Fixing everything, really slowly

Ok, so this is cheating somewhat as this is a re-post of something from my old web site, but what the heck at least its not stolen from elsewhere!

Instructions:

Up Jenkins! is a team game for six or more players. It is preferable to have an even number of players, though not essential. You will need a table that is wide enough to the two teams to sit opposite one another and a 2p coin.

Players split up into two teams. The two teams need to sit opposite one another with a large table between them. The two teams take it in turns to play. The object of the game is for the playing team to hide a 2p coin in a number of pre-determined ways, while the opposing team attempts to guess which person has it. There are three ways in which the playing team can hide the coin, “palms”, “fists” and “wibbley-wobbley”.

Palms:

All the players must place both hands in front of them on the table, palms down. The person who has the coin has to hide the coin under their hand. The hardest part of this call is that coin often makes a noise as hand meets table, so the whole team needs to try and get there hands down at the same time to disguise the noise. Of the calls available this is the one that depends most on teamwork.

Wibbley-wobbley:

The most physically challenging of the calls, “wibbley-wobebley” requires composure and stamina. Like “palms” the player with the coin must hold it in the palm of their hand. With “wibbley-wobbley” all the team must place both hands in front of them, palms down but above the table, and wiggle their fingers – rather like pretending to be a spider. Keeping the coin in the palm can be challenging and some players prefer to use a thumb tucked under their palm to hold it in place. While this is permissible it does look obvious to the opposition who has the coin. With “wibbley-wobbley” good bluffing from the other team members is essential.

Fists:

“Fists” is entirely psychological and is probably the least used of the calls. The player with the coin has to hide the coin in their fist, and all the players have to clench both their fists and place them on the table, again with palms facing down. “Fists” is best used as a surprise call, because it is hard to clench your fist if the coin is in the centre of the player’s palm – as is often the case when expecting a call of “palms” or “wibbley-wobbley”.

How to begin playing

Toss the coin to decide who goes first. The team to go first is the playing team. That team places all their hands under the table and gives the coin to one person. This has to be done secretively so that the opposing team can’t tell who has it.

When the playing team is ready the opposing team must call “Up Jenkins! . . .” and then one of the three methods of hiding. The playing team must then all act on this call. The opposing team then has to guess which member of the playing team has the coin.

Tactics

Bluffing, bluffing, bluffing – Bluffing is the essential to the success of the game and is encouraged. There are many ways of bluffing, some more subtle than others. Many players don’t like to discuss there bluffing tactics publicly through fear there opposition may hear of them and lessen their chances of winning.

There are however a few well known bluffs:

The Drink: The player (who may or may not have the coin) lifts one hand from the table and takes a drink. This suggests to the other team that the player doesn’t have the coin or that he is double-bluffing and in fact does have it in the other hand. In either case it can confuse the opposing team. This can be an effective distraction if one of your team mates has just given the game away, perhaps through lack of skill or concentration.

The Malformed: The player pretends to be extremely nervous, as if they have the coin, they also hold one of their hands differently so as to suggest they are struggling to conceal it. The malformed is most useful during “wibbley-wobbley” because of its challenging nature. Note that the opposing team does have the right to request that the players wibble their fingers fully so use with caution.

The Clinker: This bluff applies only to “palms”. When the call is made, any members of the team who have any rings on their fingers try to disguise the sound of coin hitting table by making the rings hit at the same time.

Enjoy playing Up Jenkins!