Four square regional

This branch of Four Square describes the wide varieties of the game as it is played across the world. For general rules and descriptions, refer to the main page.

American regional rules

* Four square in the United States is more commonly played with the larger (8, 10 or 12-inch) rubber balls or other varieties.
* Court size is not standardized. In New York, for example, courts are often made of four adjacent sidewalk squares.
* There is no standard for naming the order and terms of the squares, some regions use numbers, letters or titles to represent the rank of each square.
* Often, the player in the server's square is allowed to declare custom rules to be observed during their service. Some of which from the Connecticut, USA region are:

-Airball: A player may strike a ball before it hits the playing surface

-Pacman: When one runs around the lines and the king/ace runs anywhere and tags a player with the ball. That player is out.

-Black Magic: When the top person (the King/Ace) moves somebody around to a different square. Alternatively, this may refer to "faking someone out", or pretending to throw the ball one way, then throwing it in another direction.

-Inner Square Beware: All hits in the game must be towards the 4 line intersection at the center of the court.

-Double Taps: A player may hit the ball twice before it goes into an opponent's square

-Whips: A player throws the ball quickly and at a low angle, making it difficult for an opponent to effectively counter.

-Cherry Bomb: The king spikes the ball as hard as they can into the other person's square. The other person will have a hard time serving the extremely high ball.

-Soccer Style: No contact with hands or arms is allowed.

*Some of these colloquial rules for the Michigan, USA area include:

-Poisons: When a ball is hit towards a player, the player may catch the ball before it bounces in their square and immediately say "Poison!", and the person who had last hit the ball is out. If the player forgets to say "Poison" or takes too long to say it, they are out instead.

-Backstops: After a ball is hit towards a player and bounces in their square once, the player may lightly tap the ball, have it fall and bounce in their square again, and then hit the ball to an opponent.

-Bus Stops: At any time before the king serves the ball, the king may declare "Bus Stop". The king places the ball in the middle of the court where all the lines intersect and all the players must place their hand on the ball. The last one to do so is out.

-No Powers (or No Slams): If a ball is hit towards a player very fast or very hard and is not returned by the player, the player may accuse the hit of being a "power" or "slam". This means that the ball was hit too hard to possibly be returned. If it is decided that the pass was a power, the person who had hit the ball is out. This may be decided by the king, a designated judge, or by taking a vote of the other three players or of the players waiting in line.

-Firecrackers: If a ball is hit towards a player, bounces in their square, and then bounces out of the court without being returned, the player in whose square the ball last bounced has the opportunity to run, retrieve the ball, and throw it into an opponent's square within a designated amount of time (for example: Five-Second Firecrackers, Three-Second Firecrackers, etc.). Play then resumes as normal.

English regional rules

Due to the speed of using tennis balls as standard, the rules for England are altered, to create slightly fairer, yet more difficult gameplay.
*After the ball is returned, it must bounce in a players own square, before another player's.
*If the ball is hit into another player's square prematurely, the shot is called 'Direct' and the offending player is out, and thus moved to the back of the queue.
*If the ball lands on a line, and the players are unsure of which square it landed in, a 'Line' is called, and the game is restarted (known as a 'retake').
*The ball may be hit by any body part, this allows for very skilled players to feint and dummy, hitting the ball in intricate ways, rarely, but sometimes, with their feet, so as to confuse other players.
*A player may only hit the ball with one hand/body part, if more than one part of the body touches the ball, a 'Double Touch' is called, and the offending player returns to the back of the queue.
*The square numbers are reversed, with 4th square being the lowest rank, and 1st being the highest.
*Underarm serves are also legal, even though the ball can literally be bowled very low, and the first returner has no chance of a clean hit.
*Sometimes, a game will get very low, very fast, or very gentle. The game ends when the majority of the queue call 'Pea Roller' and the last player to have touched the ball is 'out'.
*If any player makes a mistake, to the degree that they are 'out', if another player 'plays on' or hits the ball further, the offense is passed to the last player to hit the ball, and thus, that player is 'out' instead. The addition of this rule, makes the English variation very unforgiving, but breeds very aware players, thus increasing the general skill level present in the game.
*If desired, the court can be an indefinite length or width, with a simple cross in the centre, and its protruding lines spanning as far as the game requires.
*Sometimes the two higher ranking squares are larger or longer than the other squares, to add a handicap to the better players.

In some English schools in the area of Hong Kong, there is a large addition to the custom English rules. Some differences are:

*Steal- When a player hits the ball and says "Steal", he/she can hit the ball on another player's square instead of his own as his first land of the ball. The second hit of the ball has to be on a different square then the first square the ball landed on. To simplify this, imagine your square is in the bottom left . You say "Steal!" and hit the ball. It lands on the top left square, then on the top right one and it is a legal move. This customization can greatly stylize and change the flow of the game among very advanced individuals.

*Volley- Instead of saying "direct", a player needs to say "volley" and attempt to catch the ball to make the volleyer go out.

*Footshots and headshots are much more popular and are often point winners.

