Orbliquet

The Unofficial Orbliquet Badge 2007.

Orbliquet, pronounced Orb-li-kit, is the South African Four Square.

Origin

Orbliquet is the South African version of the ever-popular game Four Square. Played at St Stithians College and all over the country, it has become one of the most popular break-time games in many schools. Although similar to the English and Australian rules, Orbliquet has its own individuality, namely relegation.

Aim

The game is made up of four ranks: King, Queen, Jack, and Dunce. The aim of the game is for a player to make their way up from Dunce, the lowest ranking position, through Jack and Queen, to King. This is done by killing (eliminating) players who are in a higher rank. Dunce and Jack have no privileges while Queen has the luxury of serving. King, on the other hand, does not get eliminated. King goes down to Dunce when he has been killed, and everyone else moves up. When a player is eliminated, everyone ranked below that player will move up until Dunce is open. An 'Inactive Player' who is waiting in the queue will then take up Dunce.

Location and Restrictions

Four square is played on a square court divided into four smaller squares of equal size. It is preferable to play Orbliquet in a squash court because there are wall which allow the game to become continuous.

The new rules of Orbliquet state that the outside lines of the court are considered in. This means that a ball landing on any portion of an outside line is part of play and therefore playable. The inside lines are considered 'lines', as it can not be determined who is responsible for the ball and balls landing on any portion of an inside line are retaken. 'Obstructions' may be called if an inactive player interferes with game play. Then the round will be restarted.

Serving

Each round of the game begins with the Queen serving the ball. The Queen gets full discretion when it comes to serving and can therefore serve the ball as high, as low or with as much spin as he so chooses. It is up to the receiving player to determine whether or not he would like to return the service. If the ball is caught or missed, the service is retaken, but if the ball is touched, it is considered returned, and if it is not returned properly, the player is eliminated.

Regular Gameplay

The rules are those of Four Square, with the only difference being one can use any part of his or her body, but may only touch the ball once. The game is not customizable; one may not make his own rules.

Elimination

A player is eliminated (killed) when:

• A player hits the ball directly to another player.
• A player touches the ball twice or longer than a half-second(scoop).
• A player allows the ball to bounce twice in his or her square.
• A player hits the ball out of bounds.
• A player stops the ball illegally.

Officiation

Orbliquet is entirely self-governed. It is important that the players be honest and fair at all times.

Relegation

If there are more than eight Inactive Players, one may call Relegation into effect. This means there will be two simultaneous Orbliquet games that are interconnected. This means that if Dunce dies in court 1, he is relegated to court 2. He then has to work his way up to King in court 2 and retain the title for more than two rounds before he can be promoted to court one. If King in court 1 dies when he is at Dunce, he does not get relegated. He just joins the end of the court 1 waiting queue. This rule is a good way of increasing the level of gameplay as the Dunce is forced to kill or be relegated.

External links

• St Stithians
• Four Square
• Four square regional

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