Greek Traditions Community

Playing the tsougrisma game at Easter?

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nadellii

nadellii

Active member
Hey everyone! With Easter coming up, I was thinking about the tsougrisma game we always play with the red eggs after the Resurrection service. You know—the egg cracking battle to see who ends up with the "uncracked champion"?

I’m curious—do you and your family still play it? And do the “rules” vary from house to house? In my family, we get very competitive about it—everyone picks their egg carefully and there's always a big cheer when someone stays undefeated!

I’d love to hear your stories. Do you play at midnight? At lunch the next day? Does your family do something funny or unique with it?

Share your traditions! It’s such a simple thing, but it really makes Easter feel complete for me.
 
es! We definitely still play tsougrisma—it wouldn’t be Easter without it. In our family, we do it right after the midnight Resurrection service, usually while we're breaking the fast with mageiritsa. Everyone gathers around with their red eggs, and it’s always loud and full of laughs.

We have a rule that the “champion egg” can’t be used again once it wins—it has to sit on display until the next day. And there’s always at least one family member who swears they have a secret egg-picking technique (which is totally just superstition!).

One of my favorite parts is when the youngest and oldest family members face off—it’s a sweet generational moment. And yes, things can get surprisingly competitive. Some years, we even make brackets like it’s a tournament! So fun.
 
nadellii said:
Hey everyone! With Easter coming up, I was thinking about the tsougrisma game we always play with the red eggs after the Resurrection service. You know—the egg cracking battle to see who ends up with the "uncracked champion"?

I’m curious—do you and your family still play it? And do the “rules” vary from house to house? In my family, we get very competitive about it—everyone picks their egg carefully and there's always a big cheer when someone stays undefeated!

I’d love to hear your stories. Do you play at midnight? At lunch the next day? Does your family do something funny or unique with it?

Share your traditions! It’s such a simple thing, but it really makes Easter feel complete for me.
Click to expand...
Oh yes! We definitely play every year. We invite several “non-Greeks” so rather than doing it after church, we wait until after our Easter meal so they can partake . It wouldn’t be Easter without tsougrisma!. We don’t have any “rules” per se. ine fun story (at the expense of my DIL…),
She is not Greek but wanted to participate so volunteered to do the eggs- she had never done them before. She was so proud that her eggs were the perfect red that we all strive for!! It was a beautiful warm day so everyone was gathered outside , each with their hand picked egg and the fun began…..well,messy fun……the eggs hadn’t been cooked!! Poor dear was so embarrassed but we all brushed it off and had a good laugh! Her eggs have been perfect since then!
 
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I’d also love to hear whether your experience changed over time, for example, celebrating differently as a child versus as an adult, or noticing differences between village and city celebrations.

For those who no longer live in Greece, do you still mark Apokries in some way, or has it faded with distance?

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