IMAGINARY SOCCER AT THE TATE MODERN MUSEUM
Modifiers
Modifiers are sport hacks that make games sillier, weirder, or more varied. They usually can be applied to many different sports
Author: Uus Maailm Games
Mercury
Game Type:
Sport
Players:
6-12 per team
Field:
Half a soccer field – one soccer field
Equipment needed:
Various balls
Time:
60 min
Rules:
Mercury is a sport where the rules change every five minutes or at the end of a game activity. There are eighteen different games within mercury divided up into three categories: sport, mod, and game. A sport is a regular sport, a mod is a modified sport, and a game is a children’s game, race, or competitive art event. Play starts with the selection of a sport with a six sided die. After that sport is played, a mod is selected via the dice and played, and then followed by a game. This order is repeated until a team has won five different events and is declared the winner.
Example Game
| ROLL | SPORT | MOD | GAME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opener | Football Football | Centipede Tag |
| 2 | Wiffle Hurling | Buddy Wiffle Hurling | Haiku |
| 3 | Handball | MegaSoccer | Drawing Duel |
| 4 | Dodgeball | Animal Dodgeball | Steal the Bacon |
| 5 | Soccer | Chicken Handball | Bat Spin Race |
| 6 | Ultimate | Backwards Dodgeball | Arm Wrestling |
Sport Selection
Select any team sport for the sport category. Ideally the sport can be played
MODS
Below is a list of popular mods, though any mods can be made to a sport.
/Buddy
Players have to hold hands in pairs. If there is an odd number of players then a triplet forms
/Backwards
Everybody has to play backwards
/Chicken
Players must bend their knees at all times. They must also keep their elbows bent and stuck up into the air. No talking is allowed. Players may communicate through clucking to each other.
Modded Sports- these modded sports can be used in the Mod category
Megasoccer
Soccer with 8-11 balls. Each size ball is worth a different amount of points and once scored does not re enter the game. For example a game could have three 2 point balls, 4 four point balls, 2 five point balls and one 7 point ball. The team that scores the most points wins.
Animal Dodgeball
- Dodgeball except everyone has to take the form of an animal. Each team can pick whatever combination of animals they want. Here are the animals to choose from.
- Flamingo: flamingos can use both arms but must hop on a leg
- Elephant: One arm on ground, knees on ground, can use one arm to throw.
- Crocodile: have to lay on their backs, can use two hands. If they put their head on the ground and cover it with both hands they are immune to hits except for on the ass.
- Squirrels: Squirrels can run around and gather balls for players but they cannot throw the ball at other players.
Football Football
Soccer except the ball is an American football
Straitjacket Softball
Softball except the bases are people in straitjackets who are confined to a circle. The players can either be on the offensive or defensive team.
GAMES
Games can be any short game or art competition. If the game is one v one then the highest odd amount of players competes; the winning team has the highest amount of individual wins.
Megasoccer
Game Type:
Sport, Open Game, Game Concept
Players:
Up to 100 or more per side
Field:
Equipment needed:
Lots of soccer balls
Time:
60 min
Rules:
Megasoccer imagines the sport of football for the 21st century. Megasoccer has two goals: to increase the number of game participants and to de-standardize the rules of the game. When football was invented in the mid 19th century, our planet only had about 1.25 billion people. With over 7 billion people and two more billion expected by 2050, a new football game should be conceived to accommodate these new global citizens. The inclusion of more people requires major changes to the rules: more balls, larger goals, a bigger field, and many more alterations. With these changes Megasoccer does not aim to create a final rule set, but to allow for a constant shifting and reinterpretation of the rules, creating a more investigative, responsive and interpretive approach to playing the beautiful game.
In the test games, several balls, sometimes of different sizes and materials, were used each with different point values for each type. For example small balls could be worth 6 points, medium balls 4, and regular soccer balls 2 points. Whoever scores the most points wins the game. The first ruleset created a short game; any ball scored was not put into play again.
