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There are lots of games on Gor; some with serious concequences, some just for fun. Some Games are for Free Men and some for Free Women and some for slaves, some for a combination. There are a couple just for kids.
Here are the games and how most might be played online. Games with no suggestions on how to play online can be role played. Lots of the games suggest using the time signature on your site as a random number generator. Usually, the last one or two numbers of the time stamp are used. This is done as it is impossible to predict the seconds about to be displayed at the site you are using. This, of course, involves simple chance, so should be used only for fun, unless those involved decide to do this. There are so many games mentioned in the canon of Gor books, not all with specific names, that it may be impossible to include them all, or even find them all. As always, any help would appreciated. Just write if you know of any additional games or ways or even better ways to play online. I'm Ubar Ammar. "Dice and cards and game boards and drinking goblets scattered to the rocky floors of the guards chambers as Whip Slaves and guardsmen looked up to find at their throats the blades of desperate and condemned men, now drunk with the taste of freedom and determined to free their fellows." Outlaw of Gor, 167. |
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| Archery |
"At such festivals there are often various games, and contests and prizes. Archery is popular with the peasants and combats with the great staff."
Magicians of Gor, 36. Archery could be played by shooting your arrow and using last number of the time stamp. The lower number is the closest to the bull's eye. Five arrows could be shot, and the lowest total is the winner. |
| Ball and Bat | Ball and bat is similar to Earth's 'keep-away' consisting
of two 2-man teams. It is played with a wooden bat and wooden ball.
Wooden Ball on a Decorative Stand Marauders of Gor,140. |
| Battles of Oxen | The battles of oxen is gladiator type competition popular in Tharna, Men are yoked with horns fitted to them, they battle each other in an arena, one trying to maim or gore the other.
Outlaw of Gor, 112-113. You can try to spar this. |
| Bola | Bolas employed as a game in which slave girls are ordered to run while the Masters attempt to ensnare them with the bola.
 "In the south, the Wagon Peoples sometimes use the bola in such captures, the cords and weights, whipping about the girls legs and ankles, pinning them together, hurling her to the ground, where, in an instant, before she can free herself, the captor, leaping from the saddle, is upon her." Magicians of Gor, 289. The slave runs and the Free chases after on a Kaiila. When ready, the Free posts throwing the bola. If the post's last time signature number is odd, the throw fails; if even, it is a capture. |
| Bones | Bones is played with pieces carved from bones that are
shaped to resemble an animal; a bone is dropped from a player's hand and
the bone which remains upright is the winner.
 But Made Square to Hopefully Stay Upright "Imnak and I sat across from one another, both cross-legged. He dropped a tiny bone to the fur mat between us. Each player, in turn, drops a bone, one of several in his supply. The bone Imnak had dropped was carved in the shape of a small tabuk. Each of the bones is carved to resemble an animal, such as an arctic gant, a northern bosk, a larl, a tabuk or sleen, and so on. The bone which remains upright is the winner. If both bones do not remain upright there is no winner on that throw. Similarly, if both bones should remain upright, they are dropped again. A bone which does no remain upright, if its opposing bone does remain upright, is placed in the stock of him whose bone remained upright. The game is finished when one of the two players is cleaned out of bones." Beasts of Gor, 184-185. Each player drops a bone, if the last number of the time stamp is a 3, 6 or 9, the bone stands, otherwise it falls to its side. Ten drops can be done, an the one with the most standing is the winner. |
| Capture the Slave Girl |
Capture of the Slave Girl is played by male children toteach them to see females in terms of her most basic and radical nature.
