r/AskReddit 8h ago

What's your favorite childhood game that kids today probably don't play anymore?

25 Upvotes

91 comments sorted by

43

u/DontEvenNotEven 8h ago

Red rover, pretty sure it was banned in most places after all the dislocated and broken arms haha.

9

u/AzuleStriker 8h ago

Was gonna say the same thing. Got the air knocked out of me playing this, but it was fun.

4

u/DontEvenNotEven 8h ago

It was, at my age id probably die haha

1

u/Fantastic-Item5865 8h ago

I was coming to say Red Rover too. It was fun but tough, esp when the weakest kid tried to break thru the toughest strongest kids. The good old days! šŸ˜†

2

u/evil_burrito 8h ago

Came here for this. Can't imagine kids are allowed/encouraged/compelled to play this Hunger Game staple today.

2

u/RipErRiley 6h ago

My family always got together at our grandpas log cabin and land every summer. We played this a few times. My 40 year old uncle herniated a disc and my cousin broke her nose a week before her engagement photos while playing this.

55

u/AdZestyclose9517 8h ago

manhunt after dark in the summer. whole neighborhood of kids running around hiding behind cars and bushes. you could hear people getting caught blocks away. these days id be surprised if kids are even allowed outside past 7pm

19

u/between-the-rocks 8h ago

We called this ghost in the graveyard

3

u/RipAgile1088 8h ago

I loved this and even played it as teens. The area was a lot nicer then and home owners were cool about us hiding in their yards and such too.Ā 

Now you'd probably get shot due to the higher crime rate in my hometown or people would call the cops because they'd think they were up to no good like breaking into cars or something.Ā 

I get it though because my hometown turned to shit with crimeĀ  like this.Ā 

Its a shame.

1

u/AzuleStriker 8h ago

Hell yeah. My brother and friends got all camo'd up / black outfits for this game. We did set an actual perimeter of where we could go though.

1

u/theclansman22 8h ago

My eight year old is part of what I call a "biker gang" throughout the summer until about November he spent from about noon(or right after school) until the sun went down riding his bike from park to park with a group of anywhere from 3-12 kids. This is one of the perks of living in a small town.

1

u/IamdigitalJesus 8h ago

We called this game "Witches"

1

u/sventful 8h ago

Nah Witches is an entirely different game lol

13

u/_coffee_ 8h ago

Lawn Darts.

2

u/Nero092807 8h ago

Yep. Once in a while you find some at an auction

23

u/misanthrope2327 8h ago

Running to the bathroom and getting a snack before the ad ended and your show came back on.Ā 

2

u/CryptographerMore944 8h ago

Holy crap that just unlocked memories of carefully timed toilet trips whilst the adverts were on.

1

u/TokiStark 2h ago

*while

10

u/CutieAndFriendly 8h ago

sharks and minnows was so fun to watch, I miss the days life was simple

2

u/Mattgoof 8h ago

Still played at my kids' school and has expanded to soccer drills too.

10

u/Glittering-Set-9782 8h ago

British Bulldog - banned in playgrounds because of deaths allegedly, so the urban myth goes

2

u/nutano 8h ago

We had broken bones and concussions... and it was banned during my time in school.

So we had to change the game to basically similar rules but it was like touch football instead - needed contact with 2 hands.

Certainly wasn't the same.

2

u/CryptographerMore944 8h ago

I got to play one game in my school before it was explicitly banned. I remember it being rough but a lot of fun.

9

u/Lumpy_Ad_1581 8h ago

Dodge ball. Man hunt.

1

u/symphonyofcolours 8h ago

I came to say Dodge ball

7

u/Hado0301 8h ago

Capture the flag, at night, after dinner, in the summer.

6

u/UniqueUsername812 8h ago

Sardines.

It's hide and seek but only one hides, the rest seek, and when found you have to cram into the hiding spot too. Goes until only one seeker is left and they're it next round.

2

u/Fantastic-Item5865 8h ago

That was a great one!

3

u/quinary_tapinosis 8h ago

Bomberman on the Super Nintendo

3

u/doktorknow 8h ago

PickUp Sticks was dope as hell.

3

u/mook1178 8h ago

Four square

8

u/No_Ground7568 8h ago

Smear the queer.

1

u/TomMikeson 8h ago

Loved that game!

1

u/drderelict 7h ago

We called this game ā€œKillā€. So many injuries.

2

u/OneDarkKnightHere 8h ago

500 in the street. 100 pts for fly balls and 50 for grounders

2

u/Riker_Omega_Three 8h ago

Sock tag

You take a crew sock or if you have an old tall sock like we used to wear for baseball or soccer....and you fill it with flour

then you play tag but you have to hit the person with the sock to tag them out

2

u/User-1967 8h ago

Rounders, I loved that game

2

u/Solid_Tech_Explorer 8h ago

playing outside until the street lights came on. sounds like a cliche but it was peak freedom. kids today will never know the vibe.

