Elephant Ball

Elephant ball is a great nomad game of collaboration. The rules are decided by the great Elephant Ball Corporation which is the holly reference in the game. It can be played from three to unlimited amount of players, however the distinguished 'Elephant Ball Corporation' recommends not to go over 6-7 players. This game should not be a cause to exclude someone, so anyone is allowed to participate, no matter his level or his social relational skills. You will need for this game an elephant ball, a laundry basket and a chair and motivated players. Any object of your surroundings creates another challenge or another variation of the game. It is a game best played between 1 and 4am in a tiny appartment full of things on the tables, walls and floor.

If there is any issue about the score, Arthur is the one that has the last word about it. This counts even if the majority, or even unanimity except Arthur, is against him. However, he is not choosing the rules, the rules are only decided by the honorous 'Elephant Ball Corporation'. If you don't have an Arthur with you, then find someone reasonable, reasonnably honest and that knows more or less how to count until hundred. If you don't have this with you, find someone that can count up to fifty and it should work.

Note: Arthur can be a player as well. Actually he is more than welcome.

The aim of the game is to arrive to the exact pre-determined amount of passes from a player to another, with a predetermined amount of 'special-basket-savings' (which will be explained later). The serve always as be to be done holding the trunk (also called proboscis) of the elephant and then throwing it to another player.

First you will have to put the laundry basket on the chair in the middle of the room (or even outside if you are so crazy to try the outside sun), and put all the players around it in an homogeneous circle.

Then the first throws the elephant ball to one player which again throws it to anyone (again to the first one is no probzz, anyone is good). From there, players have to pass the elephant ball until it falls on the floor or in the basket. If it falls into the basket, the amount of passes is saved and a new serve can start with the saved amount. On the floor, or anything really that made the elephant stop: table, bed, couch, etc., the players have to start from all over again, from 0. It is allowed to touch the elephant ball two or more times in a row as long as it is not abusing. Arthur, while playing, has to count outloud the amount of passes.

To reach your aim, you need to put the elephant ball in the basket with one or more special tricks, up to you to decide which ones, but cool tricks are all good: putting it with the head, the foot, backwards, touching the ceiling before it goes into the basket, or while jumping onto the bed at the same time. Use your imagination, but the eminent 'Elephant Ball Corporation' has to agree with it. Any cool trick counts as 5 passes more. So if you put it in the basket with a cool trick on 11, you go to 16. One person serves again and it continues to 17, 18, etc. For example if you decide to reach 40 with two tricks, you will do 30 passes and could do two special tricks savings, and 2 normal savings. Be careful, you are not allowed to save a ball with the basket before each player touched the elephant ball one time! If you are a lot, this can be diminished to less people (3 or 4 for example).

If the elephant ball causes the basket (that is on the chair) to fall, you get a minus of 10, which means you don't start from 0, but from -10. And you will start from -10 until you save the elephant ball in the basket with a score of more than 0. Then you can start again from 0 if the elephant ball drops on the floor. There is a way to avoid getting -10 if you manage to quickly grab the elephant ball from the basket, without touching the basket, before it drops on the floor. You have to continue passing the elephant and put the basket back the way it was. If the basket falls empty on the floor and the elephant ball falls after a few passes on the floor again, you just restart from 0.

Any object that will be touched and falls because of the elephant ball causes a -10, or more, or less depending on the value of the object: the tea pot, a glass, a bottle of beer, and so on. To reach the pre-determined amount, let's say 40, you need to do it exactly, so the elephant ball has to be put in the basket on the 40th pass. If you decided that you needed 2 special moves and you only did one, then you have to put the last pass on the 35th ending with a special trick.

The two last important rules are that players have to wear a hat in order to play official Elephant Ball and that some food has to be placed on a nearby table, but nobody is allowed to eat until the pre-determined score is reached.

Elephant Ball Corporation

The 'Elephant Ball Corporation' is the greatest and best institution in charge of the well-going and fun-having games.