La vache qui tache

La vache qui tache (English: "the cow that stains") is a party game that originated in France. The only prop required is a cork, one end of which has been blackened by a candle flame.

Assign each player a number. Player one calls out "Je suis la vache qui tache sans taches numéro 1 et j'appelle la vache sans taches numéro X" ("I am the cow who spots with zero spots number 1, and I call the cow with zero spots number X"), where X is the number of any other player. When the game first starts no-one has any spots, so the number of spots is zero, or "sans tache". The next player, X, must immediately repeat the phrase, using his/her own number and another player for X ("I am the spotted cow with zero spots number X, and I call the cow with zero spots number Y"), where Y is the number of any other player. The game repeats this way until someone makes a mistake.

If a player makes a mistake, like mixing up the cow numbers, taking too long to respond, or calling the wrong number of spots, that player gets "spotted", using the blackened cork to make a big round black dot on their face. If a player gets one spot, then that player must say "I am the spotted cow with one spot..." and so on for the number of spots received.

Each mistake earns a player another spot, and both the player's number of spots and the number of spots of the player called must be taken into account every time a player is called. The game may continue indefinitely or end when someone gets a certain number of spots.

A French idiom for being falling-down-drunk is "black faced" in reference to this game.