Four Square
A.K.A King's Corner
I spent many many hours playing this game in a little school calledRoeper; except that it had six squares instead of four. It was not merelya game, it was an art form.In the standard game, there are four squares painted on the ground,all touching each other, making one, larger square. Each small square isroughly 8' x 8', but that's not a hard and fast rule. The ball used isthe standard red 'kickball'
Each player occupies one of the squares. The squares each have a rankorder. The square with the highest rank is called the 'King' [Sometimesthe 'Ace']. The other squares sometimes have names, and sometime don't.The #2 square may be called the 'Prime Minister', or the other three maybe called the 'Queen', 'Prince', and 'Princess'.
The start the game, the King serves the ball by bouncing it in his squareonce and then hitting it towards one of the other squares. The receivingplayer then hits the ball to any other player, and play continues untilone of the following things occur:
1) A player hits the ball (or is hit BY the ball) before it bouncesonce in their square.
2) A player does not hit the ball before it bounces twice
3) A player hits the ball out of bounds (it must land in someone's squarefirst)
Once a player is 'dead', they move back to the lowest ranking square.The other players then move up to fill the vacancies. If there are moreplayers than squares, that person goes to the back of the line, and theperson at the front of the line gets to move onto the lowest square andplay.
Playing off of walls, poles, etc was not only legal but encouraged.
Contributed by Geof Nieboer and Jerry Waugh
Related to: Hackball
