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The knife game, pinfinger, nerve, bishop, stabscotch, or five finger fillet (FFF), is a game wherein, placing the palm of one's hand down on a table with fingers apart, using a knife, or sharp object, one attempts to stab back and forth between one's fingers, moving the object back and forth, trying to not hit one's fingers. The order in which the spaces between the fingers are stabbed varies. In the following examples, the spaces are numbered 1 (behind the thumb) through 6 (after the little finger).
Contents
The most popular version is to simply stab all the spaces in order, starting from behind the thumb to after the little finger, and back again:
1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2 (repeat).A more complex order is also common:
1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-1-5-1-4-1-3-1-2 (repeats)or an even more complex order:
1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-2-6-3-6-4-6-5-6-4-6-3-6-2-6 (etc.)In Australia this order is used.
1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6 (repeats).Video games
Knife.Hand.Chop.Bot (2007), by the Svoltcore group, is an "interactive installation that plays with the recipient's concern about [his or her] own physical integrity."
2010's Red Dead Redemption and 2011's Rage included the knife game as a playable mini-game.
Knife game song
In 2011, a YouTube video entitled "The Knife Game Song" created by songwriter Rusty Cage (also known as The Knife Game Man) was released. Several internet users uploaded videos of them singing a song while playing the knife game. A new version of the song with additional lyrics was later released on March 29, 2013.
Film
Roman Polanski's first feature Knife in the Water may be the first film to show the game; a young hitchhiker plays the game on the deck of a sailboat.
The movie Aliens features a scene with a member of the crew, Bishop, who plays the "knife game" with another member of the crew. He accidentally nicks himself, but doesn't bleed blood, thus alerting Ripley (Weaver) that he is an android.
The game is played in the movie Ted created by Seth MacFarlane; the eponymous character, the talking teddy bear, Ted, plays the game at a party with a stranger while intoxicated. He ends ups accidentally stabbing his hand.
In The Hangover Part II an unsuccessful attempt at the knife game is eventually revealed to be the cause of the severed finger discovered in the motel room, which turns out to be an essential clue.
The HBO series Boardwalk Empire features a young WWI veteran, Jimmy Darmody, playing "Five Finger Fillet," and requesting the young Al Capone to join in.
Television
In episode 8 of the first season of Samurai Jack, some patrons of the bar in the opening scene is shown to play a version of the game with a spork instead of a knife.
In episode 2 of The IT Crowd, Moss can be seen playing the game as a fire spreads across the office.
In Season 5 Episode 14 of The Amazing World Of Gumball, Darwin Can Be Seen Playing The Knife Game Using A Fork