Top Five Reasons Smugglers is the Best Game on the Planet
There. I said it. Camp Jeanne d’Arc’s game of Smugglers is the best game on the planet. Make me believe otherwise! Try, but you won’t succeed.
How Smugglers is Played
Smugglers is a game that is played into the night where ten campers and counselors are chosen to be the Smugglers. Their job is to hide a set of ten cans in the woods. The Smugglers may not bury the cans, mustn’t submerge them in water, cannot hide them inside of camp buildings, nor place them out of bounds. But the cans can be camouflaged or decorated.
The rest of the camp become Revenue Officers. They organize themselves to protect the base, find the Smugglers’ cans, or capture Smugglers trying to hide cans. Our youngest campers are responsible for guarding the tent (don’t worry, the counselors make this part extra fun!). Older campers form groups that scour the campus for cans. Of course, there are strategies and details including allocating a spy and escaping jail.
The game pauses for sleep and resumes in the morning where Smugglers and Revenue Officers gather to see which group retained more cans.
Sounds kind of fun, right. Wrong! It is more than that. Smugglers is the best game on the planet.
Top Five Reasons Smugglers is the Best Game on the Planet
Here are the top five reasons Smugglers is the best game on the planet:
- You face your fears! Maybe you used to be afraid of the dark. Or animal noises at night really freaked you out. Or you didn’t love the way the moon cast shadows on the path. After participating in Smugglers, you will definitely feel like you conquered these fears. Finding or hiding cans and capturing Smugglers is too important to be worried about a little old shadow. Most campers walk away from his game with a little edge to them and a lot less fear of the things that go bump in the night!
- Your parents would never allow it! Camp Jeanne d’Arc has mastered the art of creating an experience where campers feel empowered and adventurous, while they are ultimately safe and supported. Trekking through the woods at night, hunting down hidden cans with fellow campers (and counselors) feels like something that wouldn’t be allowed at home, but is actually a controlled and extremely memorable activity.
- Getting picked as a Smuggler might be a highlight of your life. Chosen as a Smuggler – hiding cans, sneaking around the woods, strategizing hiding spots and decoys – might be the coolest thing you ever do. In your life. Ever.
- The late night cinnamon rolls never tasted better. Have you ever heard of a cinnamon roll truce? The Smugglers and the Revenue Officers call a late night truce and end the evening around tables piled high with warm, gooey cinnamon rolls. Because, while this is a competitive game, the joys of bringing the camp community together trumps all! And the cinnamon rolls are delicious!
- When else can you creep around the woods with your best friends? Smugglers is a game where memories are made. Twenty years from now, you may not remember who won the game, but you will remember lying on the forest floor with your best friends, covered in moss, trying not to giggle, as Smugglers walked past with cans in their arms. After watching where they hid the can, you creep out and snag it, gloriously bringing it back to headquarters! It’s a once in a lifetime experience and the memories are definitely worth the mud in your hair!
See for Yourself How Smugglers Plays Out!
Did I pique your interest? Are you ready to agree with me that Smugglers is the best game on the planet? Follow along Camp Jeanne d’Arc’s Instagram story to see for yourself how the game of Smugglers splays out this summer. You won’t be disappointed!