
Morra is a
hand game
Hand games are games played using only the hands of the players. Hand games exist in a variety of cultures internationally, and are of interest to academic studies in ethnomusicology and music education. Hand games are used to teach music liter ...
that dates back thousands of years to ancient Roman and Greek times. Each player simultaneously reveals their hand, extending any number of fingers, and calls out a number. Any player who successfully guesses the total number of fingers revealed by all players combined scores a point.
Morra can be played to decide issues, much as two people might toss a coin, or for
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousan ...
.
Rules
While there are many variations of morra, most forms can be played with a minimum of two players. In the most popular version, all players throw out a single hand, each showing zero to five fingers, and call out their guess at what the sum of all fingers shown will be. If one player guesses the sum, that player earns one point. The first player to reach three points wins the game.
Some variants of morra involve money, with the winner earning an amount equal to the sum of fingers displayed.
History

Morra was known to the
ancient Romans
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
and is popular around the world, especially in Italy. In ancient Rome, it was called ''micatio'', and playing it was referred to as ''micare digitis''; literally, "to flash with the fingers". As time passed, the name became morra, a corruption of the verb ''micare''. The game was so common in ancient Rome that there was a proverb used to denote an honest person which made reference to it: ''dignus est quicum in tenebris mices'', literally, "he is a worthy man with whom you could play ''micatio'' in the dark". ''Micatio'' became so common that it came to be used to settle disputes over the sale of merchandise in the Roman forum. This practice was eventually banned by
Apronius
''Apronius'' is a genus within the subfamily Stenopodainae of Reduviidae. Five species are known, most from South America.
Partial list of species
*''Apronius froeschneri''
*''Apronius granulosus''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4782131
...
, prefect of the city. The game followed Roman colonists as they spread through
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
, the
Near East and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
. The game is also mentioned by
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...
, but it seems that it has not been very common in Greece.
Today, morra can be found throughout
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
(notably in
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label= Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, af ...
, where it is called ),
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...
, the
Province of Teruel
Teruel (Catalan: ''Terol'' ) is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel.
It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz), Cuenca, Guadalajara, an ...
in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
,
Corsica,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
,
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
,
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwee ...
,
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, stre ...
,
Herzegovina
Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geograp ...
, and
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. There is also a variant in Spain called "
Chinos
Chino cloth ( ) is a twill fabric, originally made of 100% cotton. The most common items made from it, trousers, are widely called chinos. Today it is also found in cotton-synthetic blends.
Developed in the mid-19th century for British and Frenc ...
" where coins are used instead of fingers. Morra played in
Arab countries
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
is called ''mukharaja''. In
southern France
Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...
it is called ''la mourre'', while in Istria, Dalmatia and Herzegovina it is called ''šijavica''. In
China and
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...
it is called ''hua quan'', which translates as "fist quarrel",
[Ifrah, Georges. The Universal History of Numbers. p. 51] and is played as a drinking game. It is also popular in
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and
North American
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...
communities with large Italian populations, sometimes known as "
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...
" in their area. In the city of
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,963 at the 2020 census. Hazleton is the second largest city in Luzerne County. It was incorporated as a borough on January 5, 1857, and as a city on Decembe ...
, an annual tournament is held in February. Money raised during the tournament is given to a local charity associated with Helping Hands.
In 2005, the IFC, short for Italian Fingers Championship, became an official tournament for a modified version of Morra that is played in teams.
The game of morra is described on the images in the
Theban tombs of MK, Beni Hassan (tomb 9) and the
26th dynasty
The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXVI, alternatively 26th Dynasty or Dynasty 26) dynasty was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC (although others followed). The dynasty's reign (664–525 ...
tomb of Aba (number 36).
[Ifrah, Georges. The Universal History of Numbers. p. 52]
In 2010 and 2014 A. Zizi, professor at the IT Giua high school of
Cagliari
Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitan ...
, created, along with his students, a digital version of the
Sardinian version of the game.
Variants
The rules for morra can be altered in several ways.
