GellyBall Game Ideas
General Instructions/Rule:
- Players – Anytime you are hit, hold your gun in the air and follow the other instructions for that game.
- Players – Do not shoot people with their guns in the air.
- Players – Call yourself hit. If you fail to call yourself hit, your friends will get ticked. You can spend your time arguing or you can spend your time playing.
- Players – Do not cross the centerline (or cone or barrel) until instructed
GellyBall Recommendation – do not reload ammo during a game. Also, do not let players reload themselves. They will inevitably break things. If a player runs out during a game, they are out.
GellyBall Games
Team Deathmatch (Basic Team Elimination) – This usually goes very fast at first. Tell the players it will go fast because they instantly don’t like the idea of being out of the game quickly. It gives everyone a chance to experience shooting, being shot, and what the arena is like. Play “once you are hit you are out. When you are out – Hold your gun up in the air and walk to the side of the arena next to the ref” This game takes 1-2 minutes then we switch sides and do it again.
“Freeze-Tag Rules” – When you are hit, you are frozen. Stand still where you were hit with your gun high in the air. Your teammates can tag you back in. The game is over when one team is completely frozen at the same time; the other team wins. Do not shoot people who are frozen. *Typically you need 4v4 + for the freeze tag to work well. What about when there aren’t enough players for freeze tag rules? – Instead of being frozen when you get hit, we make the players go back to their base to “re-spawn” – They have to hold their gun high and walk back to the base, touch the wall, line, bunker, cone, etc…and then they are back in the game. This is referred to as a “Back to Base”
Capture the Flag – There are multiple versions of Capture the Flag.
2 Flags – Each team has a flag of their color (red/blue). Each flag is placed at the back edge of its side. The objective is to get the other team’s flag and get it all the way across the backline of your side. The game is over when one team has captured the other team’s flag and successfully crossed their backline (or other designated area) with the other team’s flag.
Option 1: require the team to have their own flag AND the other team’s flag behind their backline to win. In this case, they may need to get back across the field to recapture the flags.
Option 2: Each team hides their flag on their side of the arena (must be visible without moving anything – you may need to check the flag locations before starting the round because some players hide it too hard or not visibly). Find the other team’s flag and bring it to the ref to win. When one team is completely frozen, the other team has 20 seconds to find their flag undefended. If they fail, everyone has to retreat back to their side and the frozen team all get unfrozen and have to head back to their side. If someone is frozen while carrying the flag, a teammate can unfreeze them. The flag does not have to go back because it was hidden to begin with. Switch sides and repeat. Often asked a question: can the flag be on a person? – we play “yes” as long as we can see (and grab) part of it without moving anything.
1 Flag – there is one flag that must be taken to a designated area of the field. Try Elimination, Freeze Tag, and Back to Base options.
Option 1: The one flag goes in the middle of the arena and both teams (starting onopposite ends) are going for it. This game should go quickly. Works better on largerplay areas.
Option 2: Attack and Defend – The one flag goes on one end of the arena. One team is defending the flag and the other team is attacking. Set a time limit. The defenders win if they survive all of the time while the attackers win if they capture the flag and get it back to the designated area of the field. Play Elimination and Freeze Tag.
Alternatively, many items (like glow sticks) can be strewn about the arena. Players may collect one at a time and deposit them into a container near the ref or at the backside of their field. With a time limit or when there are no more items to pick up, the winning team has the most items collected.
Dodge Ball – when you get hit, you are out and must step to the side of the field, but when an opponent gets out, one of your team can get back in. The game is over when one entire team is out (a backup plan is a time limit).
Target Shoot – There are a ton of possible variations for this. Set up targets using just about anything: wiffle balls on traffic cones, cups on tables, electronic nerf targets, the GellyBall IPS. Target games can be targets only or combined with shooting at other players.
Relay Races – There are a variety of options to run relays between teams. Use simple targetslike plastic cups or balls on cones (red v blue) – the teams line up and one player at a time runs through the arena shooting down the cups (put them on bunkers or something). THEN the next player on each team has to run through and set them back up and then the next player has to shoot them down again. Go through the entire team until they have each shot and set up the targets and the first time to complete it wins. There are many other options for relay-style races with GellyBall.
