Here’s how to play four square!
In the standard game, there are four squares painted on the ground, all touching each other, making one, larger square. Each small square is roughly 8′ x 8′, but that’s not a hard and fast rule. The ball used is a standard red ‘kickball.’
Each player occupies one of the squares. The squares each have a rank order. The square with the highest rank is called the ‘King’ (Sometimes the ‘Ace’). The other squares sometimes have names, and sometime don’t. The #2 square may be called the ‘Prime Minister’, or the other three may be called the ‘Queen’, ‘Prince’, and ‘Princess’.
The start the game, the King serves the ball by bouncing it in her square once and then hitting it towards one of the other squares. The receiving player then hits the ball to any other player, and play continues until one of the following things occur:
- A player hits the ball (or is hit BY the ball) before it bounces once in their square.
- A player does not hit the ball before it bounces twice.
- A player hits the ball out of bounds (It must land in someone’s square first.)
Once a player is ‘out’, she moves back to the lowest ranking square. The other players then move up to fill the vacancies. If there are more players than squares, then that person goes to the back of the line, and the person at the front of the line gets to move onto the lowest square and play.