Are You Game? Trivia Quiz

Answer: What's the time Mr Wolf/Fox?

The game is called 'What's the Time, Mr Wolf?' or 'What Time is it, Mr Fox?' depending on your geographical location. 'Wolf' is usually used in the UK and Australia, and 'Fox' in the US. In Belgium it is called '1-2-3 Piano'.

The game is part suspense and part tag. The players move forward based on the answer Mr Wolf/Fox (who has his/her back turned to them) gives as an answer to their query of 'What's the Time, Mr Wolf?' If the Wolf says '6 o'clock', the players will creep forward six steps. This happens until Mr Wolf says 'dinner time' at which point every runs like mad, because if Mr Wolf catches them, they are 'it' ('it' being the new Mr Wolf). The game is popular in countries the world-over, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, the US, the English-speaking Caribbean, Ireland, NZ, South Africa, and the UK.

It is virtually impossible to know where or when this game first started. However, it is thought that the game, or a variation of it, has been played for about 2,000 years. (This does make sense, since the only equipment needed for the game is people!)

Answer: Sardines

Unfortunately it is not known how long Sardines has been around for. It has been likened to the game of Hide and Seek, which was first described by Julius Pollux, a Greek scholar. Back then, Hide and Seek was called the rather long-winded 'apodidraskinda'.

However Sardines differs from Hide and Seek in that in Hide and Seek one person seeks and the rest hide, whereas in Sardines, only one person hides and the rest seek. Also, when a seeker in Sardines finds the hidden person, they don't yell out, instead they simply squash into the hiding place with the person they have found. This continues until the hiding place is so cramped, the people represent sardines in a tin - hence the name. The loser is the last person to find the hidden group. This game is better played in very large homes, country estates and mansions (for obvious reasons). Young people in Victorian England were said to have particularly enjoyed the game, because it gave them an excuse/opportunity to get very close to the opposite sex!

Answer: Pass the Parcel

Pass the Parcel is a favourite with most young children. The game involves participants passing around a package of multi-wrapped layers to accompanying music. When the music stops, the child holding the package gets to remove a layer. This continues until there are no layers left and a prize is revealed. The child who has removed this last layer gets to keep the prize. Some people will also wrap small tokens such as a flat lollipop in each layer so that everyone who removes a layer gets something.

It is not known when this game was invented but it is believed to be British in origin. The first mention of the game in writing is thought to be in The Devon and Exeter Gazette on Friday 20th February 1925.

Answer: Charades

Most people will be familiar with the game of Charades. The standard way to play the game is for one of the players to come up with a title of a book, song or movie. Once this is done, the person acts out (or at least tries to) the thing they have chosen. They are generally not allowed to use words or write anything down (no matter how frustrated they might get). Meanwhile, the other participants have to guess what is being acted out. The person who correctly guesses the answer wins; their prize usually being that they are next up on the metaphorical stage.

The game was invented in early 18th century France and was very similar to the one we play today, except they focused specifically on syllables first, and then the whole word, and they often acted in teams. The game was adopted by the English in the 19th century, and in fact, a guide exists from 1850 which is called 'Acting Charades or Deeds, not Words'.

In the next seventy or so years, charades became a very popular parlour game that was used to while away long evenings spent without the benefit of television. Today Charades is still a relatively popular game because it can be hysterically funny. It should also be mentioned that it can also be extremely frustrating, or, in my case anyway, divorce-inducing. ('Tulips From Amsterdam' will live in my nightmares forever!)

Answer: Twister

'Twister' was invented in 1966 in the U.S. The inventors, Chuck Foley and Neil Rabens, came up with the game while employed by a company called Reynolds Guyer House of Design. Originally called 'Pretzel' the game went on to become one of the first toy crazes. In the first year of its release, three million units were sold. Part of the success of 'Twister' in the U.S. was attributed to it being featured on The Tonight Show on May 3, 1966, where it was played by actress Eva Gabor and Johhny Carson.

If you haven't played 'Twister', it has the slogan of 'the game that ties you up in knots,' because you need to use your body as part of the game. It essentially consists of a large plastic mat and a cardboard spinner device. The mat has six rows of large colored circles on it. The colours - red, yellow, green, and blue - are in their own row. A non-participant is nominated to spin a small cardboard spinner and based on where the needle lands on the spinner, he/she calls out to players where they need to place their hands or feet on the mat, for example: left hand, blue, or right foot, red. The results can be hilarious as body parts become hopelessly entangled. In a two-person game, the loser is the first person who falls.

Answer: Tiddledywinks or Tiddlywinks

The first person to patent this game was a British bank clerk called Joseph Assheton Fincher. He filed the original patent application for the game in 1888 and called it 'Tiddledlywinks.' The game was an instant success, so much so, in fact, that other manufacturers wanted in on the action. Thereafter, a raft of similar games were released, all called different names. Tiddlywinks seems to have been the one to stand the test of time though and there are now Tiddlywink Associations in both Britain and North America.

