Week 2 - Five Square?

“Folk games” is never what I thought it would mean. Learning about how almost any physical game I have played with friends growing up is classified under this category is really eye- opening. Anything from Tag, Hide and Seek, Musical Chairs, and the list goes on all fall under this very simple category as games that are passed down and easily accessible to most. These are games that are not intended to be sold as a commercial product (even though people find a way with anything to make money). They require minimal to none objects to make the game playable. 

This week we split up into multiple groups to work with folk games. Within a few minutes the group I am in we already had our game chosen. We thought about growing up playing “Four Square” at school and how easy it is to hop in and play with anyone. It has a good system of moving up in the chain and if you get out you can hop right back in line to be next up in line. The game is played in a square separated into Four Square and is best played with way more than four people. Our goal was to slightly modify this common game that many people grew up playing and putting a big twist on it.

We began by thinking of good ways we can include more active players. I made the joke of making “Five Square” essentially making it a sequel type of joke. We did start to think outside of the box, however. We came up with a change in the game that would significantly alter how the main game is played without even changing the base rules directly. We are going to add two other players playing a game at the same time interfering with the main game in the middle. These two players will be passing a ball between the players of Four Square as the game in the four squares continues.

“Play is this struggle between order and chaos” (Page 10, Sicart, Miguel. Play Matters). Our game idea makes a pretty simple concept and layers what seems to be a simple concept as well on top of it. This creates chaos and adds a layer of fear to the game of Four Square. If the ball of the players passing on the outside hits the ball being passed between the four players it may severely affect the outcome of the central game. This layer of suspense is true for both of the games going on because the outside player can be impacted if they can’t get the ball to the other side. The most satisfying moments will occur when neither ball hits another and a rhythm is generated.