Tag Archives: Game

Galette des Rois

FESTIVE RITUAL DESCRIPTION: Every January 6 during Epiphany her mother would cook a cake called a “galette des rois” which means a cake for the kings. Inside they would place a small ceramic figure called a “fève” and whoever cut the cake and got the piece would be named king and could order everyone around for the whole day.

INFORMANT DESCRIPTION: Female, French, 42

CONTEXT: She learned this from her family who would do this every New Years Eve. She remembers how much fun it was when she got the “fève” and how she spent the whole day as the queen. She says this would bring the whole family together and make everyone laugh and have so much fun. 

THOUGHTS: I think this sounds delicious and fun. Definitely something I wish my family celebrated.

PICTURE:

Battleshots

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Geotechnical Engineer
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/30/21
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant loves games of all sorts: board games, drinking games, card games. He thinks they are a great way to be social, be involved and do something active with friends, so people aren’t passively on their phones.

KD: Battleshots is a large scale drinking version of the classic game Battleship. When we played we converted a ping pong table and some bed sheets into a Battleship game board, so on each side of the ping pong table we made a grid exactly the same as the Battleship. And using 2x4s we made larger versions of the game pieces and drilled holes in them so you could drop a shot glass in each spot. So, the aircraft carrier had five shots on it. The destroyer had four shots. The little petrol boat had two shots. It’s exactly like the game but with alcohol. So, we put a thick bed sheet in between the two sides of the ping pong table so you couldn’t see your opponent’s side. You orient your table however you want. And, different from the board game, we created sea mines, or something, it’s, we had some name for the, but, on your ships you had shots with whiskey, or tequila, or your alcohol of choice; in these sea mines we’d put a reed solo cup with beer or seltzer or wine or something and during game play, it’s, B4 hit, alright B7 hit and then your fill out, you sunk my battleship, whatever, uh, but, every time the other person hit your boat you took the shot that was in the place and you drink. In the event they call out sea mine coordinates, or like C12, somebody standing by the table would take that red solo cup filled with beer, hand it over to the other side, and the person calling the shot would need to drink it. Gameplay cannot continue until that solo cup is finished. Some games we’d play with seven sea mines, some games we’d play with one sea mine. And each player had a grid on, er, a little piece of paper with a grid so they can track where they were calling and how they were hitting, bu, otherwise it was identical to the classic board game… with alcohol.

Me: Do you think other people play this?

KD: Oh, yeah. It’s now on Pinterest but we were playing this a long time ago. It’s kinda like large Jenga; now it’s everywhere but we don’t know if wee invented it we just didn’t see it anywhere else

Context of the performance: This was told to me during an in person conversation.

Thoughts: It’s interesting that the informant and his friends though they were the first to come up with it. I had never heard of it so when they explained that now it’s all over Pinterest and has become popular, we can see that it exists in multiplicity. The concept itself is intriguing since it takes an existing game and transforms it into a drinking game. Their invention of a sea mine sounds similar to certain other drinking games, like Rage Cage, that have an exception cup that is completely full to a different gameplay otherwise in the form of shots are slightly filled cups. The red solo cup itself is so closely tied to drinking games that its use here makes a lot of sense.

Mao (card game)

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Geotechnical engineer
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/30/21
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant first learned this game at a boy scout camp and has continued to play with his friends and introduce other people to the game. He likes it because you get to mess with people if you know how to play it, having insider knowledge.

KD: Mao is a card game that the new players are not supposed to know the rules going into it, it’s a learn as you go game. The deck is shuffled, all players are dealt five cards, the, the dealer–cards are dealt in front of all the players, if a player touches their cards before the game begins, they receive a onee card penalty. The dealer will take the top card of the deck and flip it over and say the  word “The game is Mao. Mao begins now.” At this point, anybody who speaks, is penalized with one card, anybody who plays out of turn is penalized with one card, if you fail to play on your turn, you are penalized with one card. As far as gameplay goes, certain cards have special powers or required specific actions or phrases to be said. To play the game, you have to play a card of the same suit or a card of the same number. If you play an ace of diamonds on a six of club, there are two different suits, two different cards, the card you play is returned to you with a onee card penalty. When, and it moves over to the next person. Original gameplay, it is to the right of the dealer. The number 8 card reverses the rotation of the, of the play. When an Ace is played correctly, the player who played it is required to scratch their nose; failure to scratch your nose, you receive a one card penalty. Uh, the point of the game is to get rid of all of your cards, so similar to Uno, when you get your last card you say “Last cards” uh, failure to do so, you receive five cards, plu, no you just receive five cards. When you play your last card you say the name of the game, “Mao.” When a king is played you say “Thank the chair.” And as you play with different people, certain rules are included but not everyone plays with the same rules each time. If you play with the same group you kinda agree, it’s a collective agreement that it’s like okay hey we’re gonna havee six has this power, seven has this power, whatever. And then, as you play with different people certain rules are in play, certain rules are omitted, and some are just completely made up. When you win a game, as the winner you are allowed to create a new rule that is now added for that group of people playing, uh when I played with my friend Jack, anytime a Jack was played he had to flip off the player of the jack. You are penalized for talking during the game, the only time you’re allowed to talk is when you’re thanking the chair, when you’re saying last card, when you’re saying Mao. Uh, the phrase point of order is pause for the game, in which all players need to drop their cards. If you are retouching your cards during a point of order, you’re penalized. If you discuss the rules of Mao, the game’s over, you’re not allowed to play anymore. Usually physical punishment follows for talking about the game and sharing rules. Uh, you get penalized for explaining the rules if somebody asks a question during the game, they get penalized for talking. If you explain a rule, you’re penalized, the person you explained it to is penalized. And, yeeah, it’s just to get rid of your cards as quickly as possible, correctly, and saying the phrases.

