Hide and Seek Games Mornington Crescent: Rules
( Hide and Seek, Mystery, Strategy )A language game popular on a variety of mid-century radio shows, primarily in Britain. from the main website of the game of the founder of the Eclu v. of Mornington Crescent, Geoffrey Perkins:
Much is written about the rules of Mornington Crescent. Some is fantasy; much concerns parlour game variations never played on air; one web site even claims there are no rules.
When the game was first played it was based on the 1952 pocket A-Z and a simple formula dictating to which pages one could move and to which pages one could not move. The art of the game was to make a move that made it impossible (ideally) to move to one of the pages on which Mornington Crescent appeared on the next move or in three moves time, or even in five moves time (brains of a Grand Master required!) – i.e. to stop the opposition arriving at Mornington Crescent.
Update: Mr. Perkins has passed. RIP, Mr. Perkins: apparently also a producer of the original Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy BBC Radio show.