A couple of years ago, the folks at The Big Bang Theory brought us the famous twist on the old schoolyard game "Rock, Paper, Scissors" by giving us their new improved version "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock". According to Wikipedia the new version was not developed by the Big Bang Theory producers and was used in the show without permission of the developers.
Last week, my younsters came home from school with another version: "Rock, Paper, Scissors Builder". In this version the players get to add new items to the list and describe their powers and properties as they go.
This got me to wondering whatever happaned to those old schoolyard games we all used to play? Are there other 'new and improved' versions people have developed?
I suspect change and fluidity are more typical of playground games than any kind of long-term stability in the rules. Linda Hughes's Rooie Rules paper is a nice illustration of the way rules mutate quickly.
Posted by: James Grimmelmann | May 25, 2012 at 06:21 PM
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Posted by: James Grimmelmann | May 25, 2012 at 06:23 PM
They're called the X-Games. It used to be that people made up a dumb game, played it, and that was that. Now they get their own cable channel and an official rulemaking body.
Posted by: Couldabeenrich | May 26, 2012 at 09:27 PM
Okay, I'll toss out some remembered school games - maybe others will remember them or younger folks will know of modifications. (most were from middle school and/or high school):
Kill the Carrier
Kaboddi (sp?)
"Cup" baseball
Elimination (basketball)
battle ball (dodge ball)
Towel wrestling
Posted by: Jeff | May 27, 2012 at 04:30 PM