Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Math Game: 8-bit game for four legs and a dock

I was playing with the Airguitar yesterday when I remembered a game that I played in the past. In Boston, when it became too hot during the summers, we used to take my car and drive to Mystic lake where Tuft's boathouse is located. Though it is not legal to swim at that spot, it is the best location and has plenty of parking space. The best times to go are during the night towards the end of summer the water has already been heating up throughout a period of several months.

At those times, we swam always with the lurking fear that the lochness monster might be in residence that night. But to get to the point, the game I mention is a game to be played with four people and eight legs*. Each of the players sit on the dock with their feet sunken into the water.
Leg in the water = 0
Leg out of the water = 1
The left most person starts by raising his or her left most leg out of the water (1), then as fast as possible count 2 (10), 3 (11), 4 (100), etc... in binary. The goal is to not mess up and go fast. The result is a lot of splashing and of course if someone lifts their foot incorrectly there is a punishment of having to jump into the lake.

*Note: More or less legs can be added or subtracted, but then it wouldn't be an 8-bit game.

2 comments:

ellen said...

you mean 4 pairs of legs.

wow that sounds horribly nerdy!! hehe, and hard. who did you play with?

raisin.detre said...

played with ankur, jenny hu, and I can't remember who else. it's pretty fun if you are too tired to get back in the water.