Heaneyland!

Bummer of '39

Another cheerful game from the Cokesbury Game Book.

THE BOMB

The players sit in a circle and the leader, also seated in the circle, starts the game. The whole atmosphere must be that of tragedy and horror. Any player who "laughs, grins, or shows his teeth" must retire from the game. The object is to see how many players can remain for as many as four rounds. When players have been retired from the circle, there is nothing to prevent them from trying to upset the decorum of other players in the circle with humorous antics.

The leader begins the game by handing some object, a book or a beanbag, for example, to the player on his right. This player says, "What is this?" The leader answers, "A bomb," and shudders. Number two now passes the "bomb" on to the next player who in turn says, "What is this?" Number two does not answer immediately, however, but turns to the leader and says, "What is this?" The leader replies again, "A bomb," and shudders. Number two then says to number three, "A bomb," and shudders. Number three now passes the object to number four who puts the same question as the others. Number three passes the question back to number two, and number two to the leader, and again each one in turn must reply, "A bomb," and visibly shudder. So the bomb goes around the circle for the first round.

For the other rounds the following dialogue may take place:

Q: How many did it kill? (Shudder.)
A: An unknown number were blown to bits. (Shudder.)

The dialogue for round number three might be:

Q: Were the dead identified? (Shudder.)
A: They were too mangled for identification. (Shudder.)

The dialogue for round number four might be:

Q: Is the bomb harmless now? (Shudder.)
A: No, it may go off any minute. (Shudder.)