The Game of Cans

It’s been raining out so Walter and I invented a game so all the apartmentites can do something in lieu of going out because of the rains. Yes, we know that even if it does not rain we are still not allowed to go out but we’d like to think that we have the option to go out and play like everyone else.

The game is called Cans. Mainly because the players are mostly cans- Corned Beef, SPAM, Pork and Beans, Tuna, Milk, Chicken Hotdogs, Vienna Sausage, Potted Meat, and Cat Food. Walter has some misgivings with having some cat food on his teams but I assured him that they would be impartial. Just like I was assured that all the other cans, who are in his care in the pantry, would also play fair.

Walter and I formed two teams with the cans. We have five cans playing at a time with the other cans on standby. The playing space is five spaces wide and five steps from each other. Five can are in a line on each side. Then Walter’s team turn away while I hide one of Ursula’s coins under one can then we can form any formation two cans thick and three cans wide. Then our team faces the back while Walter team does the same. The object of the game is to guess where the other team hid the treasure.

The captains of each team- namely Walter and I- may command a member of their team or command a can from the other team to move one space at a time. In the beginning, one prioritizes to move cans of the other team so they break their formation and maybe during the movement reveal who is hiding the coin. It is also essential to move them away from each other so that they cannot pass on the coin to another can.

At any time during game play, you may interrogate a can to find out if he or she has the coin. Interrogation is considered a move.

During game time, the cans are allowed to move the coin from one can to another. But, they have to do it discretely.  SPAM cans are very good at covering line of sight. They are also good hiders. SPAM cans work very well with low lying Tuna Cans.

Moving the coin is risky but sometimes it is the only way to protect your treasure. The Corned Beef guys are very good at this. They have very good poker faces and can pass a coin like nothing happened. They are very serious at Cans. They hate losing.

If one is definitely sure which can is hiding the treasure you can challenge a can. The can steps forward to your side of the playing field then reveals if he or she has the can. If you are successful in making you challenge. You win the game! If not, the challenged can stacks another can from your standby team. Once this stack reaches back home base, they may unstacked and then you have 6 cans playing on your team during gametime.

Stacking is also allowed anytime during gameplay. But, there is a danger that the stack be brought to the other team’s side so that can becomes their player. A stack may be challenged at anytime so stacks of 5-6 may happen.

Pork and Beans are very boisterous players. They like it when the stacks get to an unreasonable height. They like to tease the cans till they topple over. Which looks dangerouns and some cans may get dented. But it's all in good fun.

The smaller cans- Potted Meat and Vienna Sausage- are giddy they can't stand in one spot too long but they are very good bluffers. We have a particularly excellent Vienna Sausage Can who can act as if he has the the coin or the the coin has just been passed onto him but is trying his best not to show it. Such a classic. We have to watch out for him.

One time Walter and I kept on challenging so that the other team could not gain possession of the stack. We ended up with two stacks 10 cans high. That's when Walter and I realized that we have to figure this game out further.