Up Nelson

1. Sit 4 to 8 people on each side of a long table, facing one another.
2. Announce that the objective of this game is to keep possession of the coin as long as possible.
3. Start by giving one team – the hiding team – the coin to hold.
4. Ask the other team – the searching team – to nominate a “Captain.”
5. Once a Captain has been announced, ask the hiding team to place their hands and arms below the tabletop, and secretly pass (or not pass) the coin to other team members.
6. Allow up to 15 seconds for these passing motions to occur before the Captain plays their role.
7. Instruct the hiding team that when (and only when) the Captain says “UP NELSON” they all must simultaneously raise their clenched fists above the table and slam their elbows onto the tabletop.
8. If any member of the hiding team raises one or both of their clenched fists above the table at any other time, possession of the coin passes to the other team.
9. At any time after all elbows are resting on the tabletop, anyone from the searching team can announce “DOWN NELSON.”
10. Immediately, on the command of “DOWN NELSON,” the hiding team must slap their palms down onto the tabletop as simultaneously as possible, ie to hide the sound of the coin hitting the table.
11. The objective for the searching team is to identify which hand is hiding the coin.
12. Any person on the searching team may instruct any one or more members of the hiding group to squiggle (move) their hands in any direction, ie in the hope this may reveal a scratching sound.
13. Any time the hand belonging to a hiding team member is touched, that person’s hand must flip to reveal what is under it.
14. If the coin is revealed before the last hand is flipped, the hiding team wins and retains possession of the coin.
15. Only when the last hand remaining (face down) reveals the coin does the searching team win to gain possession of the coin.
16. If the searching team fails in its attempt to locate the coin, it must nominate a new Captain for the next round.
17. Play as many rounds as time and/or energy allows.

This crazy, histrionic and sneaky game has brought so much joy to my groups over the years, I do admit that I save it for the most deserving of my groups. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Your most critical task is to find a good, solid table that can seat at least 4 people each on opposing sides. Divide your teams as desired, or go with a random option from Getting Into Teams.

If you get the feeling that eight people facing each other across a table is going to be competitive, then … you’d be right.

Showing it off in your hand as you speak, announce that the whole point of this game is to claim and retain possession of the coin.

Begin by giving the coin to one of the two teams. A quick round of Rock-Paper-Scissors is as formal as you need to get when making this decision. The team with the coin is called the ‘hiding’ team, and their opponents are the ‘searching’ team.

Focusing on the searching team first, ask them to nominate a “Captain.” This person will have a very simple, yet critical role to play and it is equally critical that everyone – I mean, all members of both teams – know who the Captain is.

Meanwhile, instruct the hiding team to place their arms and hands below the table and begin to pass (or not pass) the coin to their other team members. The whole point is to hide the coin, so the searching team does not know who at any point in time has the coin.

Allow about 15 seconds or so for these sneaky passing motions to occur, and then the fun begins.

Announce that as soon as the Captain utters the command “UP NELSON” everyone on the hiding team must immediately and simultaneously raise their clenched hands (fingers facing forward) above the tabletop and slam their elbows on the tabletop.

Obviously, it is imperative that all members of the hiding team clench their hands because they want to keep the whereabouts of the coin secret for as long as possible.

Note, the simultaneous action of elbows on the table must only occur when the Captain, and only the Captain issues the “UP NELSON” command. Therein lies an opportunity for the searching team to trick the hiding team into revealing their hands too soon.

You see, if any member of the hiding team happens to raise one or both of their hands above the tabletop when someone other than the Captain makes the call, the searching team wins and the coin is passed to them (to start a new round.)

To be clear, anyone can say the words “UP NELSON,” but the hiding team must only react when the Captain utters this command lest they lose the coin. Yes, that is to say, this potential trickery is all a part of the game.

Moving on…

Then, with fists clenched and elbows on the table, any member of the searching team is entitled to call “DOWN NELSON” – at any time – at which point every member of the hiding team aims to immediately slap their palms onto the tabletop as simultaneously as possible, ie to hide the sound of the coin hitting the table.

That is, if there are five members of the hiding team, there will (ordinarily) be ten hands faced down on the table, with one of them hiding the coin. And this is the key – the searching team hopefully is unaware which hand is hiding the coin.

From this point forward, the searching team is tasked to work together to identify where they think the coin is. Other than the potential sound of the coin hitting the table (and sometimes, even spying the coin poking out from under a palm) the searching team has one other tool at its disposal – the squiggle.

