These are sex moves, right?

If by two-square and four-square you mean the playground game where you bounced the red rubber ball between either two or four squares, while you were standing in one of the squares, we played it all the time in Ohio where I grew up.

What the hell are you talking about?

I don't know about rules, house rules, or extra squares, but I can report that four square is very popular at the elementary school behind my house. More popular than I ever remember it being when I was a kid.

Yeah, we played it in Northern California, too. It's been long enough that I don't remember the rules anymore. I do, however, have a very firm memory of a game of four-square during which all participants chanted "Power to the people, power to the people, power to the people, power to the people right on!" - which pretty firmly dates me, doesn't it.

Do you use a proper four square ball, klangklangston?

I never played two-square, but grew up playing four-square, and had my mind blown at summer camp when I discovered their version - nine boxes in a grid. They called it "boxball," and in every other respect, the game was the same.

In our foursquare grid, we had "king," "queen," "rook," and "pawn" as the four box names. In boxball, they were just numbered, 1-9.

If you dig this sort of stuff, check out Streetplay.com, where you can find a version of your "two-square" played with a "spaldeen," or small red rubber ball.

"If by two-square and four-square you mean the playground game where you bounced the red rubber ball between either two or four squares, while you were standing in one of the squares, we played it all the time in Ohio where I grew up."

Yeah, that's it exactly.

"Do you use a proper four square ball, klangklangston?"

Yeah, we do. We found it at one of the sporting goods stores right near here.

We played 2, 4 and 6 square in New Zealand. Although we had no house rules, really, just the regular ones.

We called it "Champ" and played it with four chalk squares. We used any kind of ball available. Tennis balls were killer.

If we had more than four people, the extras just waited in a line till someone blew it.

That's a good game. I miss it. Klang, when you're up here, or if I'm down there, we're on.

And man, adding to the weirdness, you get no sympathy from saying that you're sore from several hours of two-square.

I gotta find more people into this. Maybe I should put up a note on Craigslist.

Oh, and Miko, re: boxball: We had a game we called boxball, but it involved a box about eight feet long, with two boards dividing it width-wise into thirds. Each end of the box had a goal cut into it, and each of the boards had a couple holes cut into them, to let a ball pass. Then, each player had a broomstick that they used the end of to whack at the ball, attempting to score goals, and you could only touch the ball in that middle third. It was a lot of fun.

Everybody knows the most important rule of two or four-square:

NO DOUBLE HITS!!

Man, when we were kids, we played it for BLOOD. Only Battleball (AKA "War" or "Dodgeball") could compete for sheer... competitiveness.

Do-overs, baby taps, cherry bombs, grandfather clocks, twisters, basketballs, popcorns, tips, and footsies are the ones I can think of.

Basketballs, popcorns and footsies? And I can't quite remember what a tip was. Just barely touching the ball and allowing it then to pass into someone else's square? Explanations? And what did you call it when someone just SLAMMMMED the ball into someone else's square (and it bounced right over his head)? I'm pretty sure we had multiple names for that.

I remember four-square but no rules. And the ball was red rubber like a kickball (which were also sometimes yellow) but smaller. I didn't play it a lot, I preferred hop-scotch.

Oh, and I guess if double-hits WERE allowed (which sucked and was for wusses), there was always the potential for... bobbling. Like, bobblebobblebobble and make 'em guess when I'm finally gonna smack it at 'em. Is that what you mean by "popcorn"?

deborah, I remember those red rubber balls and sometimes I want one just so the feel and smell of it can transport me back to that fun, lost time.

I REMEMBER! With us 'A' square served and also called the rules, like "No bobbling" and such. Kind of analogous to the dealer calling which poker game, except you had to fight your way to 'A'.

"Basketballs, popcorns and footsies? And I can't quite remember what a tip was. Just barely touching the ball and allowing it then to pass into someone else's square? Explanations? And what did you call it when someone just SLAMMMMED the ball into someone else's square (and it bounced right over his head)? I'm pretty sure we had multiple names for that."

Basketballs is dribbling (with the number constrained by whatever the King has called).

Tips is when you use the tips of your fingers to knock the ball up for an extra hit, and sometimes construed as meaning that you could only play with the tips of your fingers for that round.

Popcorn is what shane called Bobbles (which I'd heard too), though that was usually constrained to a number too.

