Poison Numbers
contributed by Tony
Mosconi
Players: 4+
(preferably about 8+) Description: One person is selected to be ‘it’, which I will call the Chaser, and the rest are the Jumpers. The Chaser takes up a starting position opposite the jumpers, and back some distance from them between the two ends of the playing field designated by two imaginary lines. The Jumpers all start on the same side of the playing field, opposite the Chaser behind one imaginary line. The Chaser begins by selecting and announcing three Poison Numbers. The three may NOT be sequential, and the usual favorites are 7, 9 and 10. The purpose of these numbers will become clear in a moment. The Chaser then randomly calls out the first number for the Jumpers to use. It can be anything from 1 to 10. If the number called is a Poison Number, the Jumpers tap out the count with their foot. A common trick is for the jumpers to take a running start as if they are going to jump, but then stop short and tap out the Poison Number in the hopes that others will have forgotten that the called number is Poison and accidentally start jumping. If a Jumper jumps instead of tapping out a Poison Number, they join the Chaser for the next number called. If the number called is NOT Poison, then the Jumpers take a running start and jump as many times as the number called, each step of the run counting as one. If the Chaser called the number 6, then the Jumpers would take a running start and then jump, calling out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 at each step, and then stopping at that point, or continuing on in the hopes they can quickly pass the Chaser for the opposite end of the playing field and cross the other line to safety. For those jumpers that stop, they now are on an invisible ‘safe’ line that extends the width of the field. They may walk back and forth on this line, and cannot be tagged by the Chaser. The purpose of the invisible line is to afford the Jumper a safe place to sprint for the opposite side of the playing field, should the opportunity present itself. If a Chaser gets too close to a Jumper, a Jumper can reach out and touch the Chaser for free passage. They may NOT leave their line to touch a Chaser. If a Jumper is tagged by the Chaser, they join the Chaser on the NEXT round. This means they cannot get tagged and suddenly turn around and tag others as well. This gives everyone an equal chance to reach the opposite side against the current number of Chasers. If the Chaser calls a number that is high enough for some of the better Jumpers to cross the entire field while jumping, they get free passage, as they cannot be tagged while jumping. Once everyone has either reached the other side safely or has been tagged and has joined the Chaser, the original Chaser calls another number and the game continues until the end of the round. If a round finishes and there is only one Jumper left, they win, and the next game begins with the first person tagged becoming the Chaser for the next game. If a round ends with no one making it safely to the opposite side of the playing field, the last ones caught simply tie, and the first person tagged still becomes the Chaser for the next game. |
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