"Many Gorean games, incidentally, have features which encourage the development of properties regarded as desirable in Gorean youth, such as courage, discipline, and honor. Similarly, some of the games tend to encourage the development of audacity and leadership. Others, like the one referred to by the proprietor, encourage the young man to see the female in terms of her most basic and radical meaning, in the terms of her deepest and true nature, that nature which is most biologically fundamental to her, that nature which is that on the inestimable prize, that of the most desirable prey, the most luscious quarry, that of she who is to be captured and mastered, absolutely, she to whose owning and domination all of nature inclines, and without which the ancient sexual equations of humanity cannot be resolved. Such games, in short, thus, encourage the lad, almost from infancy on, to reality and nature, to manhood and mastery." Mercenaries of Gor, 278-9. |
| Cats-cradle | Cats-cradle game is string game popular in the Gorean North.
slave girl practicing cats-cradle "Others faced one another, kneeling, and, with string and their fingers, played an intricate cat's-cradle game. Others played 'stones', where one player guesses the number of stones held in the other's hand. I tried the cat's-cradle game but I could not play it, I always became confused, trying to copy the intricate patterns. How beautifully they would suddenly, in all their complexity, appear. The other girls laughed at my clumsiness. The northern girls, incidentally, were very skilled at this game. They could beat us all." Captive of Gor, 107. This is not a contest, so easy to role play. |
| Contest of Arms | A gladiator-like contest where Men fought to death.
"Equaling and perhaps exceeding the fame of Gladius of Cos was that of the swordsman Murmillius, of the cruel games observed in the Stadium of Blades. Since the beginning of En'Kara he had fought more than one hundred and twenty times, and one hundred and twenty foes had fallen before him, which, following his unusual custom, he had never slain, regardless of the will of the crowd. Some of the best swordsmen of Ar, even Warriors of High Caste, eager to be the one to best the mysterious Murmillius, had dared to enter the arena against him, but each of these bold gentlemen he seemed to treat with more scorn than his common foes, playing with them and then, it seemed when he wished, disabling their sword arm, so cruelly that perhaps they might never again be able to lift the steel. Condemned criminals and men of low caste, fighting for gold or freedom in the arena, he treated with the harsh courtesies obtaining among sword brothers. The crowd, each time he fought, went mad with pleasure, thrilling to each ringing stroke of steel, and I suspected that that man most adored in Ar was the huge, mysterious Murmillius, superb and gallant, a man whose very city was unknown." Assassin of Gor, 230, described in detail in Chapter 12, "Stadium of Blades." To play is to use the spar rules in any home in which you wish to spar. |
| Contests of Oxen | Popular in Tharna, the contest of oxen is a race in which yoked men pull heavy objects.
"'First,' said the voice, 'there will be the Contests of Oxen.' There were perhaps forty yoked wretches in the arena. In a few moments the guards had divided us into teams of four, harnessing our yokes together with chains. Then, with their whips, they drove us to a set of large blocks of quarried granite, weighing perhaps a ton apiece, from the sides of which protruded heavy iron rings. More chains fixed each team to its own block. The course was indicated to us. The race would begin and end before the golden wall behind which, in lofty splendor, sat the Tatrix of Tharna. Each team would have its driver, who would bear a whip and ride upon the block. We painfully dragged the heavy blocks to the golden wall. The silver yoke, hot from the sun, burned my neck and shoulders." Outlaw of Gor, 111-112. Teams or individuals compete. The individual or leader post five or ten times, "Pull." At the end, they add up the last number of their time signatures and the highest number wins. Alternatively, if it is a team, all in the team post, "Pull." Add up the last number and that is their score. |
| Cork Ball and Quiva | "Here and there children ran between the wheels, playing with a cork ball and quiva, the object of the game being to strike the thrown ball."
Nomads of Gor, 27. This is for children. |
| Dice | Dice exist in many forms on Gor, ranging from those played with a single
die to five dice. Various symbols are usually painted on their surfaces.
Some are sold in sealed boxes bearing their cities imprint.
