Welcome to the 90s! An era embellished with classic cartoons, outdoor adventures, and equally interesting indoor games. This vibrant decade was marked by playing the 13 most celebrated indoor games that Lasses and Lads couldn’t get enough of.
We the 90s kids were very much away from reels, stories, and android games. Yet our childhood memories flood in as we think of some highly immersive games. No VR game can be as absorbing as these games, some of which are still played in schools and homes and some are lost in the sands of time.
While on vacation or when smelling the fresh monsoon soil, memories of solo and group gaming hours come to my mind and I feel nostalgic. Let’s press the rewind button to go through the 13 classic games which the 90s kids admire playing up to this date. Here we go! Ta-da!
Rubber Cricket
One day while I still used my rectangular eraser, I came across a unique way the eraser (also called ‘rubber’ where I live. Sounds funny though..haha) was used.
My friends had a kit of cricket — bat, ball, and stumps made up of an eraser. Using the classroom desk as a pitch they played ‘cricket.’ It was fun and I joined them. One day I bought the same kit and played in school and also on the dining table in my home. Everything resembles cricket. The only difference is this is a miniature cricket indoor game.
Book Cricket
The cricket legends in the 90’s like Sachin Tendulkar, Brain Lara, Anil Kumble, and such inspired kids like us to invent new ways to play cricket apart from the traditional cricket played on the ground. ‘Book Cricket,’ was one such invention.
Our terrific love for cricket made us make use of school textbooks! The page numbers became runs and we spent many noons scoring runs!
In this form of cricket, even page numbers are counted as runs. 2, 4, 6, and even 8 runs get added to your team each time you randomly open the book’s page. The number 0 is unlucky as it is considered ‘OUT.’
When Zero turns up for the tenth time, your tenth player is out and the total score is your target for the opponent. If you are batting second, then you have ten chances to beat the opponent by scoring one run more than their total.
Exactly like cricket but it involves 8 runs and only even numbers/runs. ( If odd numbers are to be included then zero ain’t an odd number. In that case, one man will go batting till eternity!)
WWF Trump Cards
The 90s era was magnificent for both WWF fans and school and college-going children. We as kids admired the maneuvers of the superstars and divas that rocked the 90s era. The debut of Undertaker and his brother Kane were a transformational event in WWF.
Trump cards came up and kids like you and me spent hours playing them and even bunked off schools at times. Big Show, Kane, The Undertaker, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Stone Cold, Golberg, and cards of such superstars were the trump cards.
When it’s your turn to show your card, you bet on the most outstanding feature of the player which may be height, weight, fights, or rank for winning. If the opponent bears the uppermost card of his deck with a player that outpasses the declared attribute then you lose.
If your player’s attribute outpasses the opponent player’s attribute, you win. The same goes when it’s the opponent’s turn. Keeping a collection of the best cards was a hobby of many young lads in the 90s.
Pen Fights
Of all the fighting games, I admire the pen fight game the most. Here’s how you play it. Choose a plain area and place your pen on its end and tell your opponent to place it on its other end. Then flick your pen toward your opponent’s pen. The pens collide. You win when your pen hits the other pen and it falls off the table or desk.
Sometimes both pens fall and it’s a tie. Play again! This game can be played between 2, 3, or more pens. In long-distance initial hits, the way one pen spins all the way to throw the other pen off the desk is a great treat to the eyes. We played this game on the classroom desk and at a friend’s place where we used a larger playground, and a dinner table!
Snakes
Ahh, What a lovely time it was to see that ever-growing snake! Only one condition — Don’t touch the boundaries!
The 90s kids found it challenging to evolve a tiny snake into a giant one. This game has retained its popularity. However, we awaited playing the game like we await playing some big open-world game now.
The game came on screens of computers, mobiles, and the most famous brick game device with buttons similar to yellow tablets.
Brick games
That device with yellow buttons rewinds my mind to the time when I enjoyed the line-clearing game. Later, I came to know that the device is called the brick console and the game is known as Tetris. This retro entertainment still amuses me when I see the device on google images.
The console featured many other games apart from Tetris — racing game for instance. All the game objects and elements were built from black blocks. Today, black and white Tetris comes in colors. There is a whole new square-shaped world in Minecraft. However, the 90s kids will agree that there is no match for the Brick Game console.
300 in 1 video game
I would like to play classic video games today too, using the classic console that comes with a joystick and a cassette of video games. The console’s wire is attached to your TV screen. Insert the cassette and join the joysticks’ wires to the console.
The cassette features a plethora of all-time entertaining games like contra, Super Mario, sumo wrestling, and such. A 300 in 1 cassette was like a jackpot for the 90s kids.
The afternoons in summer vacation were adorned with such delightful games. Despite the low graphic quality, the games never failed to keep the 90s kids hooked to them for hours.
Super Mario
In my list of favorite games, Super Mario stands quite ahead of several modern open-world games. It was fun to see Mario shrink by the enemy attack or obstacle and get enlarged by the super mushroom.
The challenge becomes tougher after crossing each level but the fun snowballs. In modern times, this game is still played on the latest platforms with enhanced graphics and features.
Chalk Fights
Chalk Fights is a quirky game played mostly by spoilt brats but in later stages involves nerds as well. (Mainly boys). It requires just one hot-headed boy initially and is generally played in classrooms in absence of the teacher.
In an attempt to take revenge on someone, one boy hits the other boy with the chalk. If it is a bull's eye then the boy who has been hit targets the hitter.
Again if it is a bull’s eye the game continues between the two. However, if the target is missed and if the chalk hits someone else, especially on the head then the third person makes an entry into the fight. Hitting the wrong targets means more boys getting dragged into such a crazy fight and the classroom becomes a big mess until the teacher enters.
Name Place Animal Thing
This game was and is mostly popular among school-going girls. All you have to do is pick up a letter and write down the name, place, animal, and thing that starts with that letter.
The game gets challenging when the same word turns up repeatedly and it becomes difficult to name a place, animal, name, and thing starting with it.
Thumb Fight
Thumb fight, unlike hand fight, is more about agility, timing, and smartness than strength. Hence, even the fat-assed and pot-bellied kids of our school used to lose to those looking slim in such fights.
You have to raise your thumb like in the picture and attempt to press your opponent’s thumb underneath yours. This game was and is a great pastime for school-going kids.
Hand Fight
Hand fight is a muscular shit that has been a popular indoor sport for ages. Two opponents grab each other’s hand and their elbows settle on the desk or table as in the picture.
Gather all energy in your wrist and exert pressure towards your left if you are using your right hand or the other way around. The hand which knocks the other hand down wins the game.
Unlike the Thumb fight, strength is the major factor in determining who has the highest chance to win. This game becomes more exciting when played between two equally powerful arms.
Stone Paper Scissors
Bring your hand in front of your opponent making shapes of stone, paper, or scissors. Both hands should show up at a time or else it is considered cheating.
The open palm suggests paper, the fist denotes the stone, and the opening of the index and middle finger as in the picture signifies scissors. Scissor cuts the paper, but can’t cut the stone. Paper can wrap the stone. So, you can guess which shape will make you win. This is a well-known game among girls but school-going boys too, at times, play it.
When rain storms, scorching heat, and teachers kept the 90s kids away from the playground, the above indoor games made sure they had a whale of a time.
What’s your favorite game from the past century? What memories, emotions, and feelings are associated with that game?
How badly do you yearn to play that game now? Comment below.
Want to know about the favorite cartoons of the 90s kids? Read here: https://authorniks.blogspot.com/2021/07/5-exhilarating-cartoons-every-90s-kid.html
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