Norway

The country of Norway is home to many unique games. Winter sports are the country's most popular, but with nearly half of the population registered as members of the Norwegian Sports Federation and roughly three out every four children regularly taking part in sporting activities, Norway is broadening the scope of their leisure activities. Some of the newer games that have become more popular, especially with the youth of the country, are aerobics, handball, jazz ballet dancing, and swimming. The majority of the games played in Norway take place in the outdoors, where the natives take on the rough terrain in sports such as dog sledding, crosscountry skiing, downhill skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding, ice skating, ice golf, curling, and football. In addition to these better-known sporting activities, the citizens of Norway take great pride in playing various distinctive card games. Some of the more famous card games played in Norway include Mattis, Spar Dame, Amerikaner, Vri atter, Gabong, Gris, and Gnav.

Mattis is the Norwegian equivalent of Sweden's Skit-gubbe and is a beating game in which there is no limit to the number of players. Spar Dame, or Spardam, is the Norwegian version of Hearts. Amerikaner is a trick-taking game in which four players are each dealt 12 cards, discard four, choose trumps and then call a card in which the holder will become the bidder's partner. Vri atter is the country's version of Crazy Eights. Gabong is a game that is of the eights group. This version calls for the game to be played with three full decks shuffled together. Gris, the Norwegian version of Pig, calls for the player, when they have obtained four of a kind, to place their thumb on the edge of the table. Finally, Gnav is a game of the Cuckoo family in which a special set of cards is played with. People can also play the game with a set of pieces similar to Chess pawns in which the identity of the piece is on the base.

Although card games are highly popular in the country, most of the natives prefer to play outdoor sports. Norway has had a long history of athletic prowess on the international stage. In fact, only Russia has won more medals in the Winter Olympic Games than Norway. In particular, the country has dominated in the Nordic combined events. The event, which began in 1924, involves cross-country skiing, as well as ski jumping. Since the event began, Norway has received a total of 26 medals, with the next closest country tallying 14.

By far, cross-country skiing is the country's most popular outdoor activity. In recent years, though, alpine skiing has become more common, with more than 400 lifts and over 250 smaller tows serving the slopes across the country. While ski jumping has decreased in popularity over the years, there are still some 600 ski jumps in Norway. The top draw each year is the annual Hol-menkollen Ski Festival, which takes place just north of the capital of Oslo. The festival, which is over 100 years old, has become a national attraction and a top tourist attraction, with well over a million visitors each year.

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