 Assassin of Gor, 248. "I passed a few fellows playing dice. There are many forms of dice games on Gor, usually played with anywhere from a single die to five dice. The major difference, I think, between the dice of Earth and those of Gor is that the Gorean dice usually have their numbers, or letters, or whatever pictures or devices are used, painted on their surfaces. It is difficult to manufacture a pair of dice, of course, in which the 'numbers, two, three and so on, are represented by scooped out indentations. For example, the 'one' side of a die is likely to have less scooped-out material missing than the "six" side of a die. Thus the 'one side is slightly heavier and, in normal play, should tend to land face down more often than, say the ‘six' side, this bringing up the opposite side, the 'six' side in Earth dice, somewhat more frequently. To be sure, the differences in weight are slight and, given the forces on the dice, the differential is not dramatic. And, of course, this differential can be compensated for in a sophisticated die by trying to deduct equal amounts of material from all surfaces, for example, an amount from the 'one' side which will equal the amount of the 'six' side, and, indeed, on the various sides. At any rate, in the Gorean dice, as mentioned, the numbers or letters, of pictures or whatever devices are used, are usually pained on the dice. Some gamesmen, even so, attempt to expend the same amount of paint on all surfaces. To be sure, some Gorean dice I have seen to use the 'scooped-out' approach to marking the dice. And these, almost invariably, like the more sophisticated Earth dice, try to even out the material removed from each of the surfaces. Some Gorean dice are sold in sealed boxes, bearing the city’s imprint. These, supposedly, have been each cast six hundred times, with results approximating the ideal mathematical probabilities. Also, it might be mentioned that dice are sometimes tampered with, or specially prepared, to favor certain numbers. These, I suppose, using the Earth term, might be spoken of as 'loaded.' My friend, the actor, magician, impresario and whatnot, Boots Tarsk-Bit, once narrowly escaped an impalement in Besnit on the charge of using false dice. He was, however, it seems, framed. At any rate the charges were dismissed when a pair of identical false dice turned up in the pouch of the arresting magistrate, the original pair having, interestingly, at about the same time, vanished." Magicians of Gor, 59. To play dice, simply toss and reading the timestamp from right to left the first number between 1 and 6 is the number tossed. 21:45:35 = 5; 22:27:40 = 4. |
| Favors | Game of favors is played by Free Woman at the Carnival where each woman
is given ten scarves and must run about asking for the men to accept her
favor; the goal to be the first to get rid of the scarves and run back.
"She had had only two favors left at her belt, I had noted. Normally in this game the woman begins with ten. The first to dispense her ten favors and return to the starting point wins." "In short, the game of favors permits free women, in a socially acceptable context, by symbolic transformation, to assuage their sexual needs to at least some extent, and, in some cases, if they wish, to make advances to interesting males. There is no full satisfaction of female sexuality, of course, outside of the context of male dominance." Players of Gor, 44 & 45. Play just as written. The Free Women could be give free passage to several homes to run till the get rid of their scarves. |
| Gambling | Gorean men love gambling and it takes many forms.
 "The Tuchuks, not unlike Goreans in general, are fond of gambling. Indeed it is not unknown that a Tuchuk will bet his entire stock of Bosk on the outcome of a single kailla race; as many as a dozen slave girls may change hands on something as small as the direction that a bird will fly or the number of seeds in a tospit." Nomads of Gor, 60. (See Custom's page for more quotes.) To play on line use the last number on time signatures to determine outcomes of things bet upon. For birds,flight someone calls, "Shoo" 0, 4 = North, 1, 5 = South, 2, 6, East, 3,7, West. 8 or 9, the bird does not go and the other player says, "Shoo." |
| Games of Kajuralia |
"'The games of Kajuralia can be dangerous,' remarked Flaminius, swiftly wrapping a white cloth about the wound, securing it with four small metal snap clips." Assassin of Gor, 263, the Kajuralia is described in detail in Chapters 17 and 18. Can be played in any Home during Kajuralia when the slave run amock. |
| Girl Catch or Girl Run |