After the Igfest game several good suggestions were made, including one that the balls be released back into play after a certain amount of minutes. This would resolve the issue of the game reverting to a regular game of soccer after many balls were scored, which happened several times. In the Fengersfors game three soccer balls were used, two worth one point and one worth two points. With eight players per team this seemed to be a good ratio of balls to people. Using this ratio a game of 200 players would have 38 balls. As more and more players are added to the game new strategies will have to be worked out, including announcing, refereeing, timing and substitution.
Variations
Vary the number of balls, or the number of balls in play at any one time.
Types of balls- soccer balls, beach balls, tennis balls- each can have a different point value
Mayan Ball Game
Game Type:
Sport
Activity Level:
High
Players:
5 per side
Field:
Basketball court
Equipment needed:
Playground ball
Time:
15-30 min
Rules:
The Mayan Ball Game is a mash up of basketball and the Mayan Ball Game. Most of the rules are like basketball, except for scoring.
Scoring
In the Mayan Ball Game the backboard is the score area. Hitting the ball against the front or side of the backboard results in a score. The back of the backboard or any supports is not part of the scoring area.
Shooting the ball
Players may only shoot the ball with a body part. They must throw the ball in the air and then hit the ball with one of the accepted body parts in order for the score to count.
Wrist shot- 1 point
Head Shot- 2 points
Elbow Shot 3 points
Knee Shot 4 points
Alternate Goals
Another way of playing is with goals at either end of a court similar to the Mayan Ball Game. The goals are usually made with a hula hoop and stand around 3 feet off the ground. These goals are good if you want to play the game on grass or in a natural setting. Goal Instructions can be found in the maker guide.
Malaka
Game Type:
Sport
Activity Level:
High
Players:
7 on the field
Field:
Approximately 80 yards long by 35 yards. Two end zones are ten yards deep
Equipment needed:
American football
Time:
2 halves, 30mins per half
Rules:
Malaka is played like ultimate Frisbee but with an American Football.
Start of Play –
One team , standing in the pre endzone punts the football to the other team standing in its pre end zone.
Teams try to score a touchdown by passing the ball between each other until they get to their end zone. They may not run with the ball and can only move when not holding the ball. There are five zones to the field: two end zones, two pre-end zones and a middle zone. In the middle zone if the ball is dropped or mishandled it can be picked up by anyone, including the team that mishandled the ball. In the pre end zones and endzone if a team drops the ball on the ground it is forfeited to the other team. In order to score in the endzone, a player must touch the ball on the ground of the endzone as in rugby. Players may also jump into the end zone with the ball to score provided they cleanly touch the ball onto the ground and do not lose possession of the ball.
Laundry Badminton
Game Type:
Sport, Theater Game
Activity Level:
Medium
Players:
2-4
Field:
Approximately 5 meters wide by 13 meters long with a laundry line hung in the center of the pitch dividing the field into two equal halves. The laundry line should be suspended at least four feet above the ground. An actual badminton net may be used as well
Equipment needed:
Laundry line, lots of clothes, especially accessories- hats, gloves, scarves. The clothes should be baggy and able to be work over other clothes. Badminton rackets and shuttlecock.
Time:
10-20 min
Rules:
The rules are exactly like badminton with one slight variation. After a point is decided, the losing player must go to the net and put on as many articles of clothing as times the shuttlecock went over the net. For example, if the server serves, it gets returned, then the server hits a winning point that is not returned over the net- the shuttlecock has gone over the net three times in that point. Therefore the player losing the point must put on three new articles of clothing.
In doubles, the team as a whole must put on that amount of clothing between them.
Games may be played to 7, 11, 15 or even 21 points depending on how much clothing you have.
Strategy –
The main strategy is to put on clothing that does not impede your ability to play badminton!
