Da Rooles

This is a game I used to play as a kid, but back then we’d begin with a tiny little pebble. These days that wouldn’t work for me, as I happen to think that little pebbles are beautiful and worth a whole lot more than paperclips.

The name of this particular game, albeit with the insertion of a UK, I have nicked from Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald. (And before you start on me, I did email him to ask for permission!) If you for some reason have managed not to hear his story, I can tell you that he traded One Red Paperclip for a Main Street house in 14 consecutive trades in a year. Bearing in mind that this is not the big brother across the pond, and that people over here are less likely to get all hyped up, I have no illusions of such grandeur here. But I still think the concept is brilliant and well worth putting to a test in Britain.

How far can I go with nothing but six paperclips in my pockets? Well that remains to be seen, but here are Da Rooles of the game:

• I have six paperclips in different colours to play with. One of them can be yours if you can offer me something in return. Something that, to me, is worth more than a paperclip and something that you think I would like.
• When faced with an offer I cannot refuse, we will arrange to meet for the exchange to take place. This will, of course, include me coming to see you so that we can take pictures and make sure that both parts are happy with the trade.
• I cannot spend any money at all, unless I have got them for this purpose. This means that whatever I need to do that will cost me some money, including travelling to meet you for the trade, I need to get funding for.
• Five of my paperclips have a target – a dream goal. Until I have reached that goal, I am not allowed to keep any item that has been given to me in the series of exchanges.
• The game will start with One Red UK Paperclip. I cannot start another paperclip chain until the first trade in the red paperclip chain has taken place. This means that the six chains must begin one after the other, and that in theory the last one to start could be the first to finish.
• The last paperclip chain, One White UK Paperclip, signifies one of my favourite words in the English language: Serendipity. I don’t know what it is destined for, but I feel confident I’ll know when I find it.
• These rules might need revising once the game is on, but no changes will be made unless thay have been discussed in here first.