Odds and evens
In this two-player version one person is designated the "odds" player while the other is labeled "evens". Players hold one hand out in front of them and count together to three (sometimes chanting "Once, twice, thrice, shoot!" or "One, two, three, shoot!"). On "shoot", both players hold out either one or two fingers. If the sum of fingers shown by both players is an even number (i.e. two or four) then the "evens" player wins; otherwise the "odds" player is the winner. Since there are two possible ways to add up to three, both players have an equal chance of winning.
In New York City and Long Island in the 1950s, the game was called "choosies", and would be invoked to resolve a playground dispute by one antagonist saying, "let's shoot for it". In Boston at about the same time, the term in use was "bucking up". In US Coast Guard wardrooms (officer's mess), players "shake out". It has also been referred to as "odds-on poke".
More fingers
One variant of the game is to allow players to hold out any number of fingers, with the winner still based on whether the resulting sum is odd or even. For example, if there are two players and they each throw out five fingers, the resulting summation is even, so the "evens" player is the winner. Note, since only the
parity of the sum matters, there is no functional difference between using only 2 or 4 fingers, etc.
However, if the numbers of fingers which each player may use is an odd number, and if the players pick their numbers uniformly at random from all possibilities, then the probabilities of the pairings being odd or even are not equal and the "evens" player will have a slight advantage. As an example, if players may use up to three fingers (and must choose 1, 2, or 3 with equal probability), then there are 5 ways to make an even pairing (1–1, 1–3, 3–1, 2–2, 3–3) but only 4 ways for an odd pairing (1–2, 2–1, 2–3, 3–2). With an odd number of permitted fingers, the "evens" player will have a slight advantage as there will always be one more way to make an even number, except in the extreme case of one finger each where the "evens" player cannot lose.
Micatio
Micatio is a variation of morra that attempts to lessen the element of chance by including the sight and speed of the player, a calculation of probabilities, and a certain psychological flair. In micatio the two players "each raise the fingers of the right hand, varying each time the number raised and the number kept down, and call aloud the total of the fingers raised by both", until one player wins the round by guessing correctly. Winning the round earns the player one point. If the numbers thrown do not match the numbers shouted, no point is scored.
Additionally:
# Hands must be in clear view to players and referees
# One challenger cannot play after they see what the other has shown
# The point is won by the player who guesses correctly the sum of all fingers displayed
# If both players guess correctly, the point is unassigned and the game continues
# The set is won by the player who is first to score 16 points in the first and the return game, and 21 in the deciding one
# If both players tie the score when they miss a point to win, they play a 5-point tie-break
# The match is awarded to the winner of two out of three sets
# Players cannot challenge referees' decisions
# It is an individual game, but you can also play with a mate against two others, as they do in the Championships
# In such a case, two challengers start the game and the one who wins the point has the lead until they lose it
Micatio is also played in competitions with four-person teams. Team members compete one at a time, facing their opponent. Each team member plays four times, and a match consists of eleven points.
Micatio is still popular today in southern Italy, and dates to
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...
.
Ones-and-twos
Ones-and-twos is an elimination variant of the game, requiring more than two people. It is essentially a simplified version of
rock–paper–scissors
Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each ...
with only two choices. The loser is the "odd man out", or the minority choice in the case of large groups. For example: if there are ten players, and six happen to hold out two fingers while four hold out one finger, the four people holding one finger lose and are eliminated. The remaining six players move on to play another round. In this variant, the last round (between two players) is usually decided in the traditional manner.
This version can be played with any number of people, and is usually faster and easier than dealing with three variable combinations, as it eliminates the need for round robin tournaments.
A popular variant is often used to gamble for coffee. The aim is to be a part of the minority and be eliminated. Rounds continue till two people remain and they then play rock–paper–scissors. The loser of the "showdown" then purchases coffees for all players. Depending on the rule set coffees can be sometimes substituted for food or other beverages of a similar, agreed upon value.
League tables are often created and thorough statistical analysis applied in an attempt to enhance play. However the effect of such analysis on outcomes is disputed.
