The following is a list of rules and variations from around the world, for the collection of games known as dodgeball.
Bombardment (also known as Pin Guard, Battle Ball, or Bombardo) is a game played with two teams in an inside gym (usually a basketball or netball court) divided into three roughly equal zones.
A variation shares the name "Bombardment" but the gym/field is divided into 4ths and a separate team occupies each quadrant.
Therefore, it is key for a team to pay attention in order to figure out who the enemy doctor is, and to protect their own.
Gaga (also known as ga-ga, gagaball or octoball) is a form of dodgeball which is played within an octagonal enclosure when available, or in any other space that is completely enclosed by walls.
The objective of the game is to eliminate one's opponents by hitting the ball with either an open hand or closed fist into the region at or below his or her knees.
[5] Hunger Games, also known as Survivalball, is a variant that attempts to mimic the eponymous series.
If a game goes on for too long, the playing area is gradually shrunken down until one player emerges as the winner.
Killerball (Swedish: Killerboll) is a non-team variant, played especially in Sweden among children, such as in physical education classes.
Headshots are discouraged for safety reasons, and thus a hit on the head is not considered "killing".
A doubles variant using this rule, instead of catching, is to pair players up such that they must hold hands, each using their free hand to block throws, and to pick up and throw; the team of two is considered "killed" if either of them is "killed", or if they drop their mutual hand-hold.
Yet another variation is that a "killed" player sits down in the game area exactly where they were hit, and remains seated, acting as an obstacle, until they can get hold of a ball passing nearby, which frees them to stand and resume play.
This player, or "Ghost" must remain in the area and is allowed to catch and throw the ball at the opposing team.
Or, for many of these variations, the game may be time-limited, and then the winner is the one who has "killed" the most players when the time is up; this requires score-keeping.
Upon being hit a fourth time, the Camper is eliminated from the game and must leave the play area.
Hit players are permanently eliminated until the next round starts, making the game short.
A team loses either when all its members are eliminated or more commonly, when all its pins are knocked down.
If a player catches a ball, it eliminates the thrower and allows a teammate on the catcher's side to re-enter the game.
"Prisoners" remain behind the opposing team until the game is over or they are released according to the current ruleset.
In some versions of "prisonball" played on a basketball court, all players are released if a half-court shot is made into the opponent's basket.
In a variant called German prisonball (whether connected with Germany or not), the doghouse is extended to the sides of the opponent's court, as well as the back.
This makes for a hectic game since as players are eliminated, teams will eventually be attacked from all four sides.
In essence, the game will continue forever until one player/team eliminates all opposing players without losing any of their own team.
There are popular variations of Völkerball, including a recent Strand-Völkerball ('beach nationball') league.
[9] Völkerball is an official sport in the German gymnastics federation, played by women and girls.
A randomly selected player starts the game by kicking the pyramid, scattering the balls around the area.
After three steps, a player must get rid of the ball to move again, by either throwing it at an opponent or passing it to an ally.
Since players are not allowed to stand up as soon as they get a ball, winning Spiderball may be easier, and the endgame generally involves members of an alliance betraying each other.
[11][12] Players generally cannot be driven out of bounds, so gameplay options are reduced to hits and catches.
The addition of trampolines makes the activity even more physically demanding than the regular game.