FREEZEBALLA sports game where you play as the net.

A game by Angela Wu

Corinne TaylorGwynna Forgham-Thrift

James Phillips Sam DiBella

Abstract

Freezeball is a sports game where two teams of two players try to score points by throwing a ball through a net. In this game, however, the net you’re trying to score on is formed by the arms of a player on the other team. Teammates play in two different positions: Shooter and Net. Nets must keep their hands clasped together and their arms in a circle in front of them, forming a target for the opposing team’s Shooter to score on. Teams are free to run around the court, similar to the flow of basketball. Teams play until three points on one team has been scored.

Materials

1 - Lightweight, basketball-sized ball1 - 20’ x 12’ space, and some way of marking boundaries (court)

Rules OverviewFreezeball is a physical game for two teams of two, based around two special roles, the Shooter and the Net. Points are scored by putting the ball through the opposing team’s Net. The first team to reach a target number of points wins!

Shooter - The Shooters score points, and can try to block the movements of the other Shooter. Shooters have their hands free and are able to carry the ball, freeze and shoot.

Net - On defense, the Nets try to make the opposing team’s shot more difficult, either by running away from the ball, or by putting other players between them and the other team’s Shooter. On offense, Nets can try to get into a good position for a pass, or block the movements of the other team’s players. Nets must hold their arms outstretched into a circle shape, with their hands clasped together. Their open arms form a goal for the opposing team.

Both Nets and Shooters can move freely through the court, but have to stayin bounds.

Setting Up

1. Players should mark off a 20’x12’ court space (using tape, rope, etc).2. Players should then divide themselves into two teams of two.

Pre-Game Ritual

1. Each game starts with all four players deciding the score they will play to and the level of physical contact of their game. We recommend playing to 5 points, with no excessive physical contact (No punching, kicking, headbutting, charging, tripping, shoving or bodychecking. Generally keep it clean).

2. One player then temporarily becomes a Net. The Net stands on one of the back lines of the court, and the Shooters stand on the half court line. Shooters from each team take turns shooting at the temporary Net. The team that makes the first shot gets first possession.

3. Finally, everyone must shake hands and wish the other team “Good Luck, Have Fun”.

Game Play

Starting Position

1. Players begin the game in the starting position. Each team takes one half of the court. The Shooters stand at mid-court, and the Nets stand toward the back ofthe court.

2. Starting with one of the Nets and moving across the court, each player announces his or her role (“Net”, “Shooter”, “Shooter”, “Net”). Players announce positions every time play is restarted.

3. The Shooters check the ball by passing it back and forth, and then play begins. Teams may now move freely, pass, and attempt to score points by getting the ball through the opposing team’s Net (scoring detailed below).

4. After a score, players return to the starting position and check the ball again. Possession of the ball goes to the team which was scored on. Players should announce the score during the check (“2-1, you”).

6. Shooters must remain Shooters and Nets must remain Nets until a point is scored, pass is called, or the ball goes out of bounds, no informal switching.

7. Players have two in-game commands to use during play (detailed insection below).

8. Players do not need to dribble to move.

9. Players can not steal the ball out of another player’s hands, but can intercept passes.

10. Players can not use their arms or body to directly obstruct his/her team’s Net

(i.e. use arms to cover it, stand inside the Net).

11. First team to reach the target number of points wins.

In-game commands: Pass: If the offensive team wants to pass, their Shooter must call out “Pass” loudly. The offensive Shooter then must attempt to pass the ball to their Net. Upon catching the ball, the two players switch roles, so that the player that just passed must become a Net. Passes may be intercepted. Players can not pass if a freeze has already been called.

Freeze: To try to score, the Shooter with possession of the ball calls out “Freeze”, so that everyone can hear. All players are then frozen in place, all appendages included. The defensive Net must then raise their arms, so that they are parallel to the ground, and make sure their arms form a wide circle. The offensive Shooter must then try to shoot the ball through the arms of the defensive Net, without moving their feet. If the ball goes in, the offensive team scores.

Scoring:One-point: Offensive team earns one point if the Shooter is on the same half of the court as the defensive team’s Net when a shot is made, or if they are straddling the half-court line.

Two-points: Offensive team earns two points if the Shooter is on the opposite half of the court as the defensive team’s Net, or if the Net is straddling the half-court line.

Rebounds (After the Shot)If a Shooter misses a shot, when the ball hits the ground players are unfrozen. Only Shooters can go for the ball. Nets must remain Nets and keep hands clasped.

Out-of-BoundsWhen the ball goes out of bounds, the team who knocked it out loses possession, and Shooters from both teams check the ball to resume play. If the ball went out of bounds after a rebound, it goes to the team that was on defence. Players can switch roles before play starts again if they want, but everyone must announce their roles again before the ball is in play.