At any time, the searching team can direct one or more members of the hiding team to squiggle or move their hands slightly in any direction, ie left, right, forward or back. Naturally, they are not permitted to direct a palm to extend past the edge of a table.

The searching team’s objective is to remove all hands from the table except for the one hiding the coin, ie they intend for the last hand on the table to be the one hiding the coin.

To remove a hand, all it requires is for someone from the searching team to touch it. To this end, the searching team must curb their excitement to touch the hand they know is hiding the coin.

If the coin is revealed before the last hand is removed, the hiding team wins and retains possession of the coin. Only when the last hand remaining (face down) reveals the coin does the searching team win and gain possession of the coin.

If the searching team fails in its attempt to locate the coin (under the last remaining hand,) it must nominate a new Captain to lead it into the next round.

If necessary, feel free to award a point for each round a team wins or record how many minutes each team possesses the coin. But, this really is not necessary – playing the game is its own reward.

Play as many rounds as time and/or energy allows.

If you want to get picky, a critical attribute of the table you choose to play on is its ability to hear a coin scrape across its surface. That is to say, if the table is so sturdy/solid/thick that it is impossible to hear a coin squiggle under a palm, then the game becomes a little more random and a lot less fun.

The two teams do not need to be even, but it makes for a more balanced contest when they are.

Other than sourcing more tables, if you have a large group, resist the temptation to form two very large teams of, say, 15+ people. Better to form multiple teams and swap teams in/out at the end of each round.

As Karl Rohnke describes when he wrote about Up Nelson in his book Quicksilver, “it’s a good game for the right place and the right time.”

Invariably, the people who show their hands too early are those who are holding the coin for the first nervous time. They are so focused on not dropping the coin and keeping it hidden, that they jump at the first command of “UP NELSON” regardless of who calls it. Always a delight to witness.

For the record, nominating a new Captain for each and every round is useful because it heightens the risk of someone on the hiding team raising their hands too early because they forgot who the current Captain was.

Some of the funniest moments of this game often belong to members of the hiding team. For example, when the coin is dropped mid-pass (under the table) and the coin is flicked across the room in the process of opening and slapping one’s hands down onto the table, to mention but two of many memories.

I have no idea why it’s called Up Nelson. I did learn it from a naval officer in the early 1990s, but I am not clear if this name is related to the famous 18th Century military leader Admiral Horatio Nelson.

You could integrate Up Nelson as part of a well-designed SEL program to develop your group’s ability to manage their emotions, thoughts and behaviours effectively in different situations and to achieve goals.

Specifically, this activity offers ample opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Awareness

• Demonstrating Self-Confidence, Honesty & Integrity
• Experiencing Self-Efficacy

Self-Management

• Controlling One’s Emotions
• Identifying & Managing Stress
• Demonstrating Self-Discipline & Self-Motivation
• Setting Personal & Group Goals
• Use Planning & Organisational Skills

Relationship Skills

• Communicate & Listen Effectively
• Seeking and/or Offering Support
• Build Positive Relationships
• Work Collaboratively
• Showing Leadership

Responsible Decision-Making

• Demonstrating Curiosity & Open-Mindedness
• Making Reasoned Judgements
• Anticipating & Evaluating the Consequences of One’s Actions
• Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here.

There is no specific health & wellness perspective to this activity other than promoting the benefits to one’s well-being of enjoying a good laugh.

In a small way, you could argue that the focus required to successfully identify where the coin is hidden may speak to the benefits of developing mindful and emotional intelligence competencies, ie focusing on a variety of social and emotional cues that may signal the presence of the coin or a sneaky intention.

If you can think of more explicit ways in which Up Nelson could be purposefully integrated into a health and wellness program, please leave a comment at the base of this page.

• Two Coins: Introduce two coins, in which case, success is measured by the result of having (only) two hands remaining on the table at the end (both of which have the coin under them.)

Can you see this coin? It’s not worth very much, but believe it or not, your possession of it will be the only focus you and your team will have for the next 20 or more minutes…

How good is your listening? Our next activity will really sharpen your reflex and listening skills in a way that will either benefit or disadvantage your team…

Coupled with one or more  reflection strategies, here are some sample questions you could use to process your group’s experience after playing this thoroughly engaging game:

• What was the most challenging part of this game?
• What tricks were played to cause you to react in an unintended way?
• Is there harm in playing a game that involves a little bit of trickery?
• Did you take this game seriously? Why and in what ways?