Fingers is a game that seems to have been invented by children at the Truman Elementary School some time around the turn of the century. It needs no equipment to play, other than two hands with five fingers on for each of the players.

How To Play Fingers

This entry will describe a two-player game of fingers, but the game could be extended to any number of participants. We will call the players Alice and Bob.

• Alice and Bob start by facing each other, and each holding up both their hands with one finger pointing upwards on each.
• Alice will go first, so she points one of her hands at one of Bob's hands. Bob then raises one more finger on the hand Alice pointed at, as the hand she pointed with has one finger raised.
• It is then Bob's turn. He does the same as Alice, pointing one of his hands at one of Alice's. She adds the number of fingers to her hand as were on Bob's hand.
• If either Alice or Bob have all five fingers extended on one hand, they form a fist with that hand, and are unable to point with that hand any longer.
• If, for example, Alice has four fingers extended on one hand and has made a fist with the other, she can transfer two fingers from her hand to her fist. This also works with two fingers and a fist, whereby you would transfer one finger to the fist.
• The aim of the game is to cause your opponant to have two fists, and thus make them unable to point their hands at yours.

Variations

There are several variations to the above rules that can be included or ignored as the players wish. Some players choose to allow moving fingers from a hand to a fist even when the hand has an odd number of fingers. Others say that you should only make a fist if you have exactly five fingers extended, and that if you had four, say, and had to add three more, you would actually extend two fingers.

Uses

This is a simple game with no equipment, and so is ideal for keeping children occupied during car journeys or bus trips. It is also a fun playground game, or even a good game to play in class if you can get away with it.