Footsies is either, depending upon the group, when you could knock the ball off of someone's foot, thus getting them out, or when you were allowed to use your foot to bounce the ball back.

The slamming it down was called a grandfather clock if you held the ball in both hands and brought it down from above your head. Cherry bombs was when you used your fist to spike the ball, also hoping to make it bounce far enough that it was impossible to return.

Baby taps was when you let the ball go softly, just over the border into someone else's square, usually giving them no time to get to it and hit it back.

klangklangston: We called that one "box hockey."

Yeah, we mostly had a lot of spikes, not so much grandfather clocks as those might have been construed as "holding" the ball (and an accusation of holding could result in being put out or maybe in a do-over.) "Holding" was a big no-no too.

Footsies is either, depending upon the group, when you could knock the ball off of someone's foot, thus getting them out, or when you were allowed to use your foot to bounce the ball back.

We were never allowed to kick the ball, but getting someone out by slamming it on their foot was common. Heck, you could slam the ball in someone's face and get him/her out, LOL.

That's where double-hits actually were cool: if someone slammed the ball directly at your face (without hitting the ground in your square first), you were allowed to "block" the ball with your hand, allow it to hit the ground, THEN smack it back, usually at the &*%! who slammed it at yer face.
:-)

If the ball was flying straight at your face and double-hits were not allowed, the best you could hope for was to dodge the ball and let it land outside your square, putting the person who hit it there "Out."

LOL :-)

At least you guys knew what I meant this time, as opposed to the "Lou Rawls" thing.

What a grand and fine game...

:-)

...not just during school, but during summer vacation with one of my best friends and my arch-two-square-rival Scotty Marshall, often till well after the sun went down.

Ah, for those days again...

Thank you for reminding me.

Klang, when I start feeling human again count me in.

(God only knows when that will be, but hey, it has to happen eventually, right?)

I gotta find more people into this. Maybe I should put up a note on Craigslist.

That is SUCH a 'This American Life' episode. If you do that, klang, make sure to take along a tape recorder.

I'm up for a tournament. I'd travel ti MI for it.
:-)

Oops, you're in LA, not Michigan. Oh well.

Do you use a proper four square ball, klangklangston?
posted by mullacc 20 November | 19:15

And I read that as, "Do you use a proper square ball..?"

Excellent question.

Fuzzbean, Amy and I are staying here for Thanksgiving, if you're up for a game.

We played four-square all the time in Georgia, late 70s-early 80s. We weren't all that fancy, which was good because you could even entice that one kid that would only play if she could hold a cigarette during the game.

We played 2, 4 and 6 square in New Zealand

Did you call it that, gaspode? It was always handball for us in Aus, and we played it religiously.

Yep, we did call it that, goo. At least in my school we did. Handball was a different game entirely (more like squash, but without racquets).

Klang, we're around but I'm feeling like gastrointestinal hell lately so I don't think I'm up for ball-playing.

We had "White Magic" and "Black Magic" - if you shouted one of those out right before you hit, there were extra-special rules. Damned if I can remember what they were.

Handball was a different game entirely (more like squash, but without racquets).

Oh yeah, that was handball too. Our wall was mainly reserved for brandy, and for the wickets when there was a test match on, so we didn't play that too much.

We had unacceptable serves - too high or low - and unexpectable serves (when you weren't ready). Yelling black magic for us waived all rules, with some other stipulations I can't now recall. The squares were Ace, King, Queen and Jack, Arsehole and Slave for 6 square; Ace, King, Arsehole and Slave for 4; and either King or Ace and Arsehole for 2. There always had to be an Arsehole.

We girls also played elastics, but very few of the boys did. Handball was for everyone.

Elastics?

And the only handball I know is played with a raquetball, and a line on a wall. The kids out here play some weird version where the wall has a rectangular hole about the size of a shoebox cut in the middle, but damned if I can figure out the rules.

Is "elastics" the thing where you put a big stretchy loop around two people's legs, and then someone jumps in the middle and has to do:

In
On
In
Out
In
Out
Tic-tac-toe

at ankle level, and then knee level, and increasingly high up until it's no longer possible?

Aye, that's it. I think it's also known as Chinese jump rope or French skipping. Our rhyme was:

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales
Inside, outside, inside, tails

Good times.