Weird Games I Used To Play As A Kid (Part 2)

The Spasm Game

Not only is the name of this game slightly offensive, but the concept is completely off-the-wall. Imagine Harry Potter meets creepy kidnapping and attempted murder. Now you have the spasm game.

The premise of this game is actually relatively simple. Give your opponent a spasm, and then while they are lying and convulsing on the ground, try to drag them into the nearby closet and shut the door on them. One point attained.

This game was played in teams, with each team consisting of an even number of people. Each individual was then given their spasm-ing device, which they could then use by pointing the device at an opposing player and yelling “Spasm!” As a result, the opposing player would then have to drop to the ground and shake around for a bit until the spasm wore off. While someone was shaking on the ground, it was then the job of the spasm-er to take his victim and drag him into the nearest closet, shutting the door behind them, while it was the other team’s job to give the dragger a spasm, so as to rescue their fallen team mate and create an opportunity for their own closet kidnapping.

Toilet Paper Roll Game

If you remember the popsicle stick game from the previous post, this game was the exact same, except played with the cardboard toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls that remained after using up the actual paper wrapped around them. Essentially, we just threw these at each other until we became tired or realized how bizarre this game must look to outsiders. The only other difference was that there were less resulting injuries from throwing toilet paper rolls at each other than popsicle sticks, and this game was usually played in the basement instead of upstairs.  I don’t know, something about upstairs screams popsicles and something about basements screams toilet paper.

Ball On Pool Table Game

Out of all of the games we played as children, this was probably the most like an actual sport. It was played with a large bouncy ball (I think people use them to exercise nowadays, but we used them as toys back then) and a covered pool table. The pool table cover must always be on while playing this game.  Please, we are not savages.

The game was played with a king-of-the-hill-type setup, with one person standing at each end of a pool table. It was basically ping pong except with a huge ball, no net, and you would use your hands instead of paddles. The end result was a mixture of bouncing a large ball back and forth across a pool table, only using your hands to hit it.

This may seem relatively tame, but if you think about a pool table, it’s got edges, so you could bounce the ball towards the edge and have it bounce off at a completely new angle, causing many children to be beaned in the face with the large exercise ball. If you were able to master the angles right, you would be a master, but if you didn’t know what you were doing, it was very easy to just hit the ball off the table.

If the edges didn’t add enough of an edge (heh) to the game, the stakes were infinitely increased by the fact that this game and the pool table were located right next to my friends’ parents’ fine china. We had a spotter who had the glorious job of hitting away any large balls headed towards these delicate glasses and plates, but we were kids and sometimes this didn’t work out. I don’t think we ever broke any of the plates or cups, but I do remember several instances where the ball hit the shelves and the glasses scattered and hopped like their feet were on fire.