Blind Man's
Buff
Blind man's bluff or blind man's buff
is a children's game played in a spacious area, such as outdoors or
in a large room, in which one player, designated as "It," is
blindfolded and gropes around attempting to touch the other players
without being able to see them, while the other players scatter and
try to avoid the person who is "it", hiding in plain sight and
sometimes teasing them to make them change direction. The game is a
variant of tag.
Different versions
There are several versions of the
game:
* In another
version, whenever any player is tagged by the person who is "it",
that player is out of the game. The game proceeds until all players
are out of the game, at which point another round of the game
starts, with either the first player or the last player to be
tagged becoming the next person who is "it".
* In yet another
version, It feels the face of the person tagged and attempts to
identify the person, and only if the person is correctly identified
does the person become "it".
A children's game similar to blind
man's bluff is Marco Polo, with the main difference being that
Marco Polo is played in a swimming pool and the one that is "it"
calls out "Marco" to which the other players must reply "Polo."
Thus indicating their position and making it easier for the person
who is It to go in the right direction.
The game is known as blind man's buff
in the UK and Ireland, "buff" meaning a small push. It is possible
that the American name is a corruption, or it may originate from
the older sense of bluff meaning to blindfold.
Blind man's bluff is often played in an
area free of dangerous obstructions so that the "It" player will
not suffer injury from tripping over or hitting
something.
The game was played at least as far
back as the Tudor period, as there are references to it being
played by Henry VIII's courtiers. It was also a popular parlor game
in the Victorian era.
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