Pencil and Paper Games
Tick-Tack-Toe
(two players)
This simple game is also known as Tit-Tat-Toe and Naughts and Crosses.
Draw two lines down and two lines across to make nine spaces. One player
uses an X to mark spaces. The other player uses an O.
The idea is to get three of your marks in a row—across, up and down,
or on a slant. But you must also be careful to block the other player.
The first player to get three of his marks in a row draws a line through
his marks. He is the winner. The loser gets to go first in the next
game. This game often ends in a tie. When this happens, take turns going
first.
Boxes
(two or more players)
On a piece of paper, draw five or more rows of dots, as shown. Each
player, in turn, draws a line to connect two dots. The line must go up
and down or across—never on a slant.
A player who closes a box writes his initial in the box and gets another
turn. If he cannot close a box, he looks for a place to draw a line that
will not help another player. When all the boxes are closed, the player
with the most boxes wins the game.
Battleship
(two players)
To play this game, each player needs a pencil and a sheet of graph
paper— the kind with little squares. Each player draws two boxes with
numbers and letters, as shown. The box on the left is for your ships.
The other is to keep track of your shots.
Each player starts with one battleship, one cruiser, and two destroyers.
Use four squares for the battleship, three for the cruiser, and two for
each destroyer, as shown. Mark your ships anywhere inside the left-hand
box. Just be sure the ships do not touch one another. And don\’t let the
other player see your paper!
You are ready to shoot. You are allowed-four shots, one for each ship.
Try to imagine where your opponent has placed his ships. To fire a shot,
call out the number and letter of a square. For example, 8-A. Your other
three shots might be 5-D, 2-F, and 9-J. In the box on the right, put an
X in the square as you call a shot.
After you’ve fired all four shots, your opponent tells you how many hits
you scored. He also tells you what kind of ship or ships you hit. But he
does not tell you which of your shots were hits. Then it’s his turn to
fire four shots, and you tell him what happened.
To sink a ship, you must score a hit on every square occupied by the
ship. When a player’s ship has been sunk, he must say so. Each time one
of your ships is sunk, you get one less shot on your next turn. The
first player to sink all the enemy’s ships wins the battle.
Nine Men’s Morris
(two players)
This game calls for a special board. You can draw the design for the
board on a piece of cardboard about the size of a checkerboard. Or, you
can make a wooden board following the instructions on page 237.
For the counters, or men, use bottle caps, buttons, checkers, or coins.
If you make the wooden board, you should use golf tees for the men. You
will need nine men of one color and nine of another color.
Each player starts with nine men. The idea of the game is to capture
seven of the other player\’s men. The first player to do this wins.
To begin, the players take turns placing their men on the circles. Only
one man may be placed on each circle. Each player tries to get three men
in a row, and also keep the other from doing this. A row of men may be
either up and down or across. If a player gets three of his men in a
row, he takes one of the other player’s men.
When all the men are on the board, the players take turns moving the
men. The men are always moved along a line to the next circle. The
object is still to get three of your men in a row and keep the other
player from doing this.
Each time a player gets three men in a row, he or she takes any one of
the other player’s men that isn\’t in a row of three. When a player has
only three men left, he may move a man anywhere on the board. A player
wins when the other player has only two men left.
