Jax Game in net

The game originated hundreds of years ago, when the only playthings boys and girls had were materials they found near their homes.[citation needed] They collected small stones and animal bones and learned to use them in a game.[citation needed] They tossed them into the air in a way similar to today's version of the game. An older version of the game used five stone cubes made of clay, wood, ivory, bone, plastic, or other substances.[citation needed] The game is usually played with two people. The game originated in Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt. instructions on one way to play:- The players decide who goes first, usually through "flipping" (when the set of jacks is placed in cupped hands, flipped to the back of the hands, and then back to cupped hands again; the player who keeps the most from falling in his/her turn, goes first); or perhaps via ip dip, (or Eeny, meeny, miny, moe), or a variant. Then the jacks are scattered loosely into the play area. The players take it in turn to bounce the ball off the ground, then pick up jacks, and then catch the ball before it bounces for a second time. The number of jacks to be picked up is pre-ordained and sequential: at first you must pick up one ("onesies"), next two ("twosies"), and so on. Depending on the total number of jacks included, the number may not divide evenly and there may be jacks left over. If the player chooses to pick up the leftover jacks first, one variation is to announce this by saying "horse before carriage" or "queens before kings." The playing area should be decided between the players since there is no official game rule about that. See website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacks for mor information on this game.