OSSELETS - RAINBOW JACKS

The game of Osselet is very old. Anyone who has grown up or lived in Haiti could remember playing this game as a kid or seeing it being played in school playgrounds or on front porches.

Here in the United States, the game of Jacks is played differently with spiked game pieces and a rubber bouncing ball.

The earliest representation of the game of Osselet appears in Homer's 2 famous books, the Iliad and the Odyssey, written in the 8 th century BC.

There are also ancient Greek paintings showing men and gods playing osselets.

In recent years, new versions of osselets have been introduced. These are made with various materials such as metal (silver, gold) and plastic. The plastic versions are more popular because mainly they are less expensive and are offered in a variety of colors.

One company, NiQ-NaQ Distributors , has introduced Osselets Arc-en-Ciel , a beautiful version in plastic in 8 different colors. They are available for sale in specialty stores in the U.S. and in Haiti.

You can reach NiQ-NaQ Distributors at sales@osselets.com or by telephone at 201-674-3801. They can also be purchased online at www.osselets.com .

How to Play “Osselet”

The game of Osselet as we know and play it is very interesting. In addition to being a social game (played by a group of people), it's a great game for younger children as it helps to develop and improve fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

In a recent trip to Haiti, the author has observed some interesting new variations that have been added to the game. This shows that the game of Osselet is alive and well in Haiti. These additions make the game more challenging and difficult to play and are only used by the most expert and skillful players.

We introduce here the most basic style of play.

1 - Description of the osselet

There are 4 sides to the Osselets: Back side (‘dos’ in French ) - Front side (‘creux’ in French) - Straight edge (‘i’ in French) - Curved side (‘s’ in French).

Up to 4 players can play together. The first player picks up all 5 Osselets and throws them on the floor or play area, trying to keep them in a small area but not too bunched up that they can be manipulated and picked up during play.

The player chooses one jack to be used as the ‘ball’ to be thrown in the air while manipulating and gathering the remaining osselets on the ground. The player must complete each round before advancing to the next.

Example of Osselets' game

Summary: The player completes each round

1) 1-back, 2-back, 3-back, 4-back (in French, 1-dos, 2-dos, 3-dos, 4-dos ) then
2) 1-front, 2-front, 3-front, 4-front ( 1-creux, 2-creux, 3-creux, 4-creux ) then
3) 1-straight, 2-straight, 3-straight, 4-straight ( 1-i, 2-i, 3-i, 4-i ) then
4) 1-curved, 2-curved, 3-curved, 4-curved ( 1-s, 2-s, 3-s, 4-s ) then
5) Round-House (in French, Ritournelle) –
--- pick up all 4 osselets together ( 1 –back, 1-front, 1-straight and
--- 1-curved )

1 – Complete the round “1-back” (French “ 1 - dos” )

The player picks up the osselets 1 by 1 (individually) after turning them to the Back-side.

The player throws 5 Osselets on the ground and picks-up one to be used as the ball. This one is preferably not showing the Back (round) face. If any osselet on the ground shows the Back face up, then the player throws the ‘ball' in the air and picks-up one osselet with the Back side facing up, while catching the ball before it hits the ground. The player looses his/her turn if the ball hits the ground or if he/she fails to pick up all the osselet in the agreed number of attempts.

If the osselets are showing sides other than Back, the player must flip each osselet to the correct side (Back in this case) before picking it up. The player can flip and then pick-up each osselet individually before going to the next (or all 4 osselets can be turned and then picked up one at a time).

After all 4 Osselets have been picked-up one by one, this ‘1-back’ round is completed and the player advances to the next round which is ‘2-back’.

The original name of this ancient game is "Talus". That name got translated over the ages and adapted to different styles of playing in different countries. The name varies from " Osselet " in French (as we know it in Haiti), to " Jacks " in English, and " Tabas " in Spanish.

It's believed that during their military campaigns and conquests, the Romans introduced the game of ‘Talus' into many different countries. However, many parts of the world that the Romans never visited, like Asia, were also playing some version of the game.

Originally Osselet was played with the small knuckle bones of animals like sheep and goats. In fact, in the medical sense, osselet means ‘small bone’ (os-let). In ancient Greece, collections of these small bones were initially used to predict the future or to place bets. It was also played as a garrison game by Roman soldiers. Now ‘Osselet’ continues to be played in school playgrounds in many countries around the world.