Blind man's bluff (game)

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For other uses of the phrase blind man's bluff, see the disambiguation page.

Women playing Blind Man's Bluff in 1803.

Blind man's bluff or Blind man's buff[2] is a children's game played in a spacious enclosed area, such as a large room, in which one player, designated as "It," is either blindfolded or closes his or her eyes. The It player gropes around blindly and attempts to touch the other players without being able to see them, while the other players scatter and try to avoid and hide from the person who is "it", sometimes teasing them to make them change direction. The game is a variant of tag. The game was invented by Doctor Emmett Dunn Angell.

There are several versions of the game:

In another version, whenever any player is tagged by the person who is "it", that player is out of the game. The game proceeds until all players are out of the game, at which point another round of the game starts, with either the first player or the last player to be tagged becoming the next person who is "it".
In yet another version, It feels the face of the person tagged and attempts to identify the person, and only if the person is correctly identified does the person become "it".

"Blind-Man's Buff", Paul Jarrard & Sons, London, 1820s

A children's game similar to blind man's bluff is Marco Polo, with the main difference being that Marco Polo is played in a swimming pool and the one that is "it" calls out "Marco" to which the other players must reply "Polo." Thus indicating their position and making it easier for the person who is It to go in the right direction.

The game is known as blind man's buff in the UK and Ireland, buff meaning a small push. It is possible that the American name is a corruption, or it may originate from the older sense of bluff meaning to blindfold ^[1].

Blind man's bluff should be played in an area free of dangerous obstructions so that the It player will not suffer injury from tripping over or hitting something.

The game was played at least as far back as the Tudor period, as there are references to it being played by Henry VIII's courtiers. It was also a popular parlor game in the Victorian era.