The knife game, nerve, bishop, or 5-finger fillet, is a game wherein a person places the palm of his or her hand down on a table with fingers apart, using a knife, or sharp object, the performer attempts to stab back and forth between their fingers, moving the object back and forth, trying to not hit their fingers.

The order in which the spaces between the fingers are stabbed varies. In North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, the most popular version is to simply stab all the spaces in order, starting from behind the thumb to after the little finger, and back again. In Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, a more complex order is used. With the spaces numbered 1 (behind the thumb) through 6 (after the little finger), the order would be as follows:

1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-1-5-1-4-1-3-1-2 (repeats)

or an even more complex order:

1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-2-6-3-6-4-6-5-6-4-6-3-6-2-6 (repeats)

as opposed to the American version, which would be thus:

1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2 (repeats).

It is the European ordering which is shown on camera in Alias, in City of Scars the player seems to play a combination of American and European.

In popular culture

On film, this was first seen in the 1962 Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...

 film Knife in the Water

Knife in the Water (film)

Knife in the Water is a 1962 Polish drama film directed by Roman Polański. It is Polanski's first feature film, featuring three characters in a story of rivalry and sexual tension.-Plot:...

. The trick can be seen in both John Carpenter

John Carpenter

John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...

's Dark Star

Dark Star (film)

Dark Star is a 1974 American comedic science fiction motion picture directed by John Carpenter and co-written with Dan O'Bannon.-Backstory and plot:...

and James Cameron

James Cameron

James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...

's Aliens

Aliens (film)

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...

. In 1996, it was shown in the movie Surviving Picasso

Surviving Picasso

Surviving Picasso is a 1996 Merchant Ivory Film starring Anthony Hopkins as the painter Pablo Picasso. It was shot in Paris and southern France.It was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant and David L. Wolper...

. It is also seen in the episode "Picasso: Modern Art Goes Political" in Simon Schama's Power of Art

Simon Schama's Power of Art

Power of Art is a BBC documentary series written and presented by Simon Schama. The series was broadcast in October and November 2006 on BBC2...

as well as in The Hangover Part II a character loses a finger while playing. The episode depicts the first meeting between Pablo Picasso and future mistress Dora Maar when she cuts herself playing the knife game at a Paris cafe. It was later shown in an episode of the television series Alias

Alias (TV series)

Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...

, briefly in the bar at the start of the Lucas Arts game Full Throttle (where it is also a hidden minigame), in The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, the video games Red Dead Redemption and Rage (video game)

Rage

Rage may refer to:* Rage , an intense form of anger- Games :* Rage , a 2011 first-person shooter and racing video game developed by id Software* Rage Software Limited, a defunct game developer...

, the opening of the Samurai Jack episode "Jack versus Mad Jack", the "Family Limitation" episode in season 1 of Boardwalk Empire, the "Calamity Jen" episode in season 1 of The IT Crowd

The IT Crowd

The IT Crowd is a British sitcom by Channel 4, written by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry...

and in the web only film by Aaron Schoenke City of Scars . Many people (particularly school children) use a safer version with less harmful objects, like a permanent marker

Permanent marker

A permanent marker is a type of marker pen that is used to create permanent writing on an object. Generally the liquid is water resistant, contains a solvent such as xylene, toluene, or alcohol and is capable of writing on a variety of surfaces from paper to metal to stone...

or a pencil.