Any number of players and age, played anywhere.

Almost everybody everywhere has been in a tug-of-war, and because the game is truly international, its origins are next to impossible to determine. However, few Canadians realized their rich Tug-of-war heritage. During the 1880s and 90s, Canadians won the World Championship Tug-of-war at the worlds fair in Chicago.

In the country of Burma, the two ends of a tug-of-war represented good and evil, while the Canadian Eskimos play tug-of-war to signify the coming of spring. In Austria, a simple Tug-of-war game is played by hooking two fingers together and pulling. Two players may play tug-of-war in Afghanistan by pulling on a board held horizontally between them, trying to pull one another across a middle line. The two-man tugs are popular also with native indians in North America, and in Greece where it is called Dielkustina.

The traditional tug-of-war involves two large teams and a long heavy rope. At both ends of the rope should be an anchor man, who must tie the rope around his waist, and dig himself into the ground, if possible. The rest of the players grab a piece of the rope in a single file.

Often in the middle of the playing area there is a hold filled with water or mud. Each team tries to pull the other into the mud, but often both teams end up there anyway. An interesting variation of the traditional tug-of-war is played with three teams, and a y-shaped rope.