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

I'd like to do an entry on those childhood games that are so utterly impossible, but work when you're a kid and you believe that they will work. Like "Light as a feather, stiff as a board," if anyone ever played that one, or like reciting "Bloody Mary" in front of a dark mirror 100 times. Other things like that--they make no sense, it looks impossible, but when you believe in it, it works. Anyone else have any examples of that kind of game?
-Rivaine

What about 'Murder in the Dark'? That was a game with no useful rules if ever there was one! Plus everyone you talk to had different rules, yet all agree that it shouldn't have worked - but we all loved it!

Never heard of that one; how's it go?
-Rivaine

Well, now you've got me. It's 20 odd years since I played it!

From what I can recall, you all pick a slip of paper and one of them says you're the murderer. Then you all go off and hide in the house, in the dark (must be played in the evening with the curtains shut!)Then after about five minutes the murderer starts going round trying to find the others...then it gets hazy because there's also something to do with guessing who that person is, but you tend to know by then anyway! We loved it, all the kids on our street, avid fans. I think its correct title should maybe have been 'hide and seek with the curtains closed'. Nevertheless, whenever you mentioned it at school everyone knew of it and, as I said, always had slightly different rules.

Ah, the Seventies!

Jules

I've always wondered whether the light as a feather, stiff as a board thing only worked because there were so many people lifting the person up at the same time. What do you think?

Murder in the Dark, as far as I know it, is nothing the same as what you said it was. Maybe that's part of the thing, but here's how I know it...

It's dark, but not completely. The participants are given slips of paper, one of which declares somebody the murderer. The people walk around a room. I know two variations, one in which they make eye contact with people, and one in which they shake hands. Anyway, the murderer is supposed to wink at the person in the first way or scratch the person's hand when they shake. The person waits a little bit (so as not to give away the murderer's identity) and then makes a dramatic death in front of everyone. The idea is to guess the identity of the murderer.

I know that one too, but that wasn't called Murder in the Dark (well not by us) - have no idea what we called that but you tended to play it in larger, organised, groups, usually at girl guides or school or somewhere.Maybe it was a floating game title which was applied to different games depending on where you lived?!

We used to play wink murder where you all sit in a circle but one goes out the room, then the guider taps someone on the shoulder and they're the murderer. Then the person comes back in, and the murderer kills people by winking at them. The person who came back in has to find out who the murderer is.

Have you read A980615 Blood Potato - the Game ? - now that sounds like fun.

Cyzaki , I know the game you mean. Annoyingly, we knew that game as... Murderer in the Dark!

We used to play it where once you'd been winked at, you had up to 20 seconds to die, which meant you could do a really over-the-top death scene, clutching your throat, pretending to have been shot or stabbed - whatever. When one such game was down to just two survivors and one killer, the two survivors still had no idea which of the other two people was 'it'. One of our friends excused himself and left the room to go to the bathroom and then fell dramatically down the stairs. One of the gang ran out to check he was okay - and the man on the floor winked at him. It was all a ruse to kill off one of the survivors - leaving a very confused last person.

Everyone got back up from their dead positions and the other two came back in from the hall, and as the last survivor asked, confused 'So which one of you was the killed', he caught the eye of the stairs-Guy - who winked at him, grinning.

It was the only time we played that game where the killer 'got away with it'.

That's excellent... you have to be really clever to win that game if you're the murderer. With Light as a feather, stiff as a board... I guess it might have been everyone lifting at once, but there was also the version where everyone stood in a circle around someone, holding hands, and then *thought* at them, and I personally saw a girl get six inches off the ground that way in fifth grade. Should be impossible, but I can't account for what I saw. Then she freaked out, fell to the ground and got really, really sick for a week.
It seems like tons and tons of people, thinking at once, can actually produce measurable effects in the real world.
-Rivaine

The winking variant was always known as 'Wink Murder' in my social circles. 'Murder in the dark' had to be in the dark, but come to think of it, I really can't remember how we played it.

And Blood Potato is indeed REALLY good fun, gets the heart racing madly!

David

i'd just like to add to the light as a feather thing.we called it "levitation".you had someone lying on the floor,eyes closed and relaxed.1 person stood at the head with 3 people either side.we used 2 fingers on each hand to support the "victim".everyone had to say "he looks dead,he feels dead".i can't remember how long we did this for but we actually lifted the person off the floor as much as waist high.never figured out how it worked

It's much easier to lift someone who is tense than someone who is relaxed (in terms of their muscles rather than their state of mind). I used this fact to great advantage when my friends 'kidnapped' me for a surprise birthday party. I relaxed as much as I could, making myself much harder to carry. Heh heh heh.

David

We must have been doing something wrong when we played... it was always, "stiff as a board, light as a feather..... heavy as an ox!"

The 'murder in the dark' one sounds fun though, deserving of an entry .

Somehow, the slumber parties that included "light as a feather, stiff as a board" always seemed to also include the one to nod off having on hand placed in hot water and the other in cold..... I don't remember if it ever actually worked as advertised, though....

Any form of pretend gun play is always very confusing and will often spark arguments, as there is no good way to decide whether a 'fake bullet' (otherwise known as a non-existent one that is represented by a vocal sound such as 'bang,' or 'eh eh eh eh eh') either hit or missed. I would like to know, however if anyone did play a form of this that worked (and involved no physical contact whatsoever).

Any form of pretend gun play is always very confusing and will often spark arguments, as there is no good way to decide whether a 'fake bullet' (otherwise known as a non-existent one that is represented by a vocal sound such as 'bang,' or 'eh eh eh eh eh') either hit or missed. I would like to know, however if anyone did play a form of this that worked (and involved no physical contact whatsoever).