Office Olympics - A Beginners Guide
Over the last seven or so years at my present employer, myself and a small group of employees have devised new games and sports (although these are not yet officially recognised) to help cure the ill effects of boredom and repetitive work, I would like to share the basic ideas with you.
Some games are just indoor, and sometimes outdoor, versions of games using appropriate office equipment in place of expensive or inappropriate equipment. Other games are new games in their own right that we have invented. These games range from small games that are merely competitive elastic band firing to large games requiring an arena to be constructed.
As this is a beginners guide I will outline a couple of different sized games depending on your participant's skill, time, effort and ability to get away with stuff. As we work shifts at busy periods, we find that our ability to get away with stuff can sometimes be rather high.
SMALL-SCALE GAMES
1. Elastic band firing
Skill Level: 5/10
Danger Rating: 2/10
Enjoyment: 3/10
Competitiveness: 7/10
Required equipment: Elastic bands, target
This is a simple game with very little danger of getting caught or of personal injury (depending on the target).
Choose a target to either get elastic bands in (a pot or a colleague's coffee cup) or elastic bands round (a nail in the wall or a colleague's ear), try to choose a target that is equidistant from all competitors or make everyone shoot from a definable mark.
There are now different ways of determining a winner, this can depend on if you are playing for points or just having a friendly competition.
You can play a free-for-all' where the winner is the first person to successfully land in, on or round the target.
You can play a limited shot' game where each person has a number of elastic bands to fire and you take it in turn to fire your elastic bands, the winner is the one to score the most times.
Or you could play a least shots' game where the winner is simply the person who takes the least shots to score.
2. Off-ground touch
Skill Level: 4/10
Danger Rating: 5/10
Enjoyment: 4/10
Competitiveness: 8/10
Required equipment: Nothing
This classic game can be played with ease and can be difficult to spot but the moderate danger rating is down to people's desire to avoid getting touched at any cost. This is a game simply to relieve boredom and not really a point-scoring game although this has been known to happen.
Democratically elect a person to be it' or alternatively tell someone of lower rank that they are it'. The rules are now simple, the person who is it' has to pass it' on to any other person by touching them. The only way to avoid getting it' is to be off the ground, this can be achieved by leaping onto tables, hanging from fixtures or simply sitting down and raising your feet off the floor. Rules on permissible physical contact should be firmly established before the game commences as it can soon turn nasty.
Breaks in play are acceptable/advisable when members of management or snitches' are in the vicinity.
MEDIUM SCALE GAME
1. Office ping pong
Skill Level: 7/10
Danger Rating: 10/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Competitiveness: 10/10
Required equipment: Ping Pong ball or bouncy ball, movable table, books or files
This game is highly competitive but also highly dangerous due to possible office equipment and personal damage and a very high chance of getting caught.
Move the table into an open space with enough room to safely manoeuvre around it, or at least both ends and one side.
Place the books or files upright along the middle of the table to form a makeshift net.
Depending on player skill level either use your hands (high skill) or a book or similar (low skill) as a bat.
Now play ping pong up to a pre-determined number of points.
The following rules are a guideline and can be changed wherever appropriate.
OUR RULES
A player's serve must first bounce on their side of the table before bouncing on the opposition's side.
If the net is hit on the serve then re-play the point unless the ball does not make it over the net, if the net is hit otherwise during a point then carry on as normal.
A normal shot apart from a serve must bounce on the opposition's side and not on your own.
If your shot goes out without bouncing, does not clear the net or bounces twice on your side then you have lost that point.
The person who wins the last point serves the next point.
Only the server can score a point e.g. If player A serves and player A wins the point then he scores 1 point and serves the next point. If player B wins the point then no points are scored but player B serves the next point.
OTHER GAMES
Many other games have been created over the years, including variants of football (soccer), cricket, racing, K'Tanga' and James Bond' to name but a few. New games can easily be developed by using everyday office equipment and a little imagination.
Suggested office equipment: Sticky tape, rulers, paper, pots, pens, elastic bands, chairs, tables.
Suggested imported equipment: Duct tape, clothing, coins, balls.
Just think of how you can re-create your favourite sports in your workplace and post your ideas.