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by Lore Sjöberg
Cartoon Tag
This schoolyard biathlon, requiring both physical agility and
encyclopedic knowledge of international animation. Although, to
be perfectly honest, if you had one you didn't need the other.
I wasn't the greatest runner, but I could avoid being "it"
for hours on end using the "Thundercats" alone. Which is good,
because this is a frustrating game in which to be "it." There's
nothing more maddening than having your quarry almost within
your clutches, only to have "Casper the Friendly Ghost" shouted
in your face. C
Dodge Ball
Also known as "The Welt Game." Whoever came up with the idea of a game
where the goal is to cream someone with a ball had both a keen insight
into child psychology and a clear interest in keeping school nurses
employed. Did you know that the common yardball is capable of being thrown
up to 416 miles per hour? B-
Tetherball
I found, on the Web, a reference to an "Official Size and Weight"
tetherball for sale. I'm really interested in the standards
body that oversees this. Is it a strictly American
organization, or is it an international consortium? Do they
convene every few years to review advances in tetherball technology?
Are there heated arguments over who gets to go first, clockwise
or counter-clockwise? Maybe we should have an
"Autumn Olympics" with games like tetherball, mini-golf, and
bowling. C
Red Rover
Probably the sophomore effort by the inventor of Dodge Ball. "In
this game, you throw yourself full-tilt at a line of other
unprotected grade-schoolers. No extra points for broken limbs." The
chant is unnerving, though. It sounds like the mumbling of a
mentally disturbed machete aficionado sneaking up on the
teenage victim in a horror film. "Red rover...red rover...let...
Jenny...come over!" Screech, whack, fade to black. C
Duck Duck Goose
Hoo-ha, now this was a game. Suspense! Action! The Mush Pot!
This game had it all. Plus, and this was the real bonus, you
got to spend most of the game sitting down. Heck, if you
were in the Mush Pot, you didn't even have to worry
about having to leap up at any moment. You could just sit back,
covered in gentle, soothing metaphorical mush, and enjoy
the relaxing chant of "Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck..." B+
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