My sister who lives in North Dakota tells me that over the weekend she played a game that was surprisingly fun.
She and a group of friends at a party, stood around a stump and took turns pounding nails into it. Whoever pounded their nail in first was the winner.
That's it.
Wikipedia outlines the ingredients for "The Stump Game" thusly (although their version is more of a drinking game):
* 1 Hammer
* 1 Tree stump or flat portion of tree trunk
* 1 2.5" - 3" Nail per player
* Beer
Wikipedia includes "surprisingly" extensive rules. Take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stump_(game)
The wikipedia rules state that you're trying to pound an opponents' nail, not your own.
This is my favorite one of these supposed rules:
"The seasoned veteran may choose to light the stump on fire before play. A crowd favorite."
Now we're talking.
But wait, there's more. At a Web site called www.worldstump.com, they outline how the game has spread around the world:
"In 2000, pioneers from nine different countries played what was possibly the first game of Stump on foreign soil, in a town called XiaHe in western China, and in 2003 the game arrived in Japan just in time for the cherry blossom season," the site states.
They also offer some variations on the game here:
http://www.worldstump.com/variations.html
and photos here:
http://www.worldstump.com/pictures.html
So readers, what odd, surprisingly fun games do you play in your free time?