Red Rover is a game in which the objective is to end the game with the largest of two teams. The core mechanics are running and protecting oneself against he runner. The game begins with at least six people, out of which two even teams are formed that face each other on opposite sides of the playing area. The members of each team hold hands or link arms, forming a chain of players. The first team is then tasked with choosing an opponent who will attempt to break their team’s chain, chanting the phrase, “Red Rover, Red Rover, send -insert chosen player’s name- on over.” The chosen player from the opposite team then runs toward one of the links in the chain in attempt to break it. If the runner succeeds in the breaking of his or her opponents’ chain, he or she is then allowed to choose one of the separated players to bring back to their own team on the other side of the playing area. This action is then repeated by the opposite team, and is repeated back and forth until one team’s chain includes all of the players but the one left alone on the opposite side, in which case the team containing all of the players is the winning team. The core mechanic of running is reflected in my group’s game, in which one team is attempting to run to the opposite side of the playing area without being caught by any stingrays. The end goal itself is very similar, as those caught by stingrays become stingrays, making their group larger, and the goal of the swimmers is to all make it across safely.

Our initial game topic idea was the ocean, a topic that is very broad and served mainly as a stepping off point and setting in which our actual game could take place. After discussing with another group in class we came across the idea of stingrays in the ocean and how coming across one at your feet while wading around is not an ideal situation. Stingrays are able to easily camouflage themselves by burying their bodies underneath the sand around them. While this is helpful to the stingray as a form of protection against any possible predators in the area, it makes them much more easy to accidentally step on while in the shallow waters of the ocean shore. Knowing this can make wading into the water a much more cautious task, and this is the basic premise of the antagonist/ protagonist relationship of our game, in which the protagonist(s) will be the beach-goer attempting to get to the shore after a swim or surf, and the antagonist(s) will be the stingray either buried or swimming about blocking the path of the player. Although stingrays are harmless when they don’t feel threatened, and their stings are not incredibly dangerous unless to the chest, encountering one and possibly getting stung is not something many wish to happen, especially when unexpected. Up to over one thousand non fatal stingray attacks occur every year in just the waters surrounding the United States, giving civilians reason to be cautious around the creatures and while making their way into the ocean. Though the injuries from stingray stings that are to areas other than the chest, typically to the foot or leg as a result of a hidden stingray being stepped on and feeling threatened, are not life threatening or very serious injuries, the experience is still very painful and not one that you would want to encounter.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/67758/10-stunning-facts-about-stingrays

http://scienceline.org/2006/09/ask-grant-irwin/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3735412/

When I was very young my dad built a play set that included a swing set for my younger sister and I in our backyard. Somehow from us messing around playing outside and on the swing set so often we developed a game we called “kick swing.” The game could have two or three players and would start with either just me or with my sister and I each on one of the swings and my dad standing in front of us, about ten to fifteen feet away, as our opponent. When the game began my sister and I would begin to swing, attempting to get as much momentum as possible. My dad would then grab a large bouncy ball and throw the ball toward one of us as we were swinging, aiming at our feet and timing the throw so that it would make contact when we were moving forward. There were two ways of scoring a throw, the first being that if he missed the feet of the intended kicker he would then have to retrieve the ball and start again from the beginning and would lose a point, the second being that the kicker who missed the ball would lose a point, making the game more difficult as we as kickers were not responsible for the timing and angle of the throw. When the bouncy ball was aimed and timed correctly one of us on the swings would be able to kick the ball with as much force and momentum as we could. Our goal was to kick the ball with enough force and momentum to launch the ball into the woods behind my dad, and in doing so the kicker would then earn a point and my sister and I would be entertained as my dad was forced to run into the woods to retrieve the flying ball. At this point in the game my dad’s goal however was to catch the ball or at least knock it out of the way somehow as it flew toward the woods, earning himself a point by keeping one of us from reaching our goal. Depending on how competitive we were feeling that day, the game would either be played with my sister and I on a team or each of us competing separately, and in either scenario we would take turns in order kicking the ball toward the woods, assuming we were playing with three players rather than with only my dad and I or only my dad and my sister. When my sister and I chose to play against each other rather than on a team we would change the point system, and each of us would be allowed an extra point for getting the ball farther or higher than the other in a set of turns. The strategy involved on my dad’s side of the game consisted of strategically aiming and angling the ball in a way that would make it difficult for either my sister or me to kick the ball both high enough to go over his head and far enough to make it past him and into the woods behind the yard. He would also have to position himself after throwing the ball in the way that best improved his chances or being able to block the flying ball from disappearing into the woods. On my sister’s and my side of the game we had to try to obtain and hold the highest amount of momentum and speed to put as much force as possible into the kicking or the ball in order to launch it as far and as high as possible, while attempting to remain in the optimal position for kicking the ball in order to not miss the kick.

Modification of Five Card Draw:

• same rules of five card draw
• draw five cards
• get one chance to replace the desired number of cards
• after that your hand is final

*rule change*

• rather than a specific hand such as the highest pair or a flush winning, the total of the player’s cards added together determines the winner
• aces are worth one, jacks are worth eleven, queens are worth twelve, kings are worth thirteen
• same game, different strategy/ results
• still involves risk because you could draw a card lower than what was in your previous hand or miss out on an opportunity to get a higher card by not taking a chance

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