Category Archives: Game

Game – Claremont, California

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Claremont, CA
Performance Date: April 19, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: German

Driving Game

Participants include everyone in a car, excluding the driver for safety purposes.  When on the road, if people within the car see a car that has a headlight out, then that person yells “sex” and everyone participating hits the roof.  The last person to hit the roof takes off a piece of clothing.  Play ends when the car ride is over.

The informant claimed that this game is played for fun at night in cars, usually when the car is full or there are several people in the car.

I think this game probably came about as a way to make a boring car ride more interesting.  It is common probably only with younger, teenage to twenties, crowds because of a sort of obsession and fascination this age group has with sex and nakedness.  I would guess that there is a link between the acknowledgements of a headlight being out and the word “sex” being yelled, since headlight is often using as a metaphor for female breasts, hence the game involving a taking off of clothes.

Game – Los Angeles, California

Nationality: English-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Seattle, WA
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

Rabbit Game

1st day of month you win the game if you are the first person to say rabbits

The informant said that this is a game within his family and he thinks it’s from his father, who is from England, so that it might be English.

I’m not certain on the significance of the game, but I know that rabbit is a much more popular food overseas in England, than it is here in America.  England also has a booming rabbit population and rabbit hunting is quite popular.  So, perhaps, this game represents a rabbit sighting, which would lead to a rabbit dinner.  In saying “rabbits!” one may expect to see rabbits, which could then be hunted.  Therefore they win because the sighting would lead to a tasty dinner for the family.

Games – United States of America

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 11
Occupation: Student
Residence: Las Vegas, NV
Performance Date: April 21, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Hide-n-Seek

In this game, which is usually played at night and can be played both indoors and outdoors, a person is chosen to be the seeker. The seeker must first count to sixty in a corner to give the other players a chance to hide. When the seeker has counted to sixty, he must find all those who are hiding. Once the seeker finds a person in hiding, he must tag him and then the person tagged becomes the seekers helper. The seeker and all those tagged must keep seeking and tagging until all the players have been tagged. The first person tagged becomes the new seeker if they decide to play again.

The way the original seeker is chosen is especially interesting. One can become the seeker by being the last one to call not it when everyone has agreed to play. The other way of being chosen is through a counting game called “bubble gum”. First, the players agree upon a number which will be used later on, and they get in a circle. In the circle they put their hands into fists and one person becomes the self assigned counter. The counter repeats the following while hitting first the fist, which he is not using to count, and then everyone else’s fists with his counting fist:

(number is 5)

Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish who many pieces do you wish..1,2,3,4,5

The person whose fist is hit last is free of being the seeker. The count is repeated until there is only one person left standing. The last one standing becomes the seeker. If the counter is hit last, then someone else becomes the counter, again this role is self-assigned.

Ricardo learned both hide-n-seek and bubble gum from his cousins. He plays the game because he enjoys it and because it is a fun way to get active.

I do not know why one must hide but I believe there must be a reason for it besides to just make the game more interesting. The fact that this game is played at night is to make it difficult for the seeker to find the hiders. It is also not rare to have those hiding scare the seeker, even though they risk being tagged.

Game – United States of America

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 11
Occupation: Student
Residence: Las Vegas, NV
Performance Date: April 21, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

La Migra

La Migra begins by the choosing of two teams. One team becomes the immigrants and the other team becomes the immigration official (la migra). Two team captains, who are either self assigned or nominated by the other players, pick their team members and which role they will play. Then a barrier is usually chosen, this can be a fence or anything which separates to sides. A jail and a safety point are also chosen. The jail is on the immigrant’s territory and the safety point is on la migra’s territory. Once all of this is decided the officials count to ten giving the immigrants a chance to cross the border which was pre-assigned. The immigrants must run across the border and through la migra, which is allowed to hit the immigrants, without getting caught and sent to jail. In jail the player is out once tagged by another player who has already reached the safety point. These players risk being jailed, since the after all are still immigrants. The way to win the game if you are on la migra’s side is by jailing all the immigrants. The immigrants win by getting all their players to the safety point.

I asked Ricardo why he played the game and he told me that he has heard his parents many times talk about how people have to cross the U.S. border and go through this everyday. He feels it is a way of experiencing that which his parents and others have done. He believes it is a Mexican tradition. He also plays it because he thinks it is funny. I think this has to do with the hitting involved. Kids often find violence funny.

La Migra is a fairly recent game. An exact author is unknown, although a few kids claim that they invented it. This is fascinating because I use to play a game similar to this one except instead of immigrants and the immigration, one team was the cops and the others were robbers. This game seems to be a spin off of the game I use to play as a kid. This is a great example of how much a child is effected by what he hears his parents say.

Game – United States of America

Nationality: Mexican - American
Age: 11
Occupation: Student
Residence: Las Vegas, NV
Performance Date: April 21, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Crack the Egg

This game is played on trampolines or moon bouncers. One person volunteers to be the egg. The egg must sit down in the center and wrap his arms around his knees. The rest must try to crack the egg by jumping around it. The egg is cracked when the arms and the knees are no longer together.

Ricardo learned this game from his cousins. This game is a contest or competition to see who is better. This is determined by the amount of time a person lasts without being cracked. Thus, every player must be the egg at some time.

This game is extremely funny to watch. Being in a circular shape, the egg bounces all over the place. In addition, the game is a innocent way of resolving disputes between them.