*Instead of calling the squares 1 to 4, They are named King, Queen, Jack and Dunce, from highest rank to lowest.

*A huge difference in the rules is that when a player commits a mistake, instead of going right to the back of the queue, he goes to Dunce, the lowest rank. Only if the player that is in dunce makes a mistake, then he goes to the back of the line. Some long-queue games are decided by the boy who owns the ball to be "Jack Dunce". This means that when Jack makes a mistake, he also goes to the back of the line. This concept makes the game more forgiving, but also makes the line move much slower.

*Another rule is that when somebody says "Play On" after a mistake has been made, the players are to proceed with the game like there wasn't a mistake. This is extremely useful when playing with a friend, where you can "Play On" his errors and vice versa. The other competitors should catch the ball before the fouler's partner plays it, and declare the mistake.

When there are fewer people in the area, some may play a smaller variation called 2 square, with the same rules but a more friendly environment.

Australian regional rules

(For the general rules and descriptions, refer to the main page).

* A tennis ball is the primary ball used for gameplay.
* Four Square is played with four squares of (generally) equal size. Games can be played with more than 4 squares in a 2xN configuration. If there are more players than squares a line is formed behind the furthest square from the King position.
* Squares are given the titles of King, Queen, Jack and Dunce (some variants use Ace as the highest position and continue with King, Queen and Jack or Dunce). When a player is called "out" (for whatever following reason) in any position, they move immediately to the back of the waiting line. In some variants however, the King may move to Dunce and everyone remaining in moves up a square. If this does happen, the person who was in the King square can call an "Old King", which means that they have to have the ball served to them, and they override all other "service" calls.
* Each player is required to hit the ball into their own square before bouncing in another, failure to do so is called a "full" or "straight over" and the player is out. Some variants use a "full-played" rule, if after a player hits a full, another player continues play hitting the ball into another square, it can be caught and "full-played" is declared, in this case the player who continued the game is declared out whilst the original full is not out. Additionally, if the player continues on after a "full-played", a "full forgotten" is declared, and no one is out.
* Play often becomes so low that when hit, the ball rolls along the ground instead of bouncing. Here a "rolls" is called, and the player is immediately out. On occasion, a "jumps" (see below) is called as an alternative. Some games require a call of either "rolls re" or "rolls rack". Whichever one is called first takes preference. A rolls re results in the game simply being restarted, and a rolls rack means the player who last touched the ball is out. The term "pix" is also used, and saying this results in the same action being taken if a "rolls re" was called, ie. the game continues.
* Due to the fast-paced nature of the game, it is often unsure in which square the ball was bounced, with it landing on the line. This is called a "liner" or "lines", and King usually re-serves. However, a "jumps" is sometimes called, and a player (usually Queen) bounces the ball in the middle of the court. Players then jump and compete to tap it into another square, similar to the ruck in Australian Rules Football. Incidentally, this is the only occasion a player is permitted to hit the ball into an opposing square on the full.
* Often, players incorporate an alliance play aspect into the game. These teams are not locked, and as a result betrayals often, and commonly occur. When betrayals occur often players will use the slang term "Biggest Dog" or "Dog Act".
* When the ball is touched by a player waiting in line, or any other unintended target, an "interference" is called and King re-serves or a "jumps" takes place.
* "Headsies" and "Footsies", otherwise known as "body fulls" are NOT permitted. Although in some games they are.
* In some cases, the game is played according to the English rules.
* In some cases, the rule "Two and Up" can be brought into play, this is where the ball bounces twice in your own square or out of court and you hit it upwards into an opponents square, you cannot use a "Two and Up" if the ball bounces once into your own square and once into another players square.
* When an argument about a call comes up and there is no other way to deal with it, the two players can call for a death match between the two arguing players.
* "Rally" can be declared in some variants by the King or sometimes any player, in which the declarer and the person who receives the ball must only return the ball to each other, and if returned to a different player's square, the person in the rally is out. "Break" can be called by the declarer, after which the play continues like normal. "Rally to the Death" is a variant on rallies in which no break can be called. "Around the World" can be declared in some games in which the players must play the ball in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction to the next player.
* Special serving techniques can be called before the King serves the ball. "Overhead" is a call made when there are more than 4 players and the server wishes to serve to a square not adjacent to themselves, if the serve does not land in an overhead square, then the server is out, but if an adjacent square touches the ball, they are declared out. "Out of Square" may be called in which the server can serve from outside their square, but must still bounce the ball in their square before any others. A "replay" may be called by a player receiving a serve if the ball's bounce is determined "indecent", forcing the round to start over. Additionally, any player can make the call of "service" and the King must serve to them. If more than one person calls a "service", the King serves to the first one that called out.
* If a player walks out of their square, thinking they are out, they are deemed to have "walked" and are now out, despite the fact they had not violated any rules during the point.
* In recent times the 2xN version of the game has grown significantly, often being referred to as "jockball". This version often incorporates the rule of no body fulls, and death matches are used to decide all "liners", instead of the traditional centre bounce method.