A more simple version is to have 1 cone/ball (target) for each team. The players line up and the first one on each team shoots the ball off their cone. That same player then must run to the cone and reset the ball and run back before the next player on their team can pick up the blaster to shoot the ball again. The winning team gets through all of their players first.
TEAM LIVES (or Red Rover) – This is a team event but only one player from each team plays at a time. Each team lines up outside the field on their side of the field and sends in one player. When a player gets hit, they are out and make it known. The game pauses while both players retreat to their side of the field. The hit team sends in a new player, the player who won that round stays in to take on the next challenger. This is similar to a 1v1 or 2v2 but keeps it as a team event.
Single Gun – Each team only gets 1 gun with 1 hopper of ammo. Play “Team Lives” or “Red Rover” style but the entire team is stuck using the same gun/ammo so they have to try not to waste it.
Gun Fight (Hunger Games) – Hide 2-4 guns around the arena, and send 2-4 players in to find a weapon to defeat their opponent. To mix it up, have them spin around before entering the field to make them dizzy.
Red-light / Green-light – One team lines up on one side of the arena without guns. Their goal is to get to the other side of the arena without getting hit. When they get hit they are out. The other team lines up on the other end of the arena with guns but faces away from the play area. The Ref calls out red-light / green light and the running team can only move when it’s a green light. The running team needs to get behind the bunkers or to the other side before the Ref calls Red Light again. The shooting team turns around and shoots only when “Red Light” is called and stops shooting when the Ref calls “Green Light”. A player or team wins by crossing the designated line without getting hit. Make it an individual winner or keep track of how many from each team cross over the designated line and name the winning team who had the most players successfully cross without getting hit.
Quick Sand (Stand Still) – All the players enter the field and find a starting spot anywhere. When the game starts, players cannot move their feet. Every 15-30seconds or when the play slows down, the ref calls out for all players to take 2 steps. Players are eliminated when hit. Can be a team game or ‘every player for themselves”.
VIP (or Protect the President) – Each team selects a player as their VIP. That player may or may not have a weapon (your choice, try both ways). The object is to shoot the other team’s VIP. Try variations of freeze tag (for the non-VIP players), back to base, and elimination. The game is over when one of the VIPs is shot.
Hostage – Each team selects a player as a hostage and trades that player with the other team. The hostages are unarmed. Each team must keep their hostage alive (don’t let them get shot) while attempting to rescue their teammate from the other team. Experiment with variations of elimination, freeze tag, how to rescue the hostage, how to tell if a hostage got hit, and having only one team with a hostage at a time instead of both. A team loses by allowing the hostage to get shot or to be rescued by the other team.
Traitor Town – assign random innocents and traitors (only 1-2 traitors) and no one knows who is who. Traitors sneak around and try to kill innocents undetected. Innocents try to identify and kill traitors (TTT, trouble in terrorist town). This game is much more advanced play – less shooting and more deception. Add a “detective” who can ask dead players whether they were innocent or traitors. Google airsoft TTT for more details. Works best with adults who wear only safety glasses so they can communicate clearly.
Gauntlet – players find a spot in the arena and cannot move. One other player at a time tries to make it through the arena without getting hit… Works best with fewer participants at a time. Can be a timed event using a stopwatch to see how long the runner lasts before getting hit. Can be a maze or set course to see if the runner can make it through without getting hit.
Four Square – Can be played as 2 teams or 4 teams. Works with 1-3 players in each quadrant (4-12 players total). If you have a number of players that makes the squares uneven (not divisible by 4), then assign the better players to play shorthanded. Divide your arena into 4 sections, clearly marked with cones or tape, etc. Assign players/teams to specific corners which they cannot leave. Play elimination or freeze-tag rules. When a winner is decided for each round, rotate all the teams to the next corner/quadrant. You can play this game 4 times (each team/player plays from all 4 corners). Then you can change teams up and start again.
2 Teams: Divide the two teams in half so you have 4 groups. The teams are still working as a team but are divided diagonally on the field. Players must stay in their assigned corner/quadrant. 4 teams: works well with 4 / 8 / 12 players – each quadrant is its own team.
Free-For-All: Players may start with a full hopper or be stuck with whatever they had left from the previous game. They are out of the game when they run out of ammo or when they get tired of being shot. “No Teams, No Tears, No Hits, No Outs”