{{short description|Elimination-based ball game played in a box}} {{Other uses}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox game | italic title = no | title = Four square | image_link = 350px | image_caption = The layout of a four square court. | years = | players = 4 | setup_time = 30 seconds | random_chance = | skills = Manual dexterity<br />Strategy<br />Social skills | footnotes = }}
'''Four square'''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foursquare | title=Definition of FOURSQUARE }}</ref> (also called ''Four Squares'' or ''box ball'') is a global sport played on a square court divided by two perpendicular lines into four identical boxes creating four squares labelled 1–4 or A–D.<ref>{{cite web |title=PlayWorks - Foursquare |url=https://www.playworks.org/game-library/foursquare/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=playworks.org}}</ref>
Four square is a popular game at primary schools with little required equipment, almost no setup, and short rounds of play that can be ended at any time. The game also has a large following for adults in many communities.
==History== Four square dates to at least the 1950s. A game called four square is mentioned in newspapers in the northeastern United States at least as far back as the 1950s, but the rules are not explained.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 September 1958 |title=Junior Reporter Club |work=Uniontown Morning Herald |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/pennsylvania/uniontown/uniontown-morning-herald/1958/09-13/page-17?tag=play+four+square&rtserp=tags/?pep=play-four-square&page=2&ndt=by&py=1950&pey=1959 |access-date=4 December 2016 |quote=At the playground they play four square, ride on the swings, see-saws, and sliding board, and play on the bars.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=18 July 1959 |title=Crowley Lists Play Schedule For Next Week |page=2 |work=Lewiston Daily Sun |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19590718&id=zcUgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=S2oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=994,1542685 |access-date=4 December 2016}}</ref> A 1953 teacher's manual describes four square with the same rules used today.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZuBOAQAAMAAJ&q=%22marked+off+into+four+squares%22 |title=Primary Manual |date=1953<!-- The google page says 1953, but a search for dates within the book reveals cited dates after 1953 and a copyright date of 1963 --> |publisher=Cincinnati Public Schools |page=343 |quote=Equipment: A large rubber ball, a court marked off into four squares labeled A, B, C, and D in sequence. Action: Four players are chosen to take up a position in each square of the court. The other players line up outside the square marked "A." The player in square "D" is the server. He begins the game by bouncing the ball in his own square and hitting it underhand, with both hands, into any other square. The receiver, in turn, attempts to hit the ball into one of the other three squares.}}</ref> However, it is possible this game could have evolved from "Jeu de paume", a game popular in France as early as the twelfth century.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Jefferson City School District |url=https://www.jcschools.us/cms/lib/MO01909951/Centricity/Domain/3617/History_Rules%204%20Square.pdf |archive-date= |access-date=2024-03-29}}</ref>
==Rules== One player occupies each of the 4 squares at a time; the other players wait in line. The player in square 4 serves the ball into another square. Once the ball bounces into a square, the player who occupies that square must hit the ball into another square with their hands, and so on, until someone gets out. Each time a player gets out, that player leaves the court and enters the back of the line and all remaining players advance to the higher numbered square (if applicable). Square 1 is then filled with a new player from the line of awaiting players.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 2015 |title=PDF of Four Square Rules from Silver Falls School District in Oregon |url=https://robertfrost.silverfallsschools.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/12/FourSquareRules.pdf |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=Silver Falls School District}}</ref>
A player may get out as follows:
* Failing to hit the ball into another square * Allowing the ball to bounce more than once in their own square * Hitting the ball out of the squares or hitting a line * Hitting the ball incorrectly such as by holding, catching, or carrying * Hitting the ball out of turn or committing interference * Hitting the ball one handed (in some versions of gameplay)
==Variations== Four square has inspired other similar games. One example is nine square, which uses a 3-by-3 grid instead of a 2-by-2 grid.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Castle Squares |url=https://www.castlesquares.com/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=castlesquares.com}}</ref> The 9 square is the middle and the ball is served from this position. Another version is played similar to the original in that four players occupy their respective spots, but they must keep the ball off the ground like in volleyball.<ref>[https://castlesports.com/pages/learn-to-play Learn to Play]. Castle Sports. Retrieved on 2021-03-04.</ref>
The game is called King Out in Sweden. A similar schoolyard game is called handball.<ref name="PewDiePie">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmecPRaL2n0&t=4m52s Visiting my hometown by PewDiePie]. Retrieved on 2019-04-03.</ref>
==World Championships== thumb|250px|2023 Four Square World Champion Eric Costanza<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foursquareworldchampionship.org/world-championship.html |title=WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP}}</ref>
Since 2005, Bridgton Recreation has sponsored the annual Four Square World Championship in central Maine, bringing together participants from across the United States and internationally in a structured competition. The event includes multiple divisions, such as children’s, adult, and senior categories, and awards the World Champions to winners in each division. Independent news sources note that the championships regularly attract many competitors and spectators, with participation and visibility growing over time. Local and regional media have described the event as one of the more prominent organized four square competitions in the world.<ref>{{cite web |last=Charpentier |first=Joe |date=2025-04-06 |title='Intense' Four Square World Championships returning to Bridgton |url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2025/04/06/intense-four-square-world-championships-returning-to-bridgton/ |website=Sun Journal |access-date=2025-12-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Sweeting |first=Rory |date=2025-04-15 |title=Four Square World Championship returns to Bridgton |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2025/04/15/four-square-world-championship-returns-for-20th-year-in-bridgton/ |website=Portland Press Herald |access-date=2025-12-21}}</ref>
==World records== On August 4–5, 2012, a group of 17 Needham High School students and alumni—assisted by 50 other Needham residents at various times—broke the previous world record by playing for 34 hours,<ref>[http://hometownweekly.net/four-square-club-raises-fund-for-charity-with-recordbreaking-game-p8051-146.htm Four Square Club raises fund for charity with record-breaking game - Hometown Weekly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021100533/http://hometownweekly.net/four-square-club-raises-fund-for-charity-with-recordbreaking-game-p8051-146.htm |date=2013-10-21 }}. hometownweekly.net (2012-08-09). Retrieved on 2012-08-15.</ref> the previous record being held by 15 Manchester College students who played the game for 30 hours.<ref>[http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-562039 Manchester College students try to break a World Record to raise money for church camp – CNN iReport]. Ireport.cnn.com (2011-02-25). Retrieved on 2011-06-18.</ref> The world record was held by eight Argentinean players for 29 hours in 2008, as recognized by Guinness World Records. The Argentinean record was preceded by a group of teens from Youngstown, Ohio, who also played for 29 hours.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-01-24 |title=Huntington University |url=https://www.huntington.edu/news/baker-students-beat-world-record-for-longest-four-square-marathon#:~:text=The%20old%20record%20was%2029,Argentinian%20college%20students%20in%202009. |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=huntington.edu}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Games}} *Russian four square *Crossnet *Wallball *Roundnet *Handball (schoolyard game) *Downball
==References== {{Reflist|2}}.
==External links== * [https://foursquareworldchampionship.org Official Four Square World Championship website]
{{Outdoor games}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Square}} Category:Children's games Category:Ball games