Calvinball is a game invented by Calvin and Hobbes,Bill Watterson’s brilliant comic1. The game has only one rule: it can’t be played the same way twice. Players make up rules as they go along, and they can contradict or change the rules at any time. The game can involve any kind of equipment, such as balls, masks, flags, wickets, etc. The goal of the game is to have fun and be creative23.
Some examples of rules that have been used in Calvinball are:
- You must only use your feet and not your hands.
- While the ball is in the air, everyone must crow like a rooster.
- James is the ball.
- You must have exactly five words in every sentence you write.
- Draw using only your left hand.
- You must paint without lifting your brush from the canvas.
Calvinball is a great way to energize and inspire a group of people, as it encourages them to think outside the box and be playful. Calvinball is not meant to be competitive or serious, but rather a way to enjoy the freedom and joy of imagination. 🎨
According to the fandom Wiki:
Key features of various games have included (in approximate order of appearance):
- Wickets (referred to as “time-fracture wickets” in one strip)
- Soccer balls
- Flags
- Masks
- Small signs with numbers
- Zones/Sectors
- The “Opposite Pole” (when a player touches it, everything becomes the opposite of what it was before. Also, a player must declare when he or she touches it, but because it is the “opposite” pole, the player declares touching it by not declaring it)
- The “Very Sorry Song” (see below)
- A “No Song” zone (a player doesn’t have to sing the “Very Sorry Song” if he or she is in the “No Song” zone)
- The “Bonus Box”
- Croquet mallets
- Badminton Birdies
- The “Invisible Sector” (this sector cannot be seen, and whoever wanders into it must cover their eyes; the only way out is to be bonked by the Calvinball)
- “Vortex spots” (if a player steps in a vortex spot, they have to spin around until they fall down)
- The “Boomerang Zone” (if a player incurs a penalty while in the boomerang zone, the penalty is instead suffered by the player who called them on it)
- A volleyball (the “Calvinball”)
- Trees (as goalposts)
- Buckets
- Poems
- Sacks
- Non-numerical scoring values (such as “oogy,” “boogy” and “Q”)
- The Calvinball theme song (see below)
- Decrees
- Water balloons
- Hobby horse
- The “Pernicious Poem Place” (a player caught in this area must recite a poem and incur a penalty relating to the poem, such as ice cold water.)
- The Bag Flag Zone
- Being forced to move and speak in slow motion
- The Perimeter of Wisdom
- The Corollary Zone
- The Baby Sitter Flag (any player touched by the Baby Sitter Flag must obey the baby sitter)