The youth of today. Forget about your computer games and DVDs, it’s an established fact that if you grew up in Ireland in the 80s or the 90s, you were a member of the golden era. Playing on the road ‘til the street lights came on, and counting to 100 faster than any set of times tables. Here are eleven games EVERY Irish kid played… Blind Man’s Buff The pretence of the game was chasing down your prey while blindfolded. Realistically it was a game with concussions, running straight into someone’s head and taking a trip to the dentist with missing teeth in pocket. Tip The Can Why did it feel like you were being swarmed from every angle. If you were brave (or a fast runner), you’d leave base to hunt down the hideouts. Summer days felt never-ending when you stood with your back to the pillar. It was only longer for the last person, crouching in the bushes, waiting for freedom. Only Braveheart would understand. Spin The Bottle The nerves of kissing your crush for the first time was only outdone by the fear you’d turn the bottle and end up on the COMPLETELY WRONG PERSON. Your tongue would stay firmly in your mouth while being subjected to the washing machine effect from the not-so-desirable. Life was tough. Red Rover The human chain where you hurtled your body against your classmates in a bid to break the arm links. In the words of Anne Robinson, we were cruel in our ability to hunt out the chink in the chain. If you were the weakest link, you were going down. Manhunt It was like Tip The Can on steroids. A witch hunt, followed by punches. After you played once or twice with the cool kids, you usually came up with any excuse not to play. Dinner being ready any minute was obviously more important. Knick Knacks The more sophisticated of childhood debauchery, you simply ran up to your neighbour’s door, rang the bell and RAN. Ran as fast as your legs could carry you. And God help you if your mammy found out. You couldn’t be shaming her in front of the neighbour’s like that. Mother May I? There was always one control freak who waited for any opportunity to shout down orders to the rest of the group. “Mother May I, breathe?” was the only question you were short of asking. Snatch the Bacon A game of skilled ducking and dodging, you went up against an opponent to ‘snatch’ the trophy object from a ring. There was no reason to get so worked up, but for some reason, each round ended up with fist pumping and shouting. Rounders The PE sport of every school across the country, rounders was baseball but with a tennis racket, because who was ever going to smack a tennis ball with a tiny bat? The glory of a home run was only beaten by knocking a ball out of the park. All glass windows within a 5 mile radius were at risk. What’s The Time Mr. Wolf? The tension was unbearable. Was he going to turn? Would you get caught out? Could you hold your statue pose? We’re sweating just thinking about it… Kiss Chasing Oh look, I’m suddenly tired and you seem to have caught up with me. How embarrassing… No it was never this dramatic. And never with a teacher. **Honorary Mention** For every rainy day, there was always time for a game of Monopoly. Every family in Ireland has a board, and every family had an ‘incident’. Fact.