Crampon

Introduction

Crampon is a game for 4 or more players.  You can play it with fewer, but it would be a bit silly.  No matter how many players there are, some people will always find it irritating and others might like it.  It started out as a drinking game, and I subtracted the drinking, so I suppose it's just a game now.  My best mate Paul and I added some more rules, aided and abetted by Cambridge MethSoc.

Here's the basics of how you play.  You pick someone to start.  This person says something which means its someone else's go.  What the first person says determines which person goes next.  This second person says something and so on.  What you can say and when is described below in the rules section.  You don't need a board or pieces, but all players need to be able to see the face of every other player.  Unfortunately this means that people who have trouble seeing won't be able to play.

The only thing you might need (and this is optional) is something soft and squashy, e.g. an under-inflated balloon, a cushion or a cuddly toy.  See the section on challenges below.
 

Rules

The main rules are listed below.  You can either click on the name of a rule to go to its definition and an explanation, or start with the first rule and then work your way through.

It is possible to play a simple version of the game by only using some of the rules. Given the cumulative nature of the rules it is best to use the first X rules, e.g. the first 4 or the first 6.

It might be useful to look at a transcript of an example game, to see how the rules fit together.

Challenges

This is an optional rule.  If someone makes a mistake (either says something illegal or plays when it isn't their turn) any other player can challenge them.  The challenger does this by saying "Huzzah!"  The challenged player must make a correct move in a reasonably short period of time.  If they played when it wasn't their turn they should point to the person whose go it should have been.  If the challenged player fails to correct their mistake then the challenger (or anyone else) can take a soft object (balloon, cushion, cuddly toy etc.) and gently squash it into the challenged player's face.  While doing so they should say "neep!" (which is Scottish for parsnip).  Be careful of beards, glasses etc.

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