[This KansasFest report is provided courtesy Geoff Weiss.]
The game Bite The Bag made a Rockhurst debut at KansasFest 2010, ending its several-year hiatus. Repeat attendee Geoff Weiss hosted the competition, which requires each player to pick up a paper bag by the mouth while maintaining only one point of contact with the ground. A standard grocery store-size paper bag was shortened by 1-2 inches after every round until just the bag’s bottom remained.
After enjoying Juiced.GS‘s pizza reception Wednesday night, the following ten contestants participated in Bite the Bag: Mark Frischknecht, Eric Rucker, Ian Johnson, Martin Haye, Ken Gagne, Ivan Drucker, Andy Molloy, Scott Miller, Peter Neubauer, and Geoff Weiss. Martin played the game with a metal splint holding a broken finger. As Geoff and Ken were the only two to have been attending KansasFest long enough to remember the game’s last appearance, all other players were playing for the first time.
Eric and Scott were unable to pick up the bag in round one. Realizing the game’s inherent challenges, the remaining contestants used their downtime to observe each other’s strategies and engage in various preparatory calisthenics. The eight players remained until the eighth round, at which point Martin elected to drop out rather than strain his broken finger. Mark, Ian, and Peter were unable to pick up the bag. Ivan and Andy were able to play for two more rounds, until half of the bottom of the bag remained. Ken and Geoff battled it out for one more round, at which point the bag could be diminished no further. At this point, the winner was determined by who could hold the bag aloft the longest. Ken proved to the winner by holding the soggy bag for eight seconds.
As Ken and Geoff had won previous Bite the Bag competitions, they decided to allow this year’s runner-ups to claim prizes. Ivan Drucker chose 8 Bit Weapon’s Electric High EP music CD, courtesy Gamebits. Mark Frischknecht received anAssembler/Macrosoft package, donated by Nibble Magazine. Ian Johnson received a boxed copy of the game Axis and Allies, donated by Loren Damewood. Andy Molloy received a complete collection of Shareware Solutions II, courtesy Tony Diaz — and Peter Neubauer graciously donated his prize back to the pool.
Our thanks to everyone who stayed up late to revive and enjoy this KansasFest tradition!