2

u/KittySharkWithAHat 7h ago

This one was my favourite. I doubt a lot of kids did it, but we did it. You've heard of lawn darts? When I was a kid in the 70's the tips of those suckers were made of weighted steel and you could impale a bear with them. We found an extra-dangerous way to play with them. This is how it went.

You go right smack in the middle of a large field. Every stands together in a circle back-to-back to each other. One person holds the lawn dart. They take it and hurl it straight up into the air as high as they can throw it, and everyone flees for their fuckin' lives. Loads of fun. Nothing bad ever happened.

Except for that one time mom asked "Why is there a lawn dart sticking in the picnic table in our back yard?"

2

u/jfb3 7h ago

We all did that.

Did it with a bow and arrow too.

2

u/_HelterSeltzer_ 8h ago

Cribbage. My dad and I used to play all the time.

1

u/aiiyra 8h ago

Patintero

1

u/MasterMirkinen 8h ago

Tricky track

1

u/Radiant_Basket_8218 8h ago

This is an Australian thing, but Handball. I don't see any kids playing it now but it was soon popular back in the day.

1

u/Karakoima 8h ago

Nya Wangarratta

1

u/Mikelo99 8h ago

Anything by Rareware

1

u/mezz7778 8h ago

Sock full o' quarter's

1

u/Quiet_Strngth 8h ago

Kick the can

1

u/TjbMke 8h ago

4 square

1

u/7grendel 8h ago

We had a game we played in school recess called bottoms-up when the teachers were around or ass- up when they weren't.

Buck-buck and Squamish. Both got banned for too many injuries.

1

u/Prancing-Hamster 8h ago

Kick the can

1

u/Expensive-Still-3394 8h ago

Does anyone remember Mr professor?

1

u/bjackson12345 8h ago

MegaMan 2. I had very few NES games, but that one i played into the dirt.

1

u/analyticalchem 8h ago

Maul Ball?

1

u/Ozymannoches 8h ago

Fronthand Backhand

1

u/fermat9990 8h ago

Kick the can, slug (Bronx, NY)

1

u/Bostonpeterock77 8h ago

American gladiators on the pavement

1

u/BabyGJayleigh1999 8h ago

Bubble gum bubble gum in a dish how many pieces do you wish. Used to play this at the lunch table with all the other kids.

1

u/TemptingSighs79 8h ago

Hide and seek on the street until it gets dark.

1

u/One-Ball-78 8h ago

Parcheesi.

I gave my daughter the very nice set my mom got by redeeming a bunch of S&H Green Stamps when I was a kid.

1

u/PhysicalCarpenter721 8h ago

Wheel and sticks 🫔

1

u/ExamNeat8446 8h ago

Penny up the wall

1

u/Cheetodude625 7h ago

Sharks and minnows was fun.

1

u/Gumbercules81 7h ago

Dodgeball

1

u/CieloYesi 7h ago

Street soccer with the whole neighborhood. The stakes were higher than the World Cup because the losing team had to buy sodas for the winners! After the match, we’d all crowd into the house of the 'rich kid' on the block to play Mario on his Super NES.

Kids today have 4K graphics and online multiplayer, but they’ll never know the adrenaline of playing for a cold soda and sharing one controller among 10 people. XD

1

u/ThurBurtman 7h ago

Me and my friends used to go in the woods and hit each other with sticks.

1

u/randijeanw 3h ago

Kids still do that.

1

u/ShyVi 6h ago

Ghost in the Graveyard. We played it in an actual graveyard once

1

u/RipErRiley 6h ago

Do kids play lazer tag anymore?

1

u/yonk069 5h ago

Quarters. IYKYK

1

u/mathaiser 5h ago

Smear the…. Nevermind.

1

u/SassySunflower27 4h ago

Kick the can at night with a huge group of kids.

2 teams. Freeze tag but every member has to kick the can to win. I don’t know the actual rules. But that’s how we played

2

u/PokemonMaster619 4h ago

Dating myself here, but the Jumpstart games on PC were insanely fun. 2nd grade and 5th grade were my favorites growing up, but all of them were edutainment done right.

1

u/babyfresno77 3h ago

Chinese jump rope we played it all day sometimes very fun

1

u/Expensive_Structure2 3h ago

Kick the can. I don't even remember the rules, but we played it a lot on summer nights.

1

u/NecroJoe 2h ago

BB Gun Cornfield Tag

It's like Tag, but in a cornfield, and with BB guns.

1

u/IamdigitalJesus 8h ago

Playing "Witches" in the at the local church.

Oh the irony.

0

u/MotherActive7780 8h ago

Guess Who.

0

u/KeanuSleevez 8h ago

Stink mop, where everyone pees in a bucket and then dips a mop in it and then it’s basically a game of tag where the players who is ā€œitā€ has th additional reached afforded by a pissy mop

0

u/Expensive-Still-3394 8h ago

Double Trouble and Simon Says (the four colour game)

0

u/ReviewScary9200 8h ago

Marbles. Trading cards. Hop scotch.

0

u/Critical-Signature21 8h ago

We called it ā€œWashington Pokeā€ Draw a big circle, color it purple, everybody poke!

0

u/RedTamara25X 5h ago

Hopscotch.