Design Statement

As a group, we decided that we wanted to design a physical game, since it was a type of game none of us had worked with so far in the class. With this constraint, we started brainstorming physical games we liked, and what made these physical games work. We started generating a bunch of different ideas and playing through weird early versions of them. We talked about concepts like “Spider Heist”, a maze created by players by tying strings, and “Mirror Hopscotch”, a competitive mirrored movement game of hopscotch.

Balls then entered the equation. We started throwing around a tennis ball and discussing different things we liked about balls. The nonsense game idea that spawned from this discussion was “Blind Tiptoe Basketball”. After quickly realizing how hard it is to catch a ball while blindfolded, this game was immediately canned. We did, however, like the different mechanics from basketball that we were playing with. One of us put out our arms in a circle as a goal, and it stuck.

In the first iteration of Freezeball, a ball was placed in the center of the court, and then all the players raced to be the first with the ball. The player with the ball then tried to get the other players “out” by throwing the ball through their “Nets”. If the Shooter missed, they were out and then that Net got to be the new Shooter. Games were quick, essentially strategy-less, and the game as whole was not very fun. We then tried limiting number of steps, and that made the game a little more interesting.

We liked the idea of playing basketball with mobile hoops, and decided to try it in real time with two teams of two facing off against each other. We tried multiple iterations of possible team composition, and rule interaction between players, including several different types of balls, requirement for roles on each team, and zone importance on the court. Another issue we faced, through playtesting, was the extreme physicality that our rule-set allowed in player interaction. We contemplated the introduction of a referee and penalty system to regulate player actions. However, we much preferred the idea of some self-regulating system or rule to prevent injury, rather than the overt rules presence in the game. In playtesting, we tried removing all player physical contact, but that slowed the game to such a degree that the Nets never had any pressure placed on them. This allowed the Nets to just face outside the court, making all shots extremely difficult. We also played a variant of the game wherein both teams had one ball, in an attempt to remove the confusion about roles and physicality (as no one would have free hands). This also slowed the game, and made the game simply about being faster than the other Shooter, which removed a lot of strategic complexity.

In the end, we realized that we wanted our game to have a playground feel, with the rules more ambiguous and defined by the agreement and comfort levels of players.

To acquaint the players with the shifting nature of play, we introduced a ritual level to game set up and downtime in the game. The hope being, that by having the players together explicitly state the rules they would be playing with, we would be able to create an atmosphere of trust, and a way to reduce player confusion.

After that, we talked about how the strategy our game dictated was in a spatial way, rather simplistic. Players just chased one another through a rectangular court, and as long as you were close to the opponent’s Net, it didn’t matter where that was. To add another vector of player choice, and give the game a deeper level of spatial strategy, we used the position of the Shooter and Net on the two halves of the court to dictate the number of points scored. We liked the feeling this rule added to the game, so we kept it. Once we had finalized the ritual element, and the zoned scoring mechanic, Freezeball was complete.

Images

FREEZEBALL 1. Each team consists of one Shooter and one Net.

Shooter - On the offensive, the Shooter carries the ball and can call Freeze and Pass. Their goal is to score. On the defensive, the Shooter guards the opposing Shooter. Their goal is to prevent scoring.Net - On the offensive, the Net tries to stay open for a Pass and helps to zone the opposing Net. Their goal is to assist the Shooter. On the defensive, the Net avoids the opposing Shooter. Their goal is to minimize the other team’s chances of scoring. Both Nets must always have their fingers laced together.

2. All players are free to move about the court.

3. The team on offense can yell “Pass” and pass the ball between teammates (switching positions of Net and Shooter). To shoot, they must yell “Freeze”. All players must freeze in their current positions, and the Shooter can shoot the ball at the net. Once the ball has touched the floor, all players can move, but only Shooters can go for the rebound.

4. Shots made when the Shooter and the Net are on the same half of the court are worth one-point. Shots made when a Shooter is on the opposite side of the court as the net is worth two-points.

5. The first team to reach the set number of points wins

FREEZEBALL 1. Each team consists of one Shooter and one Net.

Shooter - On the offensive, the Shooter carries the ball and can call Freeze and Pass. Their goal is to score. On the defensive, the Shooter guards the opposing Shooter. Their goal is to prevent scoring.Net - On the offensive, the Net tries to stay open for a Pass and helps to zone the opposing Net. Their goal is to assist the Shooter. On the defensive, the Net avoids the opposing Shooter. Their goal is to minimize the other team’s chances of scoring. Both Nets must always have their fingers laced together.

2. All players are free to move about the court.

3. The team on offense can yell “Pass” and pass the ball between teammates (switching positions of Net and Shooter). To shoot, they must yell “Freeze”. All players must freeze in their current positions, and the Shooter can shoot the ball at the net. Once the ball has touched the floor, all players can move, but only Shooters can go for the rebound.

4. Shots made when the Shooter and the Net are on the same half of the court are worth one-point. Shots made when a Shooter is on the opposite side of the court as the net is worth two-points.

5. The first team to reach the set number of points wins