"In one place, hearing the jingling of bells, I went over to a large open circle of fellows to watch a game of "girl catch." There are many ways in which this game, or sort of game, is played. In this one, which was not untypical, a female slave, within an enclosure, her hands bound behind her back, and hooded, is belled, usually with common slave bells at the collar, wrists and ankles and a larger bell, a guide bell, with its particular note, at her left hip. Some fellows then, also hooded, or blindfolded, enter the enclosure, to catch her. Neither the quarry nor the hunters can see the other. The girl is forbidden to remain still for more than a certain interval, usually a few Ihn. She is under the control of a referee. His switch can encourage her to move, and, simultaneously, of course, mark her position. She is hooded in order that she may not determine into whose power she comes. When she is caught that game, or one of its rounds, is concluded. The victor’s prize, of course, is the use of the slave." Magicians of Gor, 40. "The game of Girl Catch is played variously upon Gor; it can be played as informally and simply as it was in the camp of my captor, for the pleasure of his men, or it can be a fairly serious business, closely supervised and regulated in a sophisticated manner, as it is by merchant administrators in the rings outside the perimeters of the Sardar Fairs, where the young men of various cities compete. In one form there a hundred young men and a hundred young women of one city, the women selected for their beauty, enter the ring in competition with a hundred young men and a hundred young women of another city, similarly selected. In this form no hoods are worn. The object of the male is to protect his own women and secure those of the enemy. A girl is caught, stripped, bound hand and foot, and carried to the Girl Pit of the capturing city, into which she is thrown. If she cannot free herself, she is counted as a catch. Her own men may not enter the Girl Pit of the capturing city to free her. Sometimes this game is played with the winning side determined by its catches within a time limit, sometimes, in more brutal versions, by the first city which secures the hundred women of its enemy. A male is disqualified from further participation in the contest if he is forced from the ring. Women from the victorious city who may have been captured are, of course, upon the victory of their city, freed. Women from the conquered city, on the other hand, are not; they are kept; they are turned over to the young males of the capturing city; in the game in which the first hundred captures decides victory this means there is a girl for each participating young man, usually one he himself brought bound to the Girl Pit. Accordingly, particularly in the early phases of the game, the young males often devote their acquisitive attentions to those young women of the enemy city who are the most attractive to them personally, to those they would most enjoy taking home with them at the end of the day. This sport of Girl Catch, interestingly, when matters of honor are not thought to be involved, has been used upon occasion by cities to settle boundary disputes and avert wars." Slave Girl of Gor, 54. |
| Greased
Wineskin |
Greased wineskin is an item used in a carnival-type game
that entails a Free Man balancing, for an allotted time, usually an ehn,
on a filled wineskin that has the surface greased. Many times the prize
is the full wineskin.
"I saw some fellows gathered about a filled, greased wineskin. There was much laughter. I went over to watch. He who manages to balance on it for a given time, usually an Ehn, wins both the skin and its contents. One pays a tarsk bit for the chance to compete. It is extremely difficult, incidentally, to balance on such an object, not only because of the slickness of the skin, heavily coated with grease, but even more so because if its rotundity and unpredictable movements, the wine surging within in." Magicians of Gor, 36. The contestants post "Balacing..." ten times. The winner has the most even number ending the time signature. |
| Hook Knife |
 "I observed the two men, collared slaves, squaring up against one another in the sand. Both were stripped to the waist. The hair of both was bound back with a band of cloth. Each carried, sheathed, a hook knife. The edges of the sheath were coated with a bluish pigment.'These men are the champions among male slaves at hook knife,' said Cernus. He scarcely glanced up from the game board at which he sat across from Caprus, of the Caste of Scribes, Chief Accountant of the House.I heard the crack of a whip and the command 'Fight!' and saw the two men begin to close with one another.A blue line appeared across the chest of one of the slaves fighting between the tables, on a square of sand some twelve feet in dimension. The line was adjudicated as a point. The two men then returned to opposite corners of the ring and crouched down, waiting for the command to fight again." Magicians of Gor, 36. Spar with hook knives. |
| Kaiila Races | "Kaiila races, perhaps needless to say, are very popular. An entire village is likely to turn out to watch such a race."
Savages of Gor, 227. Each constestant gets on a kaiila and posts, "Spurs the kaiila...." After five or ten posts, the last numbers of the time signatures are added and the highest number wins. Ties have a second chance against each other. |
| Kaissa | Kaissa is a board game much favored on Gor; the board is marked with 100 squares, colored alternately red and yellow; there are 20 pieces per side, which represent Ubar and Ubara, Initiates, Riders of the High Tharlarion, Tarnsmen, Scribes, Builders, Spearmen or Spear Slaves, and the Home Stone; it is played much like chess, the object being to capture one's opponent's Home Stone; in Torvaldsland, the Ubar, Ubara, tarnsman, Initiate, and Scribes are replaced by the Jarl, Jarl's Woman, Ax, Rune-Priest, and Singer, respectively.
