It was all the rage on the playground in 5th grade. Today it’s all the rage anywhere in the world as long as you have a Smartphone. It’s foursquare. And in reality, that game you played back in grade school isn’t all that different from the game that you play on your phone today.
Four Square (Playground Version): Played with a rubber playground ball on a square court with four players. When the ball is bounced into your square you must then bounce it back out without hitting twice in your own square, otherwise you are out. The object is to eliminate players in higher squares so that you can make it to the 'four square' and score the most points.vs.
foursquare (Online Version): A mobile device application in which users "checkin" to venues, businesses, and restaurants. Users can then see where their friends are as well as what locations are "trending" (heavily attended at the moment.)
Ball:The one physical object that is required to play your favorite childhood game.
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-Smartphone:
The one physical object required to play your favorite social media game.
Court:In order to play your favorite childhood game, you need a designated area with 4 large squares drawn with chalk on the ground.
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In order to play your favorite social media game, you have to be within a certain area that the GPS on your phone can pick up.
Serve:
When you play four square, you serve the ball in order to get other players “out” with the ultimate goal of getting to the 4 square.
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Checkin:You always want to be in the “4 Square:”The person in the 4 square is the one who calls the shots and basically runs the game. You are the head honcho.
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You always want to be the “Mayor:”When you have the most checkins at a specific place, you become the Mayor of that venue (which can potentially earn you a special if offered...one great example is Starbucks.)
“The Calls”In four square, the 4 square could make different calls for how the game should be played…some of these universal calls include:
-Popcorn: The 4 square would throw the ball up into the air, clap once, then pass it to the second person who would clap twice while the ball was in the air, and so on.
-Around the World: Once this was called, the ball would either go clockwise or counterclockwise around the square until either the 4 square called “Peace”, a player broke the pattern, or a player got out.
-Cherry Bomb: The 4 square would spike the ball hard into someone’s square making it difficult to pass the ball on.
-War: Once declared, the 4 square and the chosen player would hit the ball back and forth between them only. If one of them messed up at anytime, that player would be out.
-Popcorn: The 4 square would throw the ball up into the air, clap once, then pass it to the second person who would clap twice while the ball was in the air, and so on.
-Around the World: Once this was called, the ball would either go clockwise or counterclockwise around the square until either the 4 square called “Peace”, a player broke the pattern, or a player got out.
-Cherry Bomb: The 4 square would spike the ball hard into someone’s square making it difficult to pass the ball on.
-War: Once declared, the 4 square and the chosen player would hit the ball back and forth between them only. If one of them messed up at anytime, that player would be out.
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“Badges”
The one thing that makes foursquare so exciting, besides Mayorships, are of course the badges, which you earn by checking in at various places. Some of the more common and well-known ones include: -Newbie: You get this for checking into your first place!
-Adventurer: This badge is gained when you check into 10 places.
-Local: Checkin to one place 3 times in the same week and you’ll earn this.
-I’m on a Boat: Checkin on a boat and you’ll get the “I’m on a Boat” badge.
“Calls” and “Badges” are very similar in the sense that you may never know when one is coming and it might seem like they are just being made up out of no where. I’m sure we all played a game of four square in our youth where the 4 square just randomly called a move (or called a known move by another name) and there’s badges out there that most foursquare users might not be able to attain or even know about.
You played with and against your friends when you were a kid, and today you’re doing the exact same thing. It was one of the coolest games then and the version in 2010 is just as cool and fun too. The only difference: when the sun goes down on the playground, you had to stop playing and with today’s foursquare, you can play all night long…you might even get the “School Night” badge.
socialmedia #FTW!
-M
socialmedia #FTW!
-M
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