecutively, with the winner of a game serving as counting player 
for the next.

Eric: Two real points.  Also, maybe I would play this.
David: 1 point
Pierre: One point.
Ellen: Two points.
J-J: Somewhat similar to the "guess what I have under my skirt" game, 
but less creepy, so two points.
Ranjit: Two points
Linda: Sounds uncomfortable but 1 point for "whilst."
Elliott: Completeness:  How small can the stone be?  Playability: 
Check. Compelling reason to involve ``stone'':  Check.
   --a total of 11 points for Larry, the running-away (hopefully 
without a stone in his shoe) winner!


8) This game is played in a field of tall grass, ideally taller than 
the players.  One player is chosen to start the game as the "stone", 
while the others are initially "ploughs".  The ploughs avert their 
eyes in order to allow the stone to hide somewhere in the plot of 
grass.  After an agreed upon time (perhaps a count to ten), the 
ploughs form a line and march across the field.  The stone attempts 
to grab one of the ploughs by the ankle, while the ploughs try to 
spot the stone.  If a plough is caught, he drops into the grass and 
becomes another stone.  If the stone is spotted, the plough may 
attempt to run away.  All of the ploughs who arrive at the far edge 
of the field form a new line on an adjacent side and begin another 
march, perpendicular to the previous one.  Play continues until there 
is only one plough remaining, who becomes the starting stone for the 
following round.

Eric: Most Likely To Be By Elliott Award.  Also, consistency points 
for the spelling of "plough".  Might play this, depending on the 
insect situation in the grass.
David: 2 points
J-J: Mine.  So obviously not right.  Basically Red Rover, with added 
excitement for those who are afraid of snakes.
Linda: Like the cumulative effect of this one.  Sounds a bit like 
Snake Pit from New Games.
Elliott: Completeness:  Check.  Playability:  You'd need to luck into 
a field of the right size and shape.  Compelling reason to involve 
``stone'':  Well, OK.
   --a total of 2 points for J-J





The actual game rules are taken verbatim from  __Games for the 
Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium__, copyright 1909 by Jessie H. 
Bancroft, specifically its "Active Games" section. (There are also 
"Quiet Games" and "Singing Games" -- which is what really indicates 
that the word "games" is being used broadly enough to include what 
we'd today call "activities".)  You can read the book here, thanks to 
Project Gutenberg: 
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25660/25660-h/25660-h.htm

Another game from the same book, which was my backup choice in case 
some of you actually knew the rules to STONE, was:

SPOONING
All but one of the players stand in a circle. The odd player is 
blindfolded and placed in the center. He is given two silver 
tablespoons. The players in the circle clasp hands and move around 
until the blindfolded player clicks the spoons together, at which 
signal the circle must stand still.
The blindfold player then goes up to any one in the circle, and by 
feeling over the face and head with the bowls of the spoons must 
identify the player. He may not feel on the shoulders or around the 
neck, only on the face and head. A player may stoop to disguise his 
height for this, but otherwise may not evade the touch of the spoons. 
If the blindfold player correctly identifies the one before him, they 
exchange places. If incorrect in his guess, the play is repeated.


May I suggest that when we organize the Fictionary Real-world 
Get-together (for instance, this July?), we try a few of the invented 
games from this round?  I'd like to play the winner, the real one, 
and Pierre's #4.

The reins of Fictionary are all yours, Larry!

-Jim