Knife game

Knife game (representation of motion)

Simple order for playing the knife game.

More complex order for playing the knife game.

More complex order for playing the knife game.

The knife game, pinfinger, nerve, bishop, stabscotch, or five finger fillet (FFF), is a game wherein, placing the palm of one's hand down on a table with fingers apart, using a knife, or sharp object, one attempts to stab back and forth between one's fingers, moving the object back and forth, trying to not hit one's fingers. The order in which the spaces between the fingers are stabbed varies. In the following examples, the spaces are numbered 1 (behind the thumb) through 6 (after the little finger).

The most popular version is to simply stab all the spaces in order, starting from behind the thumb to after the little finger, and back again:

 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2 (repeat).

A more complex order is also common:

 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-1-5-1-4-1-3-1-2 (repeats)

or an even more complex order:

 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-2-6-3-6-4-6-5-6-4-6-3-6-2-6 (etc.)

In Australia this order is used.

 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6 (repeats).

Popular culture

Video games

Knife.Hand.Chop.Bot (2007), by the Svoltcore group, is an, "interactive installation that plays with the recipient's concern about [his or her] own physical integrity."^[1]

2010's Red Dead Redemption and 2011's Rage included the knife game as a playable mini-game.

Knife game song

In early 2013, the knife game became a trend on the internet after the release of a YouTube video entitled "The Knife Game Song" created by songwriter Rusty Cage.^[2] Several internet users uploaded videos of them singing a song while playing the knife game.^[3] A new version of the song with additional lyrics was later released on March 29, 2013.^[4]

Film

A scene in the movie Aliens features a scene with a member of the crew, Bishop, who plays the "knife game" with another member of the crew. He accidentally nicks himself, but doesn't bleed blood, thus alerting Ripley (Weaver) that he is an android.

The game is played in the movie Ted created by Seth MacFarlane; the eponymous character, the talking teddy bear, Ted, plays the game at a party with a stranger while intoxicated. He ends ups accidentally stabbing his hand.

In The Hangover Part II an unsuccessful attempt at the knife game is eventually revealed to be the cause of the severed finger discovered in the motel room, which turns out to be an essential clue.

The HBO series Boardwalk Empire features a young WWI veteran, Jimmy Darmody, playing "Five Finger Fillet," and requesting the young Al Capone to join in.

See also

• Mumblety-peg

References