Sometimes when we’re just hanging out with friends we find ourselves with an hour to kill and nothing to do. We don’t want to sit around to watch TV, we also don’t want to stare at our cellphones any longer, but we really don’t have time to go to out or spend money on something. So if you’re sitting around on the weekend or weekday looking for something to do with your friends, we have five of the perfect games for a pick-up game.
Dodgeball
Grab a ball that is not too hard and not too soft, and go throw it at friends. Dodgeball is that one game that is perfect for a pick-up game. The rules are simple: if you get hit by a ball, you’re “out.” That’s the only rule. If you want to build a ‘field’, go for it. Want it to be analogous to freeze tag where if you catch the ball, someone from your team comes back in, you can do that too. Dodgeball is great for the tension building, the athleticism, and the laughs. Because someone will always get hit in the head, the game will stop, and it will be funny two weeks later.
Basketball
Grab a basketball and head down to the park. Assuming you have a park. This one is perfect but at the same time is also kind of hard. Because of the dearth of parks (though some are coming back because of new funding by cities) free basketball courts can be hard to come by. But should you have a large park or gymnasium nearby that’s rarely used, then it’s one of a great pick-up game.
Ultimate Frisbee
There are games that are park-perfect, and then there is Ultimate Frisbee. If you’ve never played it, it is definitely something that everyone should play. If you have played it, you loved it. And if you didn’t love it, you probably acknowledge that it’s a great game but for some reason it’s just not for you. Ultimate Frisbee, as you can imagine, is played with a Frisbee. However, it is a little involved, especially as you get deeper into the rules. But as a general game that you have a group of six people for, Ultimate Frisbee is great for a Saturday in the Park.
Handball
Do you have a wall, a rubber ball, and no windows around? Then you can play handball. If you don’t remember handball, I kind of assume you either grew up in a place that didn’t have balls, you didn’t have recess in your schools, or your school was overrun by helicopter parents. But, either way, the rules are simple. You use your hands to hit the ball against the wall, and the other player has to hit the ball (also against the wall). This keeps going back and forth until one person missing the ball after it bounces once after it hits the ball. It’s a perfect game for 15 minutes to blow some steam if you have a friend over.
Kickball
Kickball falls under the same category as dodgeball and handball. Do you have a ball? Yes. Do you have a friend? Yes. And do you have a place to play and there are no windows? Yes. Then you can play kickball. Kickball is perfect is you have space and potential “equipment” to setup bases. Kickball is essentially baseball but without the bat. A pitcher pitches the ball and the kicker runs the bases. This is a more involved pick-up game, and is probably only good if you have at least five other friends over, but that makes it more exciting since you can get people more involved and there is always tension and things to do.
So those are five great pick-up games for you to keep in your back pocket. We hope you keep us in your back pocket as the place you come for great content. So please, leave us a comment below about other pick-up games we can include in our next list, as well as like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
