The Dragon Stone

Description: These are two versions of a game which involves catching dragons by their tails.
Number of Players: Four or more.
Equipment: Everyone needs a tail. This can be a piece of rope, ribbon, rolled up neckerchief, strip of material, etc.
Legal Disclaimer: This game is played at your own risk! The Dragon Stone will not be held responsible for any damage or injury that may occur during the game.

Horse and Knight

Two people are chosen to be the knight and the horse. The knight rides piggyback on the horse. Everyone else is a dragon, and should tuck the end of their tail into the trousers/skirts/whatever so that it hangs freely. The tail should not be firmly attached; it should come off if pulled. The horse and knight run around after the dragons, trying to catch a dragon's tail. The knight must not touch the ground, and the horse must not touch the tails of the dragons. If the knight falls off, the horse and knight may not continue until the knight gets back on the horse. The dragons have no special rules, other than they must keep their tail where it is. They are not allowed to hide it under their jumper, pull it out, or tie it on so the knight can't pull it free, etc. When a dragon is caught, it becomes the horse. The old horse becomes the new knight, and the knight becomes a dragon.

Ideally this should only be played by a group of the same age/size, as anyone in the group may be required to carry another member of the group.

Chinese Dragon

Everyone wears their tail as described in Horse and Knight. One of the dragons is chosen as the chaser. They attempt to catch the other dragons by stealing their tails. The dragons that have been caught form a long chain, holding onto the waist of the dragon in front. The last dragon caught should be the dragon at the front of the chain. Only the dragon at the front may catch other dragons. The winner is the last dragon left uncaught.

When played with a very large group, the chain can get to dangerous lengths. It can also take a very long time for everyone to be caught. A way around this is when the chain gets to a certain size, it should split into two. As each separate chain gets to that size, it should split again. This means there are numerous chains of dragons chasing the individual dragons.