German School Rules

* The game is played with 4 squares marked A, B, C, and D, A being the highest rank, and D being the lowest. There can also be a waiting line behind a given area.
* The ball can bounce in a square more than once and if too low, can be hit underhand. But no catches and long ball possession times are allowed. If a player does this, the player is eliminated.
* If the ball bounces in your square, it has to bounce anywhere else in the SDQ (Square Divided into Quadrants) otherwise, you're eliminated. GAME STOPPERS:
* 'LINE': When the ball bounces between 2 lines or the outer line, line has to be called and then, 'A' bounces the ball with a lot of strength in the middle. [This rule is not always applied to games]
* 'ROLL': When the ball rolls outside the SDQ, it doesn't count as elimination. It is a roll. When roll is called because the ball rolls out, 'A' has to throw the ball up so that it lands roughly in the middle where anybody can get it [This rule is not always used]
* 'SHOESHINER': When a player hits the ball on another players shoe (by a mistake), both players (the person who bounced it on the person's shoe and the person who's shoe was hit) must say shoeshiner. Whoever says it last is eliminated.
* 'INTERFERENCE': When the player in the waiting line get too close to the square and they save the ball if it goes out, an interference is called and the player must go to the back of the waiting line.
* 'INVASION': When a person in D steps into another square other they his own, an invasion is called and the person which invaded is out.

* There is a ball saving technique called POPCORNING. The way the people in Germany play it is that they try to eliminate others mostly with high and far balls. A fast runner can run really far and seemingly catch the ball, but they aren't; they're tossing it up about a quarter of an inch in the air. Popcorning is only allowed to be used if it is for saving yourself, not for attacking others. There are many different rules about popcorning such as a given amount of seconds that popcorning is allowed and even style of popcorning rules. Popcorning is not used by everyone: it is not used by certain foreigners to Germany such as Americans and Australians.

Canadian Regional Rules

*Four Square is commonly played in Canada with basketballs instead of rubber balls
*Instead of calling the squares 1,2,3 and 4, they are called King, Queen, Jack and Baby, from highest ranking to lowest.
*There is a game play type called "Elimination". The objective of Elimination Four Square is to be the last person on the court. If you are out in Elimination, you must wait until a winner is declared before re-joining the game. When there are three people left on the court, the baby square is empty, and is not treated as part of the court. When there are two people left, the person in the queen square moves to the jack square and the Baby and Queen squares are not treated as part of the court. The last person on the court is declared the winner and gets to create custom rules for the next game and get to be the King as well.
*Many Four Square courts in Canada are made with a circle right in the middle about a foot in length. This poses a challenge hence the ball goes into the circle at least 4 or 5 times when there are 4 people playing Elimination. Many people do not treat the circle in the middle as part of the actual game court, therefore, if the ball bounces in someone's square and then into the circle, they are out. Others may agree that when the ball bounces in the circle, the king may take the ball and serve again.

*Often, the player in the server's square is allowed to declare custom rules to be observed during their service. Some of which from the Vancouver, B.C. region are:
**Double outs: Two people way be eliminated at a time if the ball bounces on the line which separates two player's squares and then out of the square.
**Mini bomb: The server pretends to do a Cherry Bomb, but instead drops the ball lightly into someone's square so that it bounces twice very quickly to get the person out. This action along with Cherry Bombing is often not allowed in games.
**Rally: This rule is quite different from the Australian version. It states that it is impossible for the King to get someone out on his/her serve. For example, the King serves the ball to the Jack, but he misses it. The King must then retrieve the ball and serve again.
**King's word: The King resolves any disputes between players.
**Vacation: The King may let the Queen serve 3 rounds while the King is immune to getting out in that period of time. If the Queen is out during his/her service, the new Queen may complete the service. This can only be done once in the entire game. [Students Interviewed from Anderson Elementary Richmond B.C. Canada]

outh African regional rules

South African rules are some of the most difficult and fast-paced of all.
*The game is played with a tennis ball, or a rubber ball of comparable size.
*Similarly to German rules, the ball cannot be caught. A player is out when he catches the ball.
*The squares are named, in descending order: King, Queen, Jack, and Ace.
*The players progress in an anti-clockwise order.
*Upon serving, the King must hit the ball so that it first bounces in his own square, and then in the Ace square.
*Excepting the serve, a player may not hit the ball into his own square. If he does he is out.
*If the King faults a serve (I.E., serving out of play, or failing to bounce in his own square etc.), he is granted a second chance. Just as in tennis, if he hits a double fault, he is out.
*Any serve that bounces once in the King's own square and then in the Ace square (see above) is legal. If the King is an adept server, and can hit the ball hard and low, it will be very difficult to return. If the King is a good server, this "anything goes" method of service makes the game vicious on the Ace.
*If the ball goes out of bounds, the player who hit it is out.
*If the ball hits a line, the player who hit the ball is out.
*If the players disagree with what has happened, the King may retake the serve.
*The ball is not allowed to touch a player twice.
*If a player has made an error, then another player can save him by continuing play; the player continuing play has to call 'play on'.