An economic wrestling folk game for two.
Two players each put on a traditional oven mitt. A third player stands between them and tosses a coin (preferably a large coin) in the air. The players can only touch the coin with the mitt, and should keep their other arm on their back at all times. The first player to pick up the coin wins. The third player can function as a referee.
Mitt Rowdy has a tendency to result in an all out wrestling match between the players, where they forget about the coin briefly, while trying to place themselves between the coin and their adversary to get just the briefest second alone with the coin, in which they will try to pick it up. Wearing down ones opponent, by relentlessly pushing their mitt hand with your mitt hand, is also a viable tactic.
Variations include a more civil version of the game that can be played with two coins, or with upwards of two people (also known as Mitt Crowdy).
Designer – Jonatan Van Hove
Jonatan Van Hove (Joon) is a game designer and developer living in Copenhagen. As co-founder of the Danish independent game studio Glitchnap, he is working to bring local multiplayer games to the streets of Copenhagen with the custom LAZA KNITEZ!! arcade, the mobile team-building-party-game Zumbie:Blind Rage, as well as the Babycade – the world’s first arcade-machine-in-a-baby-stroller. As a current student at the IT University of Copenhagen, Joon was the initiator of the student organization PlayIT that organizes events like Game Jams, talks, and meetups all year round. Joon has been an active member of the Copenhagen Game Collective since 2012, and taken initiative to start up a local Copenhagen branch of the Local Multiplayer Picnic (now called “PLAYDATE”).