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Birdman (game)

Birdman
	The attack in the game of Birdman: The Anti-Birdman
Players	Unknown, but growing
Setup time	Only as long as it takes to explain the rules to someone
Playing time	Ideally, for the rest of one's life
Chance	Little
Skills	Honour, patience, trickiness

Birdman is a growing game of minor inconvenience in which the goal is to "Birdman" another person who plays the game. The person who was "Birdmanned" must then lay down. What is often held as the most important rule is "Once you play, you play for life."

The Birdman

A "Birdman" is performed by making an "OK" sign with both hands, putting both thumbs and index fingers touching, and flipping it up onto one's face (as pictured.) If a player makes eye contact with a person while that person is doing the Birdman, they must stop whatever they are doing (Eating, riding a bicycle, watching a movie, jogging, etc.) and sit down at the nearest point in their vicinity (Partial sit-downs do not count. "Butt must touch ground" is a good rule of-thumb.) There is no set amount of time they must sit down for; they may get up immediately after sitting down.

For added difficulty, some players say one must lay down at "The lowest point within eyesight."

How to Block

A player blocks, (or "Anti-Birdmans") by making one "OK" signs with the hand and looking through it (as pictured.) Any player can hold the block for as long as they like, and they are immune to the effects of the Birdman. However, the block must be used before making eye contact with someone doing the Birdman, or they must still lay down. However, some players find that using the block can be too slow, so they avert their eyes from the player birdmaning as an alternative.

Length of game

A rule of Birdman, held by many to be the most important, is, "Once you play, you play for life." Any person can choose to start playing at any time, but can never choose to quit. A person is expected to lay down each and every time that they are birdmaned (Except, of course, while blocking by using the anti-birdman),

Notes:

If someone cannot lay down for a legitimate reason, (such as wearing nice clothing or the ground nearby being muddy/wet/dirty) they may be permitted to lay down once conditions permit.
Reflections and pictures of other people count, and a player must lay down if they make eye contact with the reflection/picture. Pictures and reflections of onselfdo not require a player to lay down.
If two players Birdman each other, they both must lay down.

If a player is laying down and gets Birdmanned, they must stand up instead of laying down.

If a player is Birdmanned, and upon standing up, gets Birdmanned again, they have to stand back up fully before laying back down.
Rules vary based on region and social circle.

Honour

Birdman is a game based largely on honour. A person who has been Birdmanned could lie about whether they made eye contact or not, especially at farther distances, but that player will likely get a reputation among other players as being dishonourable. Laying down is supposed to be only a minor inconvenience, so all players are expected to do so when they were careless enough to make eye contact.

Side-effects

Some players of Birdman claim the following things happen when one plays Birdman for an extended period of time:

Increased peripheral vision.
General paranoia.
A fear of raised elbows.
Weilding the Anti-Birdman before many situations, such as opening a door,or turning around, and when someone says your name.
Raising one's head very slowly when called.

Origin

The Origin of Birdman is largely unknown. The earliest proven date as early as 2005 in Tucson, AZ. However, undocumented accounts of the game (with variations) has been rumoured for decades prior.