4 Square
A playground game
By MC_Alz for CVN
Ah yes, I can almost remember it like it was yesterday, when at recess in Elementary school everyone lined up outside on the school playground area made for 4 square. The basic rules of this game were: if the ball bounces in your square and you failed to hit it into someone else's' square before the ball hit the ground a second time, then you were out and you had to go to the end of the line and wait for your turn again.
There are 4 squares labeled A, B, C, and with D being the worst square. The idea is to get the people in the higher squares out so you can move up to the almighty A square where you become the server of the ball and you can make your own rules for the game. Oh yes, it seemed simple in those times.
Then came the newer generation of 4 Square, now there are a million ways to get beat out of your square. There is a move called the "Cherry Bomb", where you take the ball and slam it as hard as you can into another person's square and the ball bounces clear over their head and out of the area causing the ball to bounce again and that person is out. Then, there is a move called "babies" where you take the ball and (while everyone is at the outside corner of their square waiting for you to throw it hard) you go up to the front corner and drop it softly, causing the ball to bounce multiple times and get that person out. They call these the rules. I say its cheating because these rules only come into effect when its my not my turn and then everybody uses them on me.
I have a little sister and when I play with her (yes, I cannot escape) it seems like there is a new rule every time! "You can't do this, you can't do that," but it always seems ok for her to do anything as long as she wins. There are tons of other secret moves that I have sworn to the 4 square masters never to reveal. But all in all, what started out as a good game has turned into a monster.
So if you ever want to play a good ol' fashioned game of 4 square this is how its done: get a bouncy ball, soccer ball, or whatever isn't gonna hurt your hand to hit it. Draw 4 squares that all connect and make one big square. Get at least 4 people (there is a 2 square alternate); determine which squares are A, B, C, and D. Then the person in the A square serves the ball to any other square he/she likes. That person hits it to another square and so on and so on. The ways you get out are if you hold the ball, the ball bounces in your square and you fail to hit it to another, you hit the ball twice. So really its hard to get out unless you wanna hit the ball hard otherwise you can just keep hitting it back in forth in alternating patterns. When someone loses they go to the end of the line, everyone moves up a square and the person next in line fills in the D square. So try it and have fun but whatever you do if some little kid asks you to play and gives you his "I don't know how to play look", don't buy it. He probably knows what he is doing and he is gonna take over your game and cut you down to size. Well thanks for reading my article on 4 square I hope this in someway help you better understand this interesting little game.