While you may find variations on Foursquare rules in many places, the specific rules of this game are as follows:
The Playing Surface
- 2 144 ft^2 squares divided into quadrants
- Three squares will be labeled with a royalty mark (Ace, King, Queen); the fourth will be left blank. The blank square will contain a hashed box called the "service square" where serves must be delivered.
- Outside lines are in, inside lines are out. Players waiting in line are considered out-of-bounds. Inanimate objects or passersby are considered in-bounds and are playable, assuming said objects do not actively attempt to redirect the ball.
The Rules of the Game
- The Player in the Ace square is responsible for serving.
- There is "no blood on a serve" meaning the serve *must be returnable* by being 1) served to the player in the unmarked square, 2) bouncing once inside the service square (see wall photo).
- Server gets one fault (i.e. the ball does not bounce inside service square) per round and may re-serve after the first fault is called. The fault must be called by the Player being served or the serve will be considered legal. Two called faults result in the Server being ejected from the Ace square.
- A Player is out if the ball touches them last before landing on an inside line or outside the outer boundaries. The remaining Players then advance upwards in royalty.
- The ball may be hit in any fashion with any part of the body. There will be no enforcement of the time-honored "Underhand Only" or "No Feets" rules. However, a hit must cause a perceptable change in direction or velocity.
- Rolling the ball across the line shall be considered an illegal hit.
- As this is a gentle(wo)man's game, it will be self-refereed under the honor system. If two Players cannot agree on a game decision, then the "Two (Wo)Men Enter, One (Wo)Man Leaves" rule comes into play. In this scenario, a two-square battle will be played, with the losing Player being ejected from their square.
Advanced Moves
- If a ball bounces in a Player's square, the ball must be hit by that square's Player. Another Player may not steal the ball. However, a Player may reach across and steal the ball before the ball bounces. Such a move shall be called "The Snake."
- If a ball is hit up into the air, a Player may stop the ball's trajectory and redirect it back into the square, but it must bounce once in the Player's square before being hit out. Such a move shall be called "A Bus Stop."
The tournament structure is as follows:
- A Player receives one point for each round survived in the King and Queen squares. A Player receives two points for each round survived in the Ace square as the Server.
- The first half of the Players that reach an arbitrarily decided number of points (100?) will be entered into the competitor's bracket for the prize. The remaining half will be continue to play for the lower bracket's prize.
- The bracket competitions will be Five-elimination. You continue to remain in the game until you have been eliminated 5 times. The game continues until 4 players remain. When four players remain, all eliminations are reset and the Final Round commences.
- In the final round, all players receive one point for surviving a round. The first player to reach 10 points is summarily declared the Winner of that bracket and receives the bracket's Prize.
