Category Archives: Other Games

As I recall, the game was…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Ron Weiskopf [e-mail]
 

As I recall, the game was basically crazy eights. You can look up the rules in any card book. The specail part was what was done after the game was over. I used to play with my brother only so I am not sure what happened for more than 2 players. You counted up the number of cards left in the losers hand. You then cut the deck and if a red card came up, the knucks were hard, a black card called for soft knucks. I remember that you hit the knuckles with the flat deck for each knuck. There were other variations, I seem to remember scraping knuckles being worth 5. One significant feature is that if the winner got carried away and dropped any cards, he got knucks for each card dropped (52 if the whole deck dropped)

Manhattan upper east side…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Alfie
 

Manhattan upper east side on 80th street we played Johnny on the Pony in the street from one side of the street to the other (sidewalk to sidewalk) and closed off the street so no cars could come down and stop our fun….Only the cops made us stop…LOL…What happen to the good old days being a kid in the streets…

Hugh, We did blast each…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Jim Mason [e-mail]
 

Hugh, We did blast each other’s caps as far as possible but the only advantage that I recall was the obvious one of making it more difficult for your opponent to reach his immediate destination and of course you did get to take another shot. We had no numbers in the central trapezoids as you noted. As I recall we considered the lines of the trapezoids extending to the corners of the large box surrounbding #13 to be arms of a spider, the skull (13) being the spider’s head (ignorant we were of the 8 leg requirement of Arachnids!) Also there was no consideration of switching caps. Everybody played with their current favorite which was carried around in your pocket at all times. On occasion I saw “casual” players using unweighted caps or even wooden checkers, but they were generally considered to be fools or rookies. Thanks again for a great visit. Jim Mason

Hi Jim, The game…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Hugh M. McNally (hmcnally) [e-mail]
 

Hi Jim, The game I’ve documented is based on 1970s vintage Bronx skully. It has definitely evolved through the years, and the memory of the way you played may be perfectly accurate (though not going backwards is like a day w/o sunshine IMHO–and I couldn’t imagine not hitting another player’s cap to get into the next box). For example, putting numbers in the trapezoids around the 13 box is definitely a Bronx/Harlem thing of the mid/late 60s, and never made it to Queens. And, believe it or not, if you played with 13 boxes, you definitely were higher up on the skully evolutionary cycle–we’ve seen pictures and talked to folk who played with only 9 boxes “back in the day.” There’s really no right answer about the rules–I know for a fact that we had rules on my block that kids 2 blocks away didn’t. Now that I think of it, the “bonus boxes” around “13” were introduced to my block by a kid who moved from another part of the Bronx! Please feel free to try the rules as we have here, or play the way you remember, or take a hybrid of both–just don’t change rules in the middle of the game! -Hugh McNally

After reading the rules…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Jim Mason [e-mail]
 

After reading the rules published by this site I have a couple of other questions/comments. I don’t recall proceeding up and down from 1 to 13 and back again. My memory is once you reached 13 and went out of town you were a killer. I also have no memory of any rules that would allow you to skip boxes in your journey to killer (bonus rules). Is there anyone else out there who played in the late 40’s or early 50’s with similar memories or have I just forgotten? It’s been close to 50 years since my last “competitive” game!

This site has made my day….

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Jim Mason [e-mail]
 

This site has made my day. I played skully avidly in the early 1950’s in the Amsterdam Housing project near Lincoln Center (which didn’t exist at the time). I played with a passion through second grade and then my family moved to New Jersey where new adventures took over. As I recall my dad filled the bottle caps with melted crayon for me in fear that I’d burn the apartments down. I live in New Mexico now and taught it to my daughter. I still have the caps I modified here in the early 80’s. If only I could find some decent competition! Also in the 1980’s I introduced the game to my nieces and nephews in Managua, Nicaragua. I told them it was called it Matador (killer). I can still remember the joy in my young niece’s voice when she made killer, yelling out “MATADOR!”

Hi Marc, I really…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Hugh M. McNally (hmcnally) [e-mail]
 

Hi Marc, I really don’t know how one could play skully on a manhole cover–in fact, I remember playing adjacent to one and avoiding it at all costs in fear of losing our treasured caps down the holes you’d find in it! However, I don’t mean to say your brain is turning to mush… I can imagine a game being played on a manhole if it were sufficiently smooth (I’ve seen smooth ones). If you could tell us more about it–like what era you played it–we’d all love to hear about it. It’s great to hear that about any skully variant, especially outside of the NYC/Philly areas. -Hugh McNally

I played Skully in Hyattsville,…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Marc Newkirk [e-mail]
 

I played Skully in Hyattsville, PG County MD. Outside of Washington DC. I lived in the apartments behind the PG Plaza Shopping Center and a kid from NY taught me the game. I remember playing it on a manhole cover. Please tell me my brain isn’t mush and the game could be played no a sewer cap. Better yet… if you’re that kid. Hi!! Trust me, I’ll be searching the site on the variances of Hopskotch (Shoe Heel and Layout) that we played in Baltimore. And Marbles with hole dug in the dirt. At 46 it’s amazing the things that stay with you.