Nearest the Wall Takes

In a book on London I read the following description of children’s games the other day: ‘Marbles were rolled in gutters, and the paving stones were marked with chalk for a hopping game. Children made use of walls, against which ‘fag-cards’ were flicked in games such as ‘Nearest the Wall Takes’ or ‘Nearest the Wall Spins up’. (Ackroyd, Peter: London. A Biography. London, Vintage Books 2001: 647). This is exactly what we used to do as children in a provincial German city, under the name of Bostern. One wonders whether this came to us at some stage from other places or whether children all over the world invent the same kind of games, independently.