Modular arithmetic
The game can be expanded for a larger number of players by using
modular arithmetic
In mathematics, modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic for integers, where numbers "wrap around" when reaching a certain value, called the modulus. The modern approach to modular arithmetic was developed by Carl Friedrich Gauss in his bo ...
. For players, each player is assigned a number from zero to −1. On the count of three, each player holds out any number of fingers less than , including zero. The person whose number is the remainder of the sum is chosen.
In this variant it is common to arrange all players in a circle, assign someone to be player zero and assign numbers to other players counting upwards in a direction (usually clockwise). With this arrangement, once players throw out their numbers, they leave their hands in place and close their fingers one at a time as counting moves around the circle. When no fingers are left, the final player counted is selected.
Allowing zero
Some variants of morra allow players to hold out zero fingers. If the total number of fingers is also equal to zero, the game is usually counted as a draw and replayed.
Morra
. Frontier.net. Accessed May 3, 2012.
Shish-Nu
Shish-Nu is a variation of Morra where the rules are to hold out fists and stick out your thumbs only. The game works best with a large number of players. The game is played by every player holding out their fists with no thumbs raised. Then, all players say "Shish-Nu" and then the number of thumbs they guess will be up. The number correlates to the number of players in the game as well.
Chin Chin
Chin Chin is a variant most closely related to Shish-Nu, the main difference being that Chin Chin is more turn-based. Chin Chin is most popular in the US.
To play Chin Chin players hold out their fists with no thumbs raised. Turns go clockwise around the group and the player whose turn it is shouts "Chin Chin" and a number. Immediately players put up a random number of thumbs. If the player correctly shouts the number of thumbs up in the group he wins the round and places a hand behind his back. This repeats and the person who is first to lose both hands wins.
Fifteen-Twenty
Fifteen-Twenty is an old Chinese variant of morra with numerous variations of its own played in different parts of Asia. Two players face off in this game with both of their hands in front of them, face-to-face. Players take turns guessing the number of total fingers that are shown each round. Players can hold out either two fists (0), a fist and an open hand (5), or two open hands (10). As such, the total number of fingers that can be guessed is 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20.
When a player makes a guess (a round), both players can change the number of fingers currently being held up. If the previous player made a wrong guess, the opponent can immediately start the new round and make a new guess without delay (sometimes catching the other player off guard before they are able to change their fingers). If a player guesses correctly, he immediately gets to guess again. Guessing correct on the second try wins the game. If a player makes an impossible guess, (e.g. guessing 20 but only putting in a fist and a palm for 5 points) then that person gets a strike. Two strikes would result in a point for the other player.
See also
*Chopsticks (hand game)
Chopsticks is a hand game for two or more players, in which players extend a number of fingers from each hand and transfer those scores by taking turns to tap one hand against another. Chopsticks is an example of a combinatorial game, and is s ...
- a hand-game based on logic rather than chance.
*Matching pennies
Matching pennies is the name for a simple game used in game theory. It is played between two players, Even and Odd. Each player has a penny and must secretly turn the penny to heads or tails. The players then reveal their choices simultaneousl ...
- a game of chance, using coins instead of fingers.
*Rock paper scissors
Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each ...
- a hand-game of chance, in which each player has three options.
* Spoof (game) - a game of chance, in which each player has to guess the total number of coins held by all players.
*Horsengoggle Horsengoggle (also known as horse-and-goggle and horse 'n' goggle and hossengoggle) is a method of selecting a random person from a group. Unlike some other methods, such as rock paper scissors, one of the features of horsengoggle is that there is ...
- a hand-game of chance, used to select a single person from a group.
Notes
References
* Carcopino, Jerome. ''Daily Life in Ancient Rome''.
* Suetonius, ''The Twelve Caesars''.
* Ifrah, Georges. ''The Universal History of Numbers''.
External links
*
{{Hand games
Art Academy of Cincinnati
Finger-counting
Hand games
Parity (mathematics)