Pop is an intense game of war - with slim to no blood shed. Two teams, each comprised of three people, charge at each other, hungry for the annihilation of the other team’s balloons. Pop is an active battle, played in a large open space, with only one’s feet for weapons, and cunning, quick footed, coordination as defense. The loud noises and team work make for an exciting, highly interactive game, designed to get players moving, laughing, and strategizing, but more than anything else, having fun!
The game is completed after one team conquers the other, in two out of a possible three rounds. The object of a round is to be the first team to pop the opposing team’s master balloon, after first popping a balloon on an opposing payer’s leg and then writing ‘POP’ on their dry board.
At the beginning of the game each player starts out with a long balloon tied to each ankle as shown in the instructional photographs. Players must keep their hands clasped behind their backs through out all game play. Each team begins by standing on their side of the playing field, divided by a line of tape which must be placed through the middle of the field. Dry erase boards, markers and the happy face master balloon must be placed at each team’s end prior to play.
Once the game is in play, all players are allowed to cross the center line as they wish. When the game has begun both teams charge at each other attempting to stomp on one of the other team’s ankle balloons. When the first of your ankle balloons has been popped you must raise your hands in the air and walk back to your team’s side of the playing field. During the trek back, while your hands are in the air, the opposing team must not try to stomp on your remaining balloon. If you are already on your side of the playing field you may continue without crossing the line. When your last balloon has been popped you must leave the playing field immediately - you are OUT!
After an individual has popped an opponent's balloon he/she is now eligible to write ‘POP’ on the other teams dry board. This is the only time when a player is allowed to remove their hands from behind their back. No player may write ‘POP’, or pop the master balloon until they have first taken out one of the opposition’s ankle balloons. Once “POP” has been written, the large happy faced master balloon must be popped for the round to be won. The word ‘POP’ must legibly say ‘POP’ and fill the entire board. ‘POP’ must be written before the master balloon has been popped. If these actions occur out of order the guilty team automatically loses that round. If a player accidentally pops their own team's master balloon, that team automatically loses.
In the following rounds players continue with the same rules as in the first, but with no replenishing of ankle balloons. A game can be won by eliminating all opposing players from the game.
The game is monitored by two referees, armed with a whistle. Referees are responsible for maintaining the rules. When a whistle is blown all players must freeze and listen to the referees.
In playing our game ‘Pop’, with students who very graciously volunteered their time, we discovered many problems and success. Our original plan was to have a capture the flag type game with three players on each team. The players were to have a small balloon tied to their ankles with string which would be popped by the other team, eliminating them from the game. The object of this game was to conquer the other team’s base.
Once we gathered to try the game out for the first time we, by lucky accident, ended up with long balloon-animal balloons as opposed to the traditional variety. This turned out to be great as these balloons could be tied to the ankle without the use of string and, as they are relatively stiff, their movement along with the foot turned out to be more predictable. These balloons also happen to look quite hilarious, adding humor to our game of war. In playing the game, we recognized the excitement and drama added by a loud popping sound which we hadn’t thought about before.
On our first round we had each team attempt to pop the other team’s master balloon. This lasted about 45 seconds, and gave very little incentive for players to pop each other's balloons as they were mostly interested in capturing the other team’s ‘base’ which took the form of the master balloon. To make the game longer and to encourage the players to go after each other first, we made a rule that before popping the other teams master balloon, each individual must first pop a balloon on the leg of an opponent and then proceed to write the word ‘pop’ on a piece of paper before finally popping the master balloon. This made the game much more exciting and fun, but still lasted a very short period of time. Our final solution to this problem was to have several rounds of the game and to have the balloons lost, carry on to the next round. Our rule to keep ones hands behind their back was of good intentions, but turned out to be mostly redundant as most players forgot to follow this rule, which was designed to keep players from pushing and grabbing. Luckily the players were decent enough not to grab at each other anyway. We decided to keep the rule as a reminder that hands were not to be used, but to be lenient on the policing of the rule as long as no one was using their hands for any naughty business.
We discovered that in this game everyone is not equally equipped to play. Some people, and thus teams, by virtue of aggressiveness or coordination, were simply better than others, so well matched teams are desirable.