Kaissa Game Position between Ubar Escher and Ubar Darton. 12th day of Se'Varin the year 10,151 CA Ubar Escher won on move 41. "Game! Game!" I heard, and quickly shook my head, driving away the memories of Ar, and the girl once known, always loved. The word actually cried was, "Kaissa," which is Gorean for "Game." It is a general term, but when used without qualification, it stands for only one game. The man who called out wore a robe of checkered red and yellow squares, and the game board, of similar squares, with ten ranks and ten files, giving a hundred squares, hung over his back; slung over his left shoulder, as a warrior wears a sword, was a leather bag containing the pieces, twenty to a side, red and yellow, representing Spearmen, Tarnsmen, the Riders of the High Tharlarion, and so on. The object of the game is the capture of the opponent's Home Stone. Capturing of individual pieces and continuations take place much as in chess. The affinities of this game with chess are, I am confident more than incidental." Assassin of Gor, 26. It can be played online at this sites: MC Kaissa Game and Kaissa Board Game |
| Lance and Tospit | "On the back of the kaiila, the black lance in hand, bending
down in the saddle, I raced past a wooden wand fixed in the earth,on the top of which was placed a dried tospit, a small, wrinkled, yellowish-white peachlike fruit, about the size of a plum, which grows on the tospit bush, patches of which are indigenous to the drier valleys of the western Cartius. They are bitter but edible. "Well done!' cried Kamchak as he saw the tospit, unsplit, impaled halfway down the shaft of the lance, stopped only by my fist and the retaining strap. Such a thrust was worth two points for us." Post your try and if the time signature ends in 2, 4, 6, 8 ... two points; 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 are failures for zero points. Four chances on a point, six failures. Take a total of five tries apiece. Nomads of Gor,, 59. See the Living Wand below. |
| Living Wand | "'The living wand!' shouted Albrecht. Kamchak sucked in his breath. Several in the crowd shouted out, 'The living wand!' I looked at Kamchak. I saw in his eyes that the challenge must be accepted. In this matter I must be Tuchuk. Save for armed combat, lance and tospit with the living wand is the most dangerous of the sports of the Wagon Peoples. In this sport, as might be expected, one's own slave must stand for one. It is essentially the same sport as lancing the tospit from the wand, save that the fruit is held in the mouth of a girl, who is slain should she move or in any way withdraw from the lance. Needless to say many a slave girl has been injured in this cruel sport." Nomads of Gor,, 60. You really want to do this? Well, make your post and if the time signature ends in four, she is dead (4 = shi in Japanese meaning "death."). If nine, (9 = ku in Japanese "suffering"), she is hurt but not dead. |
| Love Wars | The Wagon Peoples compete against the Warriors of Turia on the
Plain of Stakes during the Second Passage Hand (May 15th-19th) in mid-spring, participating in various challenges and ceremonial combats. For Turians, the contest is to win ownership of a slave of the Wagon Peoples. The Four Tribes compete to win high born Turian free women, which will be turned into slaves of the wagons.
Described at length in Nomads of Gor Chapter 10. (See Custom's page for quotes.) |
| Meat-catch | Meat-catch is a carnival-like game which involves slaves
lined up on their knees, hands bound behind their backs who are tossed
bits of meat to catch one at a time; the girls catching the meat, or recovering
a missed bit by scrambling with the others for it, receive points for their
Masters.
"I saw a line of five slave girls, kneeling, abreast, their hands tied behind their back. bits of meat were thrown to them, one after the other. A catch scored two points for the master. A missed piece might be sought by any of the girls, scrambling about, on their bellies. She who managed to obtain it received one point for her master. The girls were encouraged from the sidelines, not only by their masters but by the crowd as well, some of whom placed bets on the outcome." Magicians of Gor, 36. To play online, three or more slaves line up. The Free tosses the meat at His or Her slave saying "Meat toss to (slavename)." The slave responds with "Bites." If the last number of time signature is a 3, 6 or 9, it is a catch and scores two points for the Owner. If not, all slaves post "bites..." till one ends the time signature with a 3,6 or 9, winning one point for the slave's owner. |
| Pick up Game |
"The slave, for example, and this is commonly included in her training, seldom bends over to retrieve a fallen object. Rather she flexes her knees, lowering the body beautifully, and retrieves the object from a graceful and humble crouch. Sometimes, to be sure, commonly in serving at the parties of young men, certain objects, sometimes as part of a game, objects with prearranged significances among the young men, are thrown to the floor, and she must pick them up in a less graceful fashion. Whichever object she first touches determines to whose lusty abuse she must then submit. This game is sometimes played several times in the evening."
