There are games that can be small containers of memories and for me, Jungle Speed is one of them. It is a card game with geometric shapes where, when these shapes match, players have to grab the central totem quickly, putting their attention and speed to the test. Created in the early 1990s, it has become the thread connecting the last 10 years of my relationship with my best friend, Mar.
I discovered Jungle Speed when I was about twelve years old thanks to my best friend, the only person around me with the game. I remember the first day she brought it as a Christmas present during a cold winter day at her house. Until then, our hangouts usually involved traditional cards, like the Spanish deck, but that day there were four of us around a table (Mar, her brother, a friend, and me) experiencing a completely new kind of tension. At first, since we were all total novices at the game, we kept confusing the shapes and colors all the time, but the dynamic captivated me from the very first second. After all, the fun of this game was precisely this constant confusion and getting carried away by the pressure of the cards, even though you always need to keep your eyes wide open so you do not make a mistake.
Over the years, the game evolved alongside our friendship. As we grew older, the Jungle Speed cloth bag moved from her living room to pub tables, keeping us company amidst laughter, chats, and beers. This object became our favorite pastime and created a very special connection where, if Mar was there, the game had to be there too. That is why, when I recently moved abroad to study in Tampere, Jungle Speed was automatically linked to the memory of her and everything we lived and shared together as we grew up.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, that afternoon arrived at Late Game, the game café where I sometimes meet with my international friends. It has the best combination: amazing cakes and endless games to play. That day we weren’t inspired, so a Spanish girl took the game out of her bag. At that exact moment, an immediate wave of nostalgia hit me, transporting me back ten years to those winter afternoons at my friend’s house. Since half of the international mates did not know how it worked, we started explaining the rules to them. The interesting thing was that a new player arrived every 20 minutes, so we had to explain the game from scratch. We ended up playing with about eight or nine people at the same time, something I do not recommend because of the absolute chaos. For the very first time, I saw those friends I had only known for barely two months show this competitiveness and being completely hypnotized by the cards, while I had a blast just watching their concentrated faces.
One of my favorite and usual moments is when someone tries to grab the totem too fast, misses their grip, and sends it flying across the room. The visual impact of seeing everyone dodge out of the way with a startled reflex before bursting into laughter is priceless. Also, as the game goes on and players get increasingly excited to see who is the fastest, the wooden totem gets more and more damp from the sweat of their hands. And of course, I cannot forget the typical “hand dance”, as I call it. It happens when someone thinks they see a match, makes a move to grab the totem, hesitates halfway, and ends up doing a little indecisive movement that looks like a dance making the whole table burst into laughter.
It is amazing how such a simple game (a few colorful cards with shapes and a totem) can generate such healthy competitiveness and keep us entertained for hours. In fact, this whole experience made me think that one day I would love to create my own customized Jungle Speed, a game with cards featuring personalized pictures of my friends, and where the totem is a special object that represents all of us. Now that I play this game so far away and without my best friend, it is impossible not to have her present in every game. Every time the totem falls or I see someone hesitating with their hands, I think of Mar and how, despite the distance, a simple card game keeps making me feel at home. Because in the end, the totem is just wood, but for me, it truly represents all the bonds and memories we have built over time.
