Cabbaging is a game in which players, known as Cabbagers, attempt to reach the oldest
page on a website in a given
number of clicks from a predefined starting
point.
History
Cabbaging was first played by five people sharing an office in Peebles ,
Scotland who used it as a way to decide who should eat the "spare" Tunnock's
Tea Cakes from a pack of six. The game was brought to public attention by Judy Cabbages on 9 August 2005 by writing the following letter to the BBC News Online Magazine Monitor, an online daily publication:
In our office of five people, the six pack of Tunnocks
Tea Cakes does no (sic) divide very well; so we have a contest. The person who can go back in
time to the oldest article on the BBC News site in only five clicks from the start page, gets the sixth tea
cake for themselves. Today, I read through nature to cats to pandas and in 5 clicks, got to 25
April 1998. Reaching 1997 is a real achievement.
Judy Cabbages,
Peebles,
Scotland
Readers of the Magazine Monitor began playing the game themselves and the name "Cabbaging" was suggested three days later in honour of Judy Cabbages. The name "backlogging" was also suggested, but did not catch on. On 19 August 2005 a
set of rules written by Monitor reader Matt Wainwright was published.
- Judy Cabbages' original letter
news.
bbc.co.uk /1/hi/magazine/4131118.stm#debt
- Matt Wainwright's Cabbaging rules
news.
bbc.co.uk /1/hi/magazine/4152338.stm#cabbaging