Mercenaries of Gor, 207-8. Just follow the above rules with the slaves. |
| Push the Bean |
 "I stopped for a moment to watch an amusing race. Several slave girls are aligned, on all fours, poised, their heads down. Then, carefully, a line of beans, one to a girl, is placed before them. She must then, on all fours, push the bean before her, touching it only with her nose. The finish line was a few yards away. "Go!" I heard. The crowd cheered on its favorites. On this sport, as well as on several others, small bets were placed. Sometimes a new slave, one who has recently been a haughty, arrogant free woman, is used in such a race. Such things, aside from their amusing, and fitting, aspects, are thought to be useful in accommodating her to her new reality, that of the female slave. In them she learns something more of the range of activities that may be required of her." Magicians of Gor, 38-9. Easy to play. Girls post "Push!" and if the time stamp ends in an even number it is successful and they type, "Push One! Push!" Another success and it is "Push Two!" and so forth. If not successful, they just "Push!" The first girl to yell successfully, "Push Ten." Wins. Alternatively, the just post, "Push" a given number of times, say ten, and add up the last number on each time signature, the highest number winning. |
| Red Hunters'Game | Soccer-like game with the leather ball with goals drawn
in the turf played by the Red Hunters.
"You spoiled her kick," said a man to me, in Gorean. "I am sorry," I said. The girl, with the other youths, had been playing a soccer like game with the leather ball, with goals drawn in the turf. I had not realized, until too late, that I had been traversing the field of play." Beasts of Gor, 193. Well, let the Red Hunter's figure out how to play. |
| Soiling the Stairs | "Children sometimes use the stairs to relieve themselves. This is occasionally done, I gather, as a game, the winner being decided by the greatest number of stairs soiled."
Magicians of Gor, 272. This is just for kids. |
| Staff
Contests |
Staff contests are fair-type events, where men compete
with staffs in good-natured sport for various prizes.
"At such festivals there are often various games, and contests and prizes. Archery is popular with the peasants and combats with the great staff." Magicians of Gor, 36. Spar with staves. |
| Stones
Contests |
 "Others [slaves] played 'Stones' where one player guesses the number of stones held in the other’s hand.... It has two players, who take alternate turns. Each player has the same number of 'Stones,' usually two to five per player. The 'Stones' are usually pebbles or beads, but in the cities one can buy small polished, carved boxes containing ten 'stones,' the quality of which may vary from polished ovoid stones, with swirling patterns, to gems worth the ransom of a merchant’s daughter. The object of the game is simple, to guess the number of stones held the other’s hand or hands. One point is scored for a correct guess, and the game is usually set for a predetermined number of paired guesses, usually fifty. Usually your opponent tries to outwit you, by either changing the number of stones held in his hand or, perhaps, keeping it the same." Captive of Gor, 107-108. " 'Tal' I said to two guardsmen who crouched at the side of a fire, playing Stones, a guessing game in which one person must guess whether the number of stones held in the fist of another is odd or even." Outlaw of Gor, 186. Online play is easy. The slaves give the number of stones in their hand, three to five, to a judge, maybe a Free, and he declairs who won. Fifty gusses is much too much, five guesses will do and three to five slaves can play. |
| Tarn Racing | "Several times we had taken racing tarns from the cot. He had even showed me, at night in the empty Stadium of Tarns, certain tricks of racing, about which he seemed to know a great deal, doubtless because of his connection with the Greens. I learned such things as the pacing of the bird, the model trajectories for negotiating the rings, techniques of avoiding birds and blocking others, sometimes forcing them to hit or miss the rings; racing could be, and, often was, as dangerous and cruel as the games in the Stadium of Blades, where men met men and beasts, and often fought to the death. Sometimes in the races, in pressing through the rings, fighting for position, riders used goads on one another, or tried to cut the safety or girth straps of others; more than one man had been stabbed as the birds, jammed at the comer rings, had fought for passage and position."
