HOPSCOTCH

age-old children's game based on an idea of not treading on lines. Variations of the game are played in many countries. The game's English name expresses its object: to hop over the scotch, a line, or scratch, drawn on the ground. Lines are drawn in a variety of patterns. Spaces in the diagrams are numbered, and they must be traversed in order. In one version of the game, the player tosses a small, flat stone into the first numbered space. If the stone does not land clearly in the correct space, without touching a line, the player loses a turn. If the stone does land fairly, the player hops on one foot to the second square and thence through the succeeding squares, in order and without touching a line, falling, or dropping the trailing foot. In some diagrams, certain pairs of squares are traversed astride, with one foot simultaneously in each space; in others, certain squares may designate rest spaces, in which the player may put both feet down. Upon reaching the last numbered square, the player turns and moves through the spaces as before, lifts the stone, and hops out of the diagram. A player who completes the diagram without making a mistake may continue, tossing the stone into the second square, hopping into the first space then over the second and into the third, and so on, until the whole diagram has been played in this manner. On completing the diagram, the player may initial any one of its spaces, which space the other players must then avoid, although the initialling player may use it as a rest space. The game ends by mutual consent or when all spaces have been initialled. The player who has initialled the most spaces is the winner. In a common variation, the stone must be kicked with the hopping foot from space to space. Or the player tosses the stone into the first space, then hops on one foot into that space and kicks the stone back across the base line and out of the diagram, continuing this procedure for each space in sequence. In Hinkspiel, a German variation, a player who completes the sequence turns away from the diagram and tosses the stone over his shoulder. The space in which it lands is his house, a rest space that the other players must then avoid unless its owner gives them permission to use it. Hopscotch may also be played with a spiral diagram, in which players hop on one foot to a central rest spot and then back out again. Each player who succeeds may initial a space. The game continues until it becomes impossible to reach the centre or until all spaces are initialled.