I’m guessing everyone has a favorite country. Maybe it is a place where you have always wanted to go to, maybe you saw a picture of it online or one of your friends went there, or maybe it is the country that you already live in. Doesn’t matter how you found it but if you already have a country in mind while reading this, then this game is perfect for you.

What do you need?
Fortunately, the only equipment needed for this game is a ball, I recommend a softer ball, some space (preferably outside) and some fellow players.

How to play?
The idea behind country ball is that every player gets to choose the country that they want to be. It can be any country there is in the world. The important part: each country can only be represented once, meaning every player has to be a different country.
Once each player has chosen the country that they want to be, they say their country out loud so that everyone knows what country the others are.
When that is settled, we can move on the fun part of the game.

To start the game, all players gather in a circle. Now one of the players has to take the ball and stand in the middle of the circle. The player in the middle then throws the ball up in the air and calls out one of the chosen countries. All players, except the one whose country got called out, run away. This player has to try to catch the ball as soon as possible. Once he does that, he screams “stop” and all the other players, who just ran away, have to stop immediately.
The player with the ball then chooses the person closest to him.
This person gets to decide which of the following figures he/ she wants to do:
(To make the following instructions more understandable, the player with the ball is Player B, and the chosen player without the ball is Player A)

1. Basket
   Player A forms a big basket with his arms in which Player B has to throw the ball in.
   Player B is allowed to take three steps towards Player A.
2. Jello
   Player A is allowed to move as much as he/ she wants, as long as one foot stays on the same spot on the ground, without lifting it up.
   Player B is allowed to take two steps towards Player A.
3. Stone
   Player A has to make him-/ herself as small as possible on the ground while Player B tries to hit him/ her with the ball. The ball has to hit Player A directly, without touching the ground first. Player B is not allowed to take any steps towards Player A.
4. Board
   This figure is similar to “stone” but in this case, Player A is standing up and not allowed to move at all. Player B then tries to hit him with the ball. The ball again has to hit Player A directly and can’t touch the ground first.
   Player B is not allowed to take any steps towards Player A.
5. Goal
   Player A has to turn his back towards Player B. Player A then starts to move his feet/ legs to the outside and then inwards again in a jumping motion, so that it looks similar to a gate that opens and closes in a steady rhythm. Player B then rolls the ball towards the gate and tries to score a goal. It is important that Player A faces the same direction as Player B, so that he/ she doesn’t see when Player B rolls the ball. Player B is not allowed to take any steps towards Player A.

Once Player A has chosen his figure and Player B has thrown or rolled the ball, it is time to see which of the two players won this round. Player B wins if he/ she either scored a basket (figure 1), hit the jello (figure 2), hit the stone (figure 3), hit the board (figure 4) or scored a goal (figure 5). Player A wins if Player B didn’t manage to fulfill any of the above mentioned tasks.
The person that loses, gets a so-called “sour cucumber”. Once you have three sour cucumbers, the rest of the players get to decide and choose a new name for you, without telling you. The name can be whatever the other players want it to be (can be another country, an animal, an object, …). You are not allowed to listen when they talk about a new name for you after you reached three sour cucumbers because you find out about your new name when it gets called by the player standing in the middle of the circle throwing the ball. You then have this new name until the end of the game or until you gained three sour cucumbers again and therefore get a new name by the other players.
The player that lost (either Player A or Player B) gets the ball and is therefore the next one whose turn it is to throw the ball up in the air and call out another country.
This concept repeats itself until the players don’t want to play anymore.
You can also add some new figures if you like or make the names more specific, e.g. only colors, animals or food.
This game is also suitable for getting to know each other by using the own names instead of countries or the favorite hobby.

I hope you enjoy this game and have fun playing!