Assassin of Gor, 187 and described in detail in Chapter 22, "Stadium of Tarns." Each ride through the course consists of ten posts,alternating "Ride," "Ring." All the numbers at the end of the "Ride" post signatures are added up. For every "Ring" post, if the number is even two points are added, for every odd number, three points are deleted from the total. |
| Tharlarion Races | High tharlarions are bred and registered for racing, being smaller and lighter than calvary tharlarions. Famous bloodlines include: Venetzia, Toraii, and Thalonion. The city of Venna is well known for its tharlarion races.
"The lady Melpomene of Vonda, incidentally I had heard, for such stories reach even the stables, had fared badly in the tharlarion races in Venna. I recalled that she had hoped to recoup her lost fortunes in such races. Apparently she had failed to do so. As the story went, and my own knowledge, as far as it went, corroborated the story she had wagered what were, in effect her last serious financial resources, the proceeds garnered from the sale of her house in Venna, on the outcomes of certain tharlarion races. She had thought herself, in virtue of the possession of significant and secret information assured of certain winners in these races. Unfortmately for her this information, as I suspect is often the case in such matters, proved unreliable. Her wagers lad, at any rate, proved uniformly disastrous. She had become a ruined woman." Fighting Slave of Gor,, 233. Each constestant gets on a tharlarion and posts, "Spurs...." After five or ten posts, the last numbers of the time signatures are added and the highest number wins. Ties have a second chance against each other. |
Tospit Seed Guessing | "Usually, in guessing tospit seeds, one guesses the actual number, and usually both guessers opt for an odd number. The common tospit almost invariable has an odd number of seeds. On the other hand the rare, long-stemmed tospit usually has an even number of seeds. Both fruits are indistinguishable outwardly. I could see that, perhaps by accident, the tospit which Kamchak had thrown me had had the stem twisted off. It must be then, I surmised, the rare long stemmed-tospit.
'Even,' I said. Kamchak looked at me as though pained. 'Tospits almost always have an odd number of seeds,' he said. Nomads of Gor, 159. Find a slave to bite into the tospits, gather your mates around, put in your bets and guesses into a winnings pot. The number of seeds in the topsit are determined by the last number on the time stamp, ie, (16:23:45), where 0 equals 10. The exact number of seeds must be guessed before the winnings are turned over. So if there are 5 seeds in a tospit and no one guessed that, another tospit has to bite the dust and more money must be placed in the pot for the next round. |
| Wrestling | "I passed two fellows wrestling in a circle, others watching."
Magicians of Gor, 39. Spar with no weapons. |
| Zar | Zar is a board game of the Tahari; the board is marked
like a Kaissa board, but the pieces - 9 per player called 'pebbles'
- are placed at the intersections of the lines; movement is somewhat like
that of checkers, but without capturing of pieces; the object of the game
is to effect a complete exchange of the original placement of the pieces.
"He retired to the canopy beneath which, with water, he sat, cross-legged, with his companion. Between them they had, in the crusts, scratched a board for Zar. This resembles the Kaissa board. Pieces, however, may be placed only on the intersections of lines either within or at the edges of the board. Each player has nine pieces of equal value which are originally placed on the intersections of the nine interior vertical lines with what would be the rear horizontal line, constituted by the back edge of the board, from each player's point of view. The corners are not used in the original placement, though they constitute legitimate move points after play begins. The pieces are commonly pebbles, or bits of verr dung, and sticks. The "pebbles" move first. Pieces move one intersection at a time, unless jumping. One may jump either the opponent's pieces or one's own. A jump must be made to an unoccupied point. Multiple jumps are permissible. The object is to effect a complete exchange of original placements. The first player to fully occupy the opponent's initial position wins. Capturing, of course, does not occur. The game is one of strategy and maneuverability." Use the Kaissa board above but all pieces are used as described above. Tribesmen of Gor, 18. |
