Noopsie Ball

Today I was part of team B and we designed (Extreme) Human Foosball.  The idea began to formulate when team members were discussing limiting movement for players in the game.  This combined with the idea that you could only hit the ball and not catch it, was the basis for our game.  

Team A came up with Chaos Ball, which at first seemed a little dangerous.  Risk of physical injury aside, their approach used the level design well by creating chair obstacles.  It seemed to be a bit more low-key than Human Foosball but was similar in simplicity and movement constraints.

The rules for Human Foosball are as follows: two teams have 2 rows of offense and a row of defense.  The goal is to score/keep the other team from scoring in the plastic bin.  The players are only allowed one step the side in each direction and may not turn out.  The ball cannot be caught; it must be bounced off the player.  If the ball hits the ground or goes out of bounds, the player which dropped it must throw it to the other team to get the action started again.  The team with the highest number of goals after a specified time limit is the winner.

In the diagram below, the green team's wants the ball to go to the right and thus they can only face to the right.  This means the offense wants to get the ball in the goal (grey box) while the row of defense wants to hit it away from the goal to prevent the opposing team from scoring.  The principal is the same for the blue team, except they face to the left.

Human Foosball takes advantage of the players as part of its level design.  Originally we considered having 6 players per row but that would lead to players further out never getting a chance to play, as move of the action is centered around the plastic bin goal.  With 6 rows of 4 players, the 'level' was evenly distributed so that each player would have an opportunity to attack/defend.  

The advantage of having the players define the level boundary is that Human Foosball can be played virtually anywhere there is enough room; it does not have to be in a classroom with tables and chairs.

In Chaos Ball each team had a set number of players distributed throughout the classroom. They had to remain on the tables and never touch the floor.  To make a successful pass to a team-mate, the player must bounce the ball off an object at least once before it reaches its destination.  Each ball pass, every player is allowed a maximum of 3 steps on top of the tables.  To score, a player must throw the ball into the plastic bin goal; this is unique in that it does not require a bounce first.  The players are allowed to block shots made by the opposing team.

The level design in Chaos Ball is constructed randomly:at the start of the match each player in the game gets to set a chair on a table anywhere on the playing area.  This creates a maze-like level and can lead to certain strategies being formed by the teams.  For example, they could coordinate where their chairs are placed to effectively block off a certain area from play.

The advantages of Chaos Ball are its strategic depth (placement of chairs) and that you may never play the same game twice.  The fluidity of the level design gives players constant new opportunities to try new tactics and maneuvers.  This gives it elements of both strategy and skill and can potentially be more emotionally rewarding to play than Human Foosball.