Me: How long does it take most people to pick up the game?

KD: Most people learn the game after a round or two. Most people get incredibly frustrated during the first round and seldom want to play a second round. It takes a lot of convincing or you just get a majority of the people to agree to it and then you have captive audience for the rest. Oh, uh I think it’s seven, when a seven is played you’re allowed to shuffle the deck. The number 10 card has a rule but I don’t remember it, uh minimum group size is 4-5 players, you can always shuffle in more decks, regionally it changes, and yeah I think that’s it.

Context of the performance: This was told to me during an in person conversation.

Thoughts: What I find interesting about this is that the entire gameplay revolves around unspoken rules. The only way to learn is by playing and knowledge is passed on, not even orally, but through the action itself. It’s almost impossible to view this from an etic perspective as the game relies and works under an emic perspective, and the etic would be confusion. It is also a rite of passage that comes gradually, with the new players existing on the threshold; once you’ve played enough, it seems that the passage is complete and only then do you fully understand how to play and the inner workings.

Spicy Uno

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: American
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/15/21
Primary Language: English

BACKGROUND: JM is the interviewer’s friend. Spicy Uno is a variation on the popular Uno card game, one that we’ve played many times as friends, and a game that can get quite heated at times.


TRANSCRIPT:
JM: “Here are our rules:
Play a 4, no talking. Whoever talks has to draw 1 card for each word they say.Play a 6, all hands need to go in the middle of the table. Last hand draws 3.Person who plays 0 chooses 2 people to swap hands (can include themselves).+2 cards and +4 cards can stack, but not on each other.You can ask for help and can help someone, but you can’t show them the card before.You can skip to yourself by playing an exact match of what’s on top of the pile.If you have UNO and someone else calls UNO for you, draw 6.
There’s the famous moment when we were playing, someone drew 4, and then someone knocked on the door. You went ‘it’s all good, we’re taking a break, we don’t need to be quiet anymore. The game is paused, the game is paused.’ Watching you draw 22 cards was maybe the greatest time I’ve ever played the game.”


ANALYSIS: The Spicy Uno variation of the Uno card game is a popular one among Millenials and Gen Z, one that qualifies as folklore since there are no exact rules and no known origin — everyone plays it slightly differently. It’s a modern folk tradition, one that can forge friendships and break them apart in the same round. For another version of Spicy Uno, see:

“How to Play Spicy Uno.” Crazy Little Projects, 30 Jul. 2020, https://crazylittleprojects.com/how-to-play-spicy-uno/.

Bloody Mary, but make it Jewish?

Nationality: United States of America
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/26/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

Main Piece:

How did you learn about Bloody Mary?

“When I was in Hebrew school, a teacher told me that Mary was related to Jewish history. She was a Jewish figure that would haunt you, and the teacher was trying to connect it to Jewish curriculum. I was like ‘why are you trying to ruin this story’, like yes, I was genuinely afraid but that was so stupid (laughs).” 

How do you play Bloody Mary?

“You get into a bathroom, close the door, turn off the lights, look into a mirror, say bloody Mary 3 times, she’s supposed to appear and do something bad.”

Context/Background: 

My informant is my roommate. She was raised in Conservative Judaism and attended Hebrew School from elementary school through high school. This story was collected when we were talking about Judaism during dinner. 

Analysis: 

Many young children are taught a version of Bloody Mary. Various accounts can be seen in Alan Dundes’ article “Bloody Mary in the Mirror: A Ritual Reflection of Pre-Pubescent Anxiety.” In my own experiences, I’ve been told that Bloody Mary is a wife who got killed before her wedding or a woman who died in a bloody car crash. However, in the case of this specific account, the person teaching this game to my informant tried to alter the backstory so it would fit into her religious education. My informant’s Hebrew school teacher saw the value in this myth and its impact on children, so the teacher tried morph it to fit her agenda. My informant saw straight through this attempt, but still ended up fearing the figure, Bloody Mary.

Dundes, Alan. “Bloody Mary in the Mirror: A Ritual Reflection of Pre-Pubescent Anxiety.” Western Folklore, vol. 57, no. 2/3, 1998, pp. 119–135. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1500216.