About

Shadow Boxing, also known as the Ish Game or the Pointing Game, refers to a participatory trend or social game played between two people who attempt to mime box each other by pointing or punching toward one of four different directions. The objective of the game is to trick your opponent into turning their head in the same direction as you are launching your point or punch. The game first went viral on the internet in late 2019, but it can be traced as far back as Japan in the 1990s, where the game is called "Atchimuitehoi," and in Pacific Islander communities in the 2000s.

History

Shadow boxing or "Ish" is a game where two people face each other and take turns pointing either left, right up, or down. The goal is to avoid looking in the same direction as your opponent in points, and the penalty for doing so is sometimes an actual physical tap.

The earliest known appearance of the game in popular culture was in the March 9th 1996 video game Super Maria RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, where a boss named Grate Guy challenges Mario to a "Look The Other Way" game. The challenge was called "Atchimuitehoi" in the Japanese version of the game.^[1]

According to YouTube uploads dating as far back as 2007, the game is also popular among Pacific Islanders.^[2] On November 18th, 2006, YouTuber^[4] njoestark posted the earliest known notable upload of someone playing the Ish game, gathering over 8,000 views in 16 years (seen below, left). On July 7th, 2007, YouTuber^[3] Tanielu Tuiasosopo posted a video of someone playing the Ish game as well, gathering over 37,000 views in 15 years (seen below, right).

Spread

In late 2019, the game found new popularity on popular social media. On August 13th, 2019, Twitter^[5] user @Josephwalker_28 posted a video of people playing the game, gathering over 140,000 likes in over three years (seen below).

Get right😂 pic.twitter.com/nAchIkr4Mx

— J-5⚡️ (@Josephwalker_28) August 14, 2019

On August 17th, 2019, Twitter^[6] user @lockeplatt88 posted a video of people playing the game, gathering over 160,000 likes in over three years. The videos were posted to Reddit^[7] later that month, where the post gathered over 70,000 upvotes in subreddit /r/theocho.

Camp vibes 😭😭😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/KKxeEBWKY1

— ♛ Locke Platt ♛ (@lockeplatt88) August 18, 2019

The game was revitalized on TikTok in 2023, with a new move involving a photo being taken by the winner on the "kill shot" or winning point. The earliest known video using the "kill cam" move was posted by TikToker^[8] @704.mon, gathering over 11 million plays and 2.3 million likes in a month (seen below, left). On March 7th, 2023, TikToker^[9] @cee.nice8 posted a similar video, gathering over 8 million plays and 1 million likes in a month (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References