Context: Camp, Gym Class, Afterschool, Festival
Jederman Ein Fussball
Game Type:
Theater Game, Warm Up Game
Players:
8-20
Field:
Small soccer field
Equipment needed:
Cones, silly hat
Time:
10 min
Rules:
Jederman Ein Fussball is soccer except the ball is a person wearing a silly hat or some sort of demarcated clothing. Teams must convince the ball to go into one of their goals. They cannot touch the ball man, only try to convince them with logic and reasoning that they should enter their goal. If one of the teams touches the ball then the other team gets a goal. Once a goal is scored then another person becomes the ball.
I Know What I Like
People like art (and art museums) for different reasons. In I Know What I Like, you must become someone else and understand how and why they look at works of art. Unfortunately, the people you have to become are all a bit, well, different.
The thrust of this exercise is to remove people’s expectations when visiting an art museum by giving them an arbitrary absurd task to accomplish, thereby distracting them from the burdon of trying to enjoy “Art”. The reality is that everybody likes art for different reasons and by transforming into someone who has a very specific idea of why they like art, the average museum goer can do the same for themself.
This game was run at SFMOMA in 2012 as part of their Art Game Lab series. Masks were given to attendees to transform into their respective characters, so consider some sort of costume when playing this game.
Game Type:
Art Game, Museum Game
Players:
1-3 per team
Field:
Art Museum- can be tweaked for any museum
Equipment needed:
Dice, paper, writing implements, smart phones
Optional equipment: Costumes for the characters
Time:
30 min
Rules:
- Choose a character or roll a die to randomly select a character.
- Select your character’s card
- Read each character’s bio, and understand your character and his or her art interests.
- Select one or more levels to complete in the museum. There are three levels: easy medium and hard. the harder the level, the more tasks you must complete, and the longer the game will take to finish. however, the harder your tasks, the more points you earn.
- Put on your character mask and go into the museum to play!
NB: you can only score points on a level if you have completed all previous levels, i.e. you need to complete all easy and medium tasks in order to earn points for a hard task.
Scoring –
Players earn points for:
- Making popular guesses of art works based on all other player responses
- Writing down their reason for selecting certain artworks
- Documenting their tasks with photo and video
At the end of the exercise, players turn in their efforts to a judge/judges who score them. Scoring can be weighted to emphasize the most important elements that the judges want the players to focus on.
Characters –
MONROE
Ms. Monroe is a tired starlet who just can’t seem to fall asleep. She has heard that people in museums often feel tired after looking at art. She wants to find the most sleep-inducing works of art to relax her and send her into slumberland.
Stealth Task: Find the five most sleep-inducing works of art in the museum’s collection.
Hands-On Task: Create a photo series of you or other persons sleeping in the museum.
Bold Task: Talk someone into sleeping in the museum. Points awarded for effort and for the duration of their slumber. Provide video documentation.
GRENDELL
Grendell is an infamous monster who eats people in and around drinking establishments. Since bar security is up these days, Grendell cannot manage to get into bars, and must lure people outside to devour them. He figures he can tempt sophisticated art patrons outside with some art.
Stealth Task: Find three works of art that Grendell could use to tempt someone out of a bar
Hands-On Task: Take pictures of yourself with three different people you would most like to eat in front of an artwork.
Bold Task: Tempt someone out of the museum and eat them. Provide video documentation.
DURGA
Durga is a powerful goddess with eight arms who reigns over the force of heavenly creation. Unfortunately, in a tragic chainsaw juggling/wheat threshing accident, she cut off all of her arms. She has come to the museum to find prosthetic replacements for her appendages. She is looking for a range of objects that will give her a nice variety of new tools, accoutrements, and maybe even some flashy bling to replace her immortal flesh.
Stealth Task: Find eight works of art to replace Durga’s arms.
Hands-On Task: Document a prototype of an artwork arm using yourself, an artwork, and some perspective manipulation ( i.e., do not touch the artwork). The more simulated artwork arms in one photograph, the better. No photoshopping!
