I'm so sore, particularly in my legs and sides. Why, you might ask? Because I was playing Rally. What's Rally, you might wonder? Well, it's a game that several of my friends and I invented 2 years ago. In a quick summary, Rally is kind of somewhere in between American football (not to be confused with football in the rest of the world, aka soccer) and rugby, only it's non-contact. Here are the rules (to the best of my memory):
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Setup
The field is set up similarly to a football field with 2 end-zones, one on either side. There are no "backs" to the end-zones.
There are 2 teams, preferably with 4+ players on each team. There is, as of yet, no upper limit to how many people there can be on each team so long as there are the same number of players on each team.
Rules of the ball
Rally uses either an American football or a rugby ball, depending on the preference of the players. We (my friends and I) prefer to use a rugby ball.
There are 3 things you can do with the ball: a forward pass (overhand), a free pass (underhand), or keep the ball.
- A forward pass is where the ball is thrown forward overhand, like in football. If a forward pass is incomplete, the ball is automatically turned over to the opposing team where it hits the ground.
- A free pass is where the ball is thrown underhand in any direction. If a free pass is fumbled, the ball is "live" and anyone can pick up the ball and the game continues.
Game progression
Rally begins with either a kickoff or a throw to the opposing team. The opposing team may then do one of two things: pick up/catch the ball and "knee" where the ball stops rolling, or pick up/catch the ball and start running.
When a player knees (or "takes a knee"), he/she gets a "free send." During a free send, the player with the ball cannot be tagged, but he/she can't move from the spot either. He/she must throw the ball to a team member. You can never throw the ball to yourself (because that's just cheap).
If you're tagged (one-handed) by an opponent while you have the ball, you must turn over the ball to that opponent where you were tagged. That opponent then gets a free send. Anyone can call tags: if you're tagged and you know it, you call tag on yourself; if you tag someone and you know it, you call tag on them; if you see someone get tagged, you call tag on them; etc.
Whenever an opponent either intercepts or recovers the ball from a free pass fumble, he/she has the option of kneeing and giving a free send instead of immediately running.
One point is awarded when a team makes a touchdown in the opposing team's end-zone. The losing team must then walk to the other end-zone and await a kick/throw to begin the next round.
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That's pretty much it, it's a fairly simple and straight-forward game. There's a couple situation-specific rules that were made on-the-spot because we had to, and there was something called a "rally" that I can't quite remember what it was. But if memory serves me correctly, a rally is rather difficult to get, so it's awarded 2 points when it is. Incidentally, one of my friends actually has a rule book that he made up for Rally - it's fairly detailed.
Anyway, we played Rally for over 2 hours right before the football game. It was wet, muddy, and lightly raining while we played. There was much slipping, sliding, falling, and fumbling. Compound that with standing for 3 hours at the football game and my legs are essentially shot. And today I almost couldn't get out of bed because my legs were so sore, but it was SO worth it.
I'm nowhere near the most athletic person playing Rally, but I can hold my own. I'm not the fastest, but I'm not the slowest; I'm not the best thrower/catcher, but again I'm not the worst either. I'm "bad" enough that I'm often forgotten about, but good enough that I shouldn't be underestimated (which I often am, an advantage to me). I tend to assume support/assist roles, where I either recover a fumble and pass it to a "better" player or I recover the ball and finish it into the end-zone for a touchdown. In multi-player computer games I also tend to assume such roles, either by augmenting my friend's armies with my own as backup, or by being the healer. I guess it's just part of my nature to support.
So grab 7+ friends and start playing Rally yourself. It's great and easy to learn, and I certainly hope it becomes a college phenomenon long after I graduate. Brought to you by Aek of the Midwest.
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Setup
The field is set up similarly to a football field with 2 end-zones, one on either side. There are no "backs" to the end-zones.
There are 2 teams, preferably with 4+ players on each team. There is, as of yet, no upper limit to how many people there can be on each team so long as there are the same number of players on each team.
Rules of the ball
Rally uses either an American football or a rugby ball, depending on the preference of the players. We (my friends and I) prefer to use a rugby ball.
There are 3 things you can do with the ball: a forward pass (overhand), a free pass (underhand), or keep the ball.
- A forward pass is where the ball is thrown forward overhand, like in football. If a forward pass is incomplete, the ball is automatically turned over to the opposing team where it hits the ground.
- A free pass is where the ball is thrown underhand in any direction. If a free pass is fumbled, the ball is "live" and anyone can pick up the ball and the game continues.
Game progression
Rally begins with either a kickoff or a throw to the opposing team. The opposing team may then do one of two things: pick up/catch the ball and "knee" where the ball stops rolling, or pick up/catch the ball and start running.
When a player knees (or "takes a knee"), he/she gets a "free send." During a free send, the player with the ball cannot be tagged, but he/she can't move from the spot either. He/she must throw the ball to a team member. You can never throw the ball to yourself (because that's just cheap).
If you're tagged (one-handed) by an opponent while you have the ball, you must turn over the ball to that opponent where you were tagged. That opponent then gets a free send. Anyone can call tags: if you're tagged and you know it, you call tag on yourself; if you tag someone and you know it, you call tag on them; if you see someone get tagged, you call tag on them; etc.
Whenever an opponent either intercepts or recovers the ball from a free pass fumble, he/she has the option of kneeing and giving a free send instead of immediately running.
One point is awarded when a team makes a touchdown in the opposing team's end-zone. The losing team must then walk to the other end-zone and await a kick/throw to begin the next round.
-----
That's pretty much it, it's a fairly simple and straight-forward game. There's a couple situation-specific rules that were made on-the-spot because we had to, and there was something called a "rally" that I can't quite remember what it was. But if memory serves me correctly, a rally is rather difficult to get, so it's awarded 2 points when it is. Incidentally, one of my friends actually has a rule book that he made up for Rally - it's fairly detailed.
Anyway, we played Rally for over 2 hours right before the football game. It was wet, muddy, and lightly raining while we played. There was much slipping, sliding, falling, and fumbling. Compound that with standing for 3 hours at the football game and my legs are essentially shot. And today I almost couldn't get out of bed because my legs were so sore, but it was SO worth it.
I'm nowhere near the most athletic person playing Rally, but I can hold my own. I'm not the fastest, but I'm not the slowest; I'm not the best thrower/catcher, but again I'm not the worst either. I'm "bad" enough that I'm often forgotten about, but good enough that I shouldn't be underestimated (which I often am, an advantage to me). I tend to assume support/assist roles, where I either recover a fumble and pass it to a "better" player or I recover the ball and finish it into the end-zone for a touchdown. In multi-player computer games I also tend to assume such roles, either by augmenting my friend's armies with my own as backup, or by being the healer. I guess it's just part of my nature to support.
So grab 7+ friends and start playing Rally yourself. It's great and easy to learn, and I certainly hope it becomes a college phenomenon long after I graduate. Brought to you by Aek of the Midwest.
1 comment:
I love making up new games with friends! My brother and I made one up with our cousins in the pool one summer. There's a goal at either end of the pool (the one we played it in is shaped perfectly for this game). You play with a large beach ball. Only one person on the team is allowed to touch the ball. Everybody else gets a Supersoaker! Hahaha! What you do with it is up to you, you can shoot the ball carrier on the other team to distract them, or you can propel the ball around with your stream of water. One last requirement for this game to be played properly, it must be storming. Dark, overcast, and windy. Rain isn't a necessity, but it helps to add to the chaos. The winner is whichever team has the most points when the first flash of lightning is seen (or when everybody gets tired and goes inside). Hence, we call it Stormball. And yes, we did make a detailed rule book. Long live indie games!
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