[Physical Game] Unknown name - Anyone else play at school???

edited in General
The other discussion on a physical game led me to remembering this:

So there was this game we used to play at school in the sand/dirt. You need 3+ players. You would draw a large circle in the dirt with a stick and then a smaller circle in the middle. About 2-3 m diameter. You would then divide the circle in to pieces depending on how many players there were. Each player stands in their "land". I cant remember how it was decided, but 1 player is sent to the middle. He would then throw the stick into the air. The point was if it landed in your territory, you would have to step on it and say freeze. The other players would run away. Then the player would throw the stick at a player of his choice. If he hit the player he would take land away from that player by drawing out a portion of the other players land and joining it to his. He could only stand in his land or the neutral middle circle. If he lifted his heel during the process he forfeited his turn. If the player misses with the stick, the player who was attacked can take over his land by drawing. Players could be eliminated by removing all their land, and new players could join if a player gave some of his land to a new player (subdivided his own land). It was actually quite a lot of fun, and there were quite a few elements involved to the game, from guessing where the stick fell, to throwing the stick, to taking the maximum amount of land from another player.

Did anyone else play this game, ever heard of it, or know what it was called or where it originated from? It was a lot of fun and actually we played in junior school through to early high school. (around 1984-1990) haha yes i know some of you werent even born yet! :P
Thanked by 1atomicdomb

Comments

  • I've played this a lot (with some variations on the rules) with scouts. We knew it as Conquer the World, and I still play it on the beach with friends.
    Thanked by 1iceblademush
  • I have never played this game and feel that my childhood isn't up to scratch because of it!! sounds like so much fun! >.<

    Best physical game we used to play was Red Rover. :/ ah well, maybe my lack of gameplay experiences in early youth has since lead me to games design ;)
    Thanked by 2iceblademush hanli
  • It occurs to me most school games were just thinly veiled excuses to hurt each other. Throwing sticks at people!
    Thanked by 1iceblademush
  • Rover was banned at my school, so we played it a lot. :P
    Thanked by 1Bensonance
  • @TheFuntastic Or maybe they are thinly veiled survival / defense exercises? :P
  • edited
    @TheFuntastic Pretty much...
    One of my personal favourites was "Open Gates" (similar to red rover, although now that I think of it, it sounds more rough :P). Kids would form a line on one end of the field, and pick a player/players (depending on the number of participants) to stand in the middle and be the "predator". The player in the middle would then elect a "victim" to run across to the other side of the field. If the predator managed to catch the victim and force his shoulders to the ground, that victim would become an extra predator. If the victim successfully made it to the other side of the field, they'd yell "OPEN GATES!!" and everyone would run to the other side, while predators take down as many kids as they can. This would continue until there was one victim left, who at this point was usually smart to run and hide to avoid hordes of bloodthirsty children...

    Ah, primary school :P
    Thanked by 1Ramperkash
  • I got a concussion playing Open Gates - Ahhhh my first ambulance ride from school - such fond memories
  • lol open gates sounds like a childs rendition of a zombie apocalypse :P
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