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| Land mine |
|
|
| Players |
3+ |
| Age range |
Legal drinking age |
| Setup time |
2 minutes |
| Playing time |
As long/short as players choose |
| Random chance |
Easy |
| Skills required |
Quarter-spinning |
|
Land mine is a drinking game of strategy, which involves players spinning a quarter and simultaneously drinking a beer. The game is popular on college and university campuses around the United States. The game is believed to be founded by Eric Loman of Clinton, Missouri in 2004 as listed "Founder" by the Facebook page "World Landmines Order." He has also designated a Prime Spinner and Nationwide Ambassador in Ben M. and Blake M. The game quickly grew to colleges around Missouri and soon after, Virginia and the upper East Coast through W.L.O. members. Today, it is a game of strict rules and regulations, often upheld by the homeowner where the game is played.
[edit] Equipment
- 1 smooth table (not glass)
- Several quarters
- Masking Tape
- A surplus of beer
[edit] Set up
- All players must sit around the table, with a designated area in front of them. This area is marked by tape and is two beer cans wide.
- Each player must then open a game beer and a side beer, as well as have a drinking cup on hand (all of which must be kept off the table, cup optional).
- Each player may drink his side beer at his leisure. When it is finished it may be used as a weapon, (or "landmine.")
- Optional: Each player may pour an amount of beer to his liking from his game beer into game cup of the player to his left at the start of a turn.
- Player 1 then spins a quarter on the table and must drink from his beer, the entire game cup, or another predetermined amount (e.g. 2 shotglasses) until the beer is gone, he must then grab the quarter before it stops spinning, falls off the table, or hits a landmine. If the player fails to pick up the quarter before it stops spinning, he must refill the game cup and spin again.
- The quarter must be picked up with the same hand used for drinking.
- The process is repeated until the player is able to complete the task, the player passes it to his left and play continues in this fashion.
- At any time during the game, any player can use an empty can (previously finished by that player) to "landmine" an opponent. This "landmine" is when a player prematurely stops an opponents quarter from spinning, thus forcing him to repeat his turn. The "landmine" then cannot be moved by any other player and becomes a permanent fixture of the table.
- An optional style of play is to catch the spinning quarter in-between the middle and ring finger of the drinking hand, thus making it harder to catch the quarter.
- An additional rule (Simultaneously created in northern New Jersey, Middlebury College and the University at Albany with Middlebury students perfecting the rule) which can actually create a winner in landmine, allows a player to "Tap out", or voluntarily remove themself from the game, at any time. The price of tapping out, however, is steep, as the person who decides to tap out will be subject to enduring ridicule and mockery for an indeterminate amount of time, ranging from the rest of the game to several years. If all players but one tap out, the remaining player who did not tap out is declared the winner. There is no recorded instance of this occurring in games involving more than 2 players.
- In 2004, after an unfortunate game of landmines at the University of Missouri by the Founding Fathers (in which one member went 15 times in a row), a new rule was implemented that no one male player may drink more than 10 consecutive times in a row, and no female more than 5. This was implemented by Eric Loman in early 2005 to prolong the game and make it an enjoyable experience.
- The state of Missouri and its citizens are unoffically banned from playing the game of Land Mines under its official name due to: A) their lesser alcohol content in beer (watering down of the true nature of the game). B) their intolerance for alcohol as represented in their long standing fight for prohibition. C) General distaste for the state by the Founding Members.
- The unofficial yet preferred drink of Land Mines is The Silver Bullet.
[edit] Strategy
- Attempt to block in your opponents' areas, and make them drink as much as possible.
- Beware "landmining" the player to your immediate right, for he is the one pouring beer into your game cup prior to each of your turns.
- Avoid spinning the quarter in the area in front of you so if you are "landmined", it obstructs an opponent's playing space rather than your own.
[edit] References
