h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In the early 1960s, in Leiceseter and surrounding villages, the board was a one-inch thick, heavy slate approximately 12" X 18". On it were lines going from the left side to the right, about and inch or so apart going from the straight front edge and advancing toward the curved opposite end.

It wasn't called Coin Rugby but Shove Ha'p'ny because we played with half-penny coins and, rather than flicking them, we balanced the coins hanging over the front, straight edge of the slate. Then, a player would shove the coin with a finger or heel of the hand propelling it toward the curved end. It rarely would make it that far, ending up on a certain horizontal line which had a score on it as would an American football field have yard numbers. The final line was situated where the curve started at the opposite end.

The next player (there could be several players) shoved his half-penny, and so on. The next round would see the first player with another coin shoving that into his first one to advance it up the "field." Unless, of course, another player's coin had blocked access to the previous player's first-shoved coin. Then, that first player could shove his second coin into the second player's coin, hitting his own with the second player's coin and advancing that way, much like bocce ball.

Play would go on until someone got his coin the farthest up the slate without going over the edge. The toughest position to wind up in is, of course, a coin having gone just over the edge but balancing there and not falling off. If I recall correctly, we were limited in the number of coins we could use to get to the end. Otherwise, the game could have gone on forever, knocking each other off the far end. That's one detail that I do forget.

Does anyone know of this way to play the game?

Naturally, pints followed as another game began.