Bold Task: Create an eight-armed being and establish your god-given dominance over the museum. Provide video documentation.
GROSS
Dr. Gross runs a semi-legal experimental surgery center in his basement. He is looking for new patients on whom to perform a new highly promising reanimation surgery that can bring human representations to life. He has also developed a technique to turn humans into two-dimensional representations. He has headed to the museum to find some volunteer test subjects.
Stealth Task: Select five works of art you would like Dr. Gross to reanimate.
Hands-On Task: Make some test photographs of people inserted into artworks. Use your friends, artworks, and some perspective manipulation.
Bold Task: Perform and document a reanimation surgery in one of the galleries. Provide video documentation.
ZORK
Zork is a sentient gas cloud who has been pulled into our atmosphere and is stuck on earth indefinitely. Alone and miserable, Zork must find friends. However, since Zork can only communicate with inanimate objects, colors, and abstract concepts or notions, it is having a hard time finding some amigos.
Stealth Task: Find five different friends for Zork. Zork likes shininess, colors, and intersecting lines, and wants a group of friends who all have different appreciable qualities.
Hands-On Task: Select a work of art or a group of works that Zork is enamored with. Make a mix tape for the object of Zork’s affection. Include at least twelve songs and provide the names of the corresponding artists.
Bold Task: Show a Public Display of Affection with various inanimate objects throughout the museum. Provide video documentation. Do not touch or damage any art.
PUGACHEV
Pugachev is an army lieutenant aiming to cause trouble. He is looking for rebellious recruits to overthrow the Tsar. He knows the power of art and wants to recruit works of art to his feisty corps of mutinous firebrands.
Stealth Task: Select five works of art that would most likely join the rebel cause.
Hands-On Task: Write a manifesto using found text from museum artwork labels. The more bombastic the language the better.
Bold Task: Incite a rebellion inside the museum. Gather as many human troops (no artwork) as possible into one gallery and provide video documentation of your war mongering battalion. Inspiring speeches encouraged. Do not damage the art.
Horse Chess
Game Type:
Board Game
Players:
2
Field:
Horse Chess Board- large 10 x 10 Chess Board, preferably oversized
Equipment needed:
Horse Chess Board, 3 different sized horses painted in two distinct colors. 3 large horses, 4 medium horses and 3 small horses.
Time:
10-30 min
Rules:
Horse Chess is played with three different types of horses: small, medium and large. Horses capture other horses by jumping over them in any direction. The goal of the game is to capture all of your opponent’s horses.
Capture
- Small horses beat big horses
- Medium horses beat small horses
- Big horses beat medium horses
Movement
- Big horses move two squares
- Medium horses move three squares
- Small horses move four squares
OPEN GAME WARNING
This is an open game- the rules are not finished and may or may not work completely. Feel free to play and suggest rule alterations.
Hoop Gardens
Download Rules Hoop Gardens
Game Type:
Sport
Activity Level:
High
Players:
5 per side on the court
Field:
Triangular Field with trees on vertices. Basketball hoops are attached to trees. Ideally the playing field is grass.
Equipment needed:
3 basketball hoops, 4 inch tie downs (see buying guide), Two basketballs
Time:
3 periods, 20 min per period
Rules:
Play is like basketball except for the following rules:
Start of Play
Play starts with a three team tip off with both balls. Players defend one hoop and attack the two others. At the end of each period teams rotate clockwise, so that by the end of the game each team will have defended every hoop.
Scoring
Scoring is the same as in basketball, though there is no dunking allowed as hoops attached to trees can be easily torn down.
Fouls
Non shooting Fouls. If a player commits a non shooting foul they are removed from the field for two minutes
Shooting Fouls
In shooting fouls the offending player is also removed from the field for two minutes but only after the foul shots have been taken. While foul shots are taken the other ball remains in play.
Out Of Bounds
If a ball goes out of bounds the first team to grab the ball out of bounds gets to throw in the ball.
