On 27 July, House Humanities decided to welcome students back to the second semester with a bang, and boy, did they deliver! They hosted a games day titled “Friends Like These 2.0”, where friends teamed up in groups of four to six. For a mere R50 sign-up fee, participants gained access to all games, entrance tickets, and a meal to wrap up the day. This was not just any games day; it was a nostalgic trip down memory lane with classic childhood games.
Planned and executed by Keamogetsoe Radingwane, the event kicked off with the Executive Committee members setting up the eventful day at the Rag Farm on Hillcrest campus. Teams arrived buzzing with excitement, ready to channel their inner children and secure a win. A few groups left before the games could begin, as setting up for the day was delayed. Luckily, those who stayed were in for a treat. Games for the day included a treasure hunt, Find the Letters, Riddle Me Up, Tug of War, Amatin, Maroundas, Drie Tottie, and Put Your Faith in a Friend
Most of these games brought about nostalgic memories, be it from recalling how long it would take them to get the games right as a child or remembering the childhood friends they once played these games with. At the start, teams were given score sheets to keep track of their record for the day. The games began with a treasure hunt where teams had to split up and find all 26 letters of the alphabet. With these letters, the teams then had to find facilitators to get clues for the Riddle Me Up game. Participants had to guess the answer to the riddle based on the clues given and create the answer using the alphabet letters they had found.
Games such as Amatin and Maroundas were a fun form of cardio, as these tested everyone’s capability to multitask. In Amatin, one team has the ball and must eliminate each member of the opposing team within five minutes. The opposing team must duck the ball to avoid elimination while simultaneously using their feet to pick up flattened tins from the ground and dumping them into a box by jumping with the tins placed between their feet. Maroundas, much like an advanced game of hopscotch, had everyone leaping and bounding, truly testing their agility and coordination.
Drie Tottie is a perfect example of how people jump to conclusions. In this game, three sticks are placed in equal intervals. Both teams form one queue and each take turns to see who will jump the furthest from the last placed stick. Each time a member jumps the furthest, the stick intervals increase to make the competition tougher. Put Your Faith in a Friend, on the other hand, entailed two teams competing in an obstacle course. Two participants from each team were blindfolded, with one group member from each team guiding their team member through the obstacle course by giving them signals on how to maneuver. For there to be a winning team, remaining team members from either of the competing teams had to reach the end of the obstacle course before the other team. Finally, Designer Mania was a fun game where teams had to duplicate an artwork design. Each team received the necessary material to design the artwork; however, they only had 30 seconds to look at the artwork and report back to their team on what they needed to do.
Each round had points, and at the end of the day, the teams with the highest scores won. However, everyone left the Rag Farm as a winner, as there were various winning categories ranging from being the most competitive to the most creative. Before the award ceremony, participants were served food. Girl dinner? Covered.
Awards were given as follows:Queen of Quests received a certificate for the most energetic team, while F is For Friends Who Do Fun Stuff Together won for the most creative team name.For the most outstanding team spirit, Glorious Victorious won. For the general games, Sister’s League won third place, Youngins won second place, and Tyrants were the stars of the day!
More prizes followed as Zone Fitness sponsored the event with merchandise such as gym bottles for the game day. Throughout the day, Red Bull kept everyone as busy as buzzing bees to make sure that all the competitors had wings to soar through every game with their energy drink sponsorship.