Many people believe Tiddlywinks to be a rather frivolous game played at children's parties, but in fact, the game is said to be extremely strategic in nature, with lots of terminologies used during play. Very simply put, the objective of the game is to try to snap small disks into a cup or pot. This is achieved by pressing them on the very edge with a larger disk.

The game became a favourite at the University of Cambridge in 1955 and by the 1960's, 37 universities were playing Tiddlywinks. Tiddlywinks is still popular in Britain and North America. As at 2022, Patrick Barrie, a British man, holds the Tiddlywinks World Singles title, having won ten World Singles matches. Mr Barrie's vocation is a senior lecturer in chemical engineering at Cambridge University.

Answer: Simon Says

Simon Says has been a popular game for centuries. Again, no props are required so it is an easy and simple game to play. The object of the game is for one person to be chosen as the leader (nowadays he is known as 'Simon' in most English speaking countries). Simon gives instructions to the other players to take part in an activity (this can be anything from star-jumps to yawning) but players must hear the leader say 'Simon says' before the instruction. If the person takes part in the activity and the leader hasn't said 'Simon Says' first, that person is out.

Once called 'Cicero dicit fac hoc' which means 'Cicero says do this,' it is believed the game was named after the Roman orator and statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero. He is said to have been the greatest orator in Rome, as well as a very educated man. Apparently if he said to do something, people did it. In regards to where the 'Simon' came into the equation, according to a blogger named Julie Glover, who writes about the origins of children's games, she suggests 'Simon' came into the picture in the 13th century, and was based on Simon De Montfort. This man was a French-English noble, who is widely regarded as being one of the greatest military commanders of the Middle Ages. Once again, he was a leader with strong powers of persuasion.

In other countries, the game is called other names, for example, in France it is 'Jaques a dit.' However a surprising number of countries do say 'Simon.' These include Denmark, the Czech Republic, The Phillipines, Hungary, Iceland, Korea and Spain.

Answer: Germany

The boardgame we know today as 'Chinese Checkers' or 'Chinese Chequers', was invented in Germany in 1892. In Germany, it is known as 'Sternhalma.' The 'Stern' part of this means 'star' in German and refers to the star-shape of the board. The 'Halma' part was a nod to another board game (called 'Halma') that was similar to Chinese Checkers except it had a square board. Halma was invented by an American in 1883. In turn, he is said to have got his inspiration from a British board game called 'Hoppity' which was around in the mid 1800s.

'Sternhalma' didn't become known as 'Chinese Checkers' until 1928 when the Pressman Toy Company in the U.S. acquired the rights to the game. Initially they called the game 'Hop Ching Checkers' but then changed it to 'Chinese Checkers'. (I can find no information as to why they went along either of these naming routes.)

For those who have never played this game, it is designed for two to six players, each of whom starts with ten small orbs (usually marbles) resting in indents in their 'home' on a six-pointed star. The winner of the game is the first person to move all of his/her marbles to the opposite side. They can do this by either jumping intervening pieces or by moving to adjacent indents, if they are not occupied.

Note: For those not familiar with the Romantic Road in Germany, it is a road that takes about three days to drive, and it takes you through the most charming and historic towns of Bavaria, Germany. An absolute must if you ever have the chance to go there - it is filled with castles and beautiful.

Answer: Rummy

Mahjong, a game typically played with four players, was invented in China in the 19th Century and is similar in style to Rummy. It is worth noting that this original game is in no way similar to some online versions, which are simply a tile-matching exercise. Sometimes called 'Mahjong Rummy' to differentiate the original from these matching games, Mahjong quickly became very popular and by the 20th century, had spread throughout the world.

If you haven't played Mahjong, it is a very strategic game which is highly addictive... you can end up playing it until the wee small hours if you aren't careful. The game comprises of 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and was originally called 麻雀 (pinyin: máquè). This meant 'sparrow'. It is thought the name came about from the noise the 144 tiles make when they are being shuffled, as it sounds like the chattering of sparrows.

The earliest surviving Mahjong tile set in China dates to around 1870 and the first Mahjong set sold in the U.S. was in the 1920s. If you do enjoy playing Mahjong for hours, be aware that studies undertaken in 2007 show that prolonged playing of Mahjong may trigger epileptic seizures... so it really might be a case of everything in moderation!

Answer: Conkers

Conkers is played quite prolifically in the Great Britain and Ireland, particularly in schoolyards. The game is very simple in that all you need is a length of string and the seed of a horse chestnut tree, which is called a conker (or a chestnut). You start by making a hole in each conker and threading a longish string through it. After that, you simply take turns trying to hit the other person's conker. The first person to break their opponent's conker is the winner.

The first written mention of the game was in 1821 in England, but back then it appears that snail shells or hazelnuts were used in the game. In the 1940s and 50s, the conkers game made its way to North America. Conkers is still popular today particularly in the UK and North America. If you are a conker enthusiast, you can always attend the The World Conker Championships, which happen annually in the UK every October.