[Fictionary] STONE rules Results

[J-J Cote]

WHAT??!!!!

Are you Adrian Owens's mother??  And Kestrel's grandmother?

Jean-Joseph

On 12/19/2011 9:27 AM, lindafowens at netzero.com wrote:
> My game sort of existed when my son Greg made it up when he babysat for several hyperactive kids in our neighborhood (both went on to be great Basketball players in high school, while the dad killed himself). Anyway, instead of stones they used boat-like constructions they made in our cellar, painted, and stored in our backyard shed.  There were dozens of them, and I think Greg still has a few.  I was never sure how the game actually worked, and the rules may have changed at a whim, but those boys were always pounding on our door to play in our front yard, which also had three bases among the grass and gardens.  Greg also made up, with his brothers, an outdoor version of D&D, after the indoor versions became too sedentary. During breaks, the kids would come in for a snack, and tend to their wounds, real and imagined, learn heraldry and other stuff, like costume and weapon making, useful for activities in The Society for Creative Anachronism, as reinterpreted by themselves. Kept them off the streets.  Linda  PS They are now in their 40's and still enjoy outdoor games, like adventure racing and ski orienteering, of which Greg's brothers are national champs currently.
>
> ---------- Original Message ----------
> From: Jim Moskowitz<jim at jimmosk.com>
> To: fictionary at swarpa.net
> Subject: [Fictionary] STONE rules Results
> Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:27:09 -0500
>
> 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
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> Get Free Email with Video Mail&  Video Chat!
> http://www.netzero.net/freeemail?refcd=NZTAGOUT1FREM0210
>