Kottbusser Tor, Berlin, 2009

Photos by Merlin

Customs Control is Smugglers vs. Customs Officers – a game of deception and camouflage, observation, calculation and psychological tactics. A life sized shell game, an inner city border poker.

Any small or mid sized public area with a defined exit can be used as playing field. The playing field must be visible in total from an elevated viewpoint. For Winter Games, wie used an area below the U8 and looked out of the large windows of our office.

To play, you need 6 metal balls as they are used to play Boules, 5 bags (backpacks, shopping bags, etc.), 2-3 walkie-talkies, and optionally 1 or 2 binoculars. 2 Teams of 3 players compete. Rounds are split into 8-minute half-times, during which one team takes on the role of Customs Officers and the other team the role of Smugglers.

At the Beginning of a round, all 3 Smugglers start on the playing field, each carrying one bag. They are given 5 of the 6 balls. One of the Customs Officers takes position at the exit of the playing field, carrying with him 1 bag with 1 ball inside. The other 2 Officers move to the elevated point. Customs Officers communicate via walkie-talkies. The Officers in the lookout can use binoculars to better watch the Smugglers on the playing field.

As soon as the clock has been started, the Smugglers try to smuggle as many balls as possible through the exit and out of the playing field, placing them in a depot (another bag) out of sight of the Customs Officers. All balls must be smuggled inside the bags, but they can be passed around in any way between the smugglers on the playing field. Smugglers can perform any number of attemps to smuggle any number of balls inside a bag through the exit. Also, passers by can be instructed to carry the smugglers bags through the exit.

The Cusoms Officer guarding the exit is allowed to stop anyone approaching the exit and to search the bag. If he wants to conduct a search, he must ask permission from the Officers in the lookout via walkie-talkie.

The decision to conduct or refrain from a search is at the heart of the game – because it is very risky. If the Officer searches a bag and finds balls, he confiscates them and collects them in his bag. But if he does not find a ball, he has to apologize for his mistake. At this moment, the Smuggler is allowed to secretely exchange his emtpy bag with the Officers bag containing all of the previously confiscated balls – and to take it with him through the exit and to the depot. This means that the more balls the Customs Officers have confiscated, the more risky every search becomes.

At the end of each half-time, the successfully smuggled balls in the depot and the confiscated balls in the Officer’s bag are openly counted and awarded to each team as points. The teams then switch roles.