Games through Generations and Cultures

We interviewed parents/ grandparents, other relatives and neighbours asking them questions about the games they played when they were our age.

My favourite game was chess. I used to play with my dad, my uncles and even with my teachers. I loved it (and I still do)

What was your favourite game?

My favourite game was dodgeball. It is a two-team game. It's about hiding from a ball which is thrown by someone from the other team. Also your task is to beat with the ball as many people as you can. The team that beats more people wins. I was the best at this game.

My parents loved playing countries and cities, when my age. In this game, you needed paper and something to write with.

When my grandma was my age, her favourite game was Chińczyk. In this game you have to throw a dice and move a pawn. If you are the first person to reach the end, you win.

We used to play a lot of games when I was your age. One of my favorites is the game "Five Stones".

My favorite game was hide and seek.

I've just talked with my dad and he told me that he played a game called "Floor is lava".
When the chosen person says that the ground is lava, all the players have to get top of somewhere.Those who can't do it in a few seconds are eliminated from the game for a short time and must complete a challenge to return to the game. The players decide the tasks among themselves, they often do embarrassing things.That's when the real fun begins.

İt was marbles. We tried to hit a marble with another marble. If we hit it, we got a marble from the person in front of us. The person who ran out lot of marbles, lost the game.

It was "Met." You had two sticks in your hand. You threw one of the sticks into the air and you tried to send it the farthest.

I asked my parents about their childhood - mostly my dad. He told me a lot about interesting games he used to play when he was my age.
The game that he played the most was the Polish type of baseball called “Palant”. The rules are quite simple. There are 4 players on a pitch: 2 strikers, who try to throw a stick to the circle on the ground and 2 defenders, who are supposed to kick out the stick . Strikers get points when they manage to throw the stick at some distance from the circle and defenders - when they throw it back to the circle. In case they do, they exchange places with defenders. You must gain 100 scores to win.

The most popular outdoor game was Tag (berek). You didn’t need any special equipment. Players (two or more) had to pick one person for chasing other people. The selected player was supposed to “tag” other players (by touching them with hand).

Do you remember the most popular game that was played outdoors?

I have often played the 'Four-square game'.
The game required a ball, chalk and a few friends. The preparation consisted of drawing square-shaped fields - as many as there were players and each had a field. Each player had 20 life points, which were lost if the ball hit the field twice, or if it touched the field, or if it fell outside the field. The ball could be touched without a limit just to keep it from falling. When the ball touched the common line or fell outside the field, there was a battle between them. One would stand at the edge of the field, the other person would hit the middle of the line with the ball to restart the game, then the players would step over and fight until a life point was lost. The winner was whoever stayed last and the others lost their life points. The ball had to bounce on the opponent's field, it could not roll down the field. The player at whose place the ball was last, set it on his field to resume the game, they had to lift it up with their foot to any of the opponents.

Yes, I remember. We used to jump rope with my friends outside. For this game we only needed a long rope; while two people were swinging the rope together, you would try to jump the rope without getting caught.

The most popular game that was played outdoors was volleyball . Everybody played it. When you play it, you need only a ball and net. Your task is to hit the ball over the net. It's a two-team game. You must score 25 points and then you win.

The most popular game in my dad's childhood was “Hide and seek”. You don’t need to have any equipment to play it and that’s why it was mostly played in his previous area.

How to play it?
Everyone hides besides one person who is a seeker. He or she counts up to ten and then starts seeking.

Did you play any board games or card games?

My dad told me that he and his friends had played a lot of card games (1000, poker, solitaire and war card game)

I really liked playing checkers, macao and a game of thousand.

I used to play with yugioh cards when I was a kid, but unfortunately I don't have a photo of the cards since they stayed in Germany.

My grandma didn't play any card games but she told me a lot of people did. My grandma was very good at all the games she played, especially checkers because you needed logical thinking to play this game.