I propose the following draft rules for Live Action Tetris, for your joy, refinement and refined enjoyment.<\/p>\n
At this stage there are a lot of open questions – generally marked like so: ??<\/strong>. Feel free to jump in and suggest solutions.<\/p>\n This is intended to be a fun game for a large group of older kids and immature adults at a festival, school, BBQ, camp etc.<\/p>\n Each player represents one square in the traditional four-square tetrominoes. Their goal is to get onto the board, and then cleared as rapidly as possible. The winner is the player who completes the cycle the most times within 15 minutes.<\/p>\n The playing area is outdoors ??<\/strong> marked out with 2 foot squares, in an 8 x ??<\/strong> grid.<\/p>\n Players start by waiting in a queue to enter the play area.<\/p>\n Players enter the grid in groups of four, where they will find a tetromino template, placed by a marshall. The template is a large sheet of cardboard (??<\/strong> wooden frame? pool-noodle sculpture?) with four human-width holes cut into it. Players need to stand over the holes in the template and lift it up around their bodies, so that it enforces a configuration. Ideally, the template should be a little awkward to wear, (especially when players are rushing) and strong enough to resist players pulling in different directions, but soft enough not to be a safety risk.<\/p>\n Once the template is in place, the players can proceed at their fastest pace to the “bottom” of the grid. There is no official leader of the group; players are autonomous, and must “negotiate” with each other to get into the best position.<\/p>\n The level of shoving throughout the game should be monitored by the marshalls to ensure it doesn’t exceed a level appropriate to the age, strength, blood-alcohol, wussiness and gropeability of the players involved.<\/p>\n (Is it possible that other players could be incented to physically grab nearby players that are “above” them? ??<\/strong> That would represent the stickiness of gravity in Tetris once your piece is placed; otherwise, players could move laterally once they hit the bottom.)<\/p>\n Once a piece is in place, the template is removed, and returned to a marshall. Players are no longer constrained to stick with their tetromino-mates. Instead, they are constrained to remain with the row-mates. (Is there some physical way of enforcing this? ??<\/strong> A comb-shaped frame that can be wheeled in from the sides? Linking arms? I can’t see how we will will prevent players from slipping down when there is a gap underneath them, or even slipping left to right? Perhaps the rules should just be changed to permit that? ??<\/strong> Or lots of marshalls enforcing the rules that might be beyond the younger and drunker players. Are players required to sit, to aid the marshalls in preventing cheating, or is that too awkward\/dangerous???<\/strong>)<\/p>\n If a marshall sees that a row is complete, the cleared players can proceed at their own pace (e.g. run) to the back of the queue, where they will receive a stamp or token (or otherwise be tallied) for their achievement. Players left in the grid should move down in formation. (Yeah, right! More marshalls? Linked arms would help here.)<\/p>\n The marshall responsible for laying out the next template, should slowly increase the rate at which they become available. By the end of the game, each group of four should see a choice of templates to take, and if they are fast and coordinated, should be able to rig up and beat the previous, slower, group to a prime spot. <\/p>\n Any thoughts?<\/p>\n