quick description
My play activity was tossing my phone around (literally) when I am in a comfortable setting to do so, i.e, on the couch or on my bed, where I can be sure that even if I drop it I wouldn’t be putting my phone in jeopardy. Note here that the tossing was not done in an arbitrary fashion – the tossing was done such that the phone would spin in all possible axes. I went through several ideas of a possible game before finally arriving at the current version. I tried to incorporate height of the throw, number of spins, etc, but none of that seemed feasible. The solution was to allow this to happen naturally by converting this into a two person, Player vs Player game, as opposed to a Single Player vs Game setting. The game requires basic throwing/catching skill, a willingness to put one’s most precious device at risk and some free time. It is a game that is largely based on luck, but with enough time and practice, it can be mastered.
how to play
The game is played as follows. Two players, A and B decide to play the game and choose a phone to toss around. The players agree on the number of throws each one has. Both players position themselves in front of a bed or couch (or any similar setting with a soft landing spot for a phone that is tossed in the air). The players hold the phone in one hand and toss it in the air. The other player must catch the phone before it lands on the bed. The catching may be done with one or two hands. A player can score a point if they are successfully able to catch the phone in the exact same orientation that it was in right before it was tossed. The objective of the game is to score as many points as possible. The player with the most points after the decided number of throws emerges the winner. It must be noted that the phone should be tossed such that it would always land on the bed if the other player were to accidentally drop it. In the event of a tie (ie, both players have equal scores after the end of all throws), the players must go on until one of them scores and the other doesn’t. This may go on upto 10 throws post which both players will be declared mighty champions (becuase honestly you need to be a magician to catch it like that 10 times in a row). In the case that it is uncertain whether the catch deserves a point or not, the benefit of the doubt goes to the catcher. If agreed upon by both players, the throw may be performed again.
space and context
The context of this game is defined by its space and the players in the space. The game is designed to be played in a particular space – in front of an object that has sufficient space and padding to break the fall of a phone (just in case). It is most likely to be played in one’s bedroom/living room when two people are getting bored and need some form of entertainment. The space was chosen as such obviously for safety reasons. The last few seconds of the playtest video will justify this appropriation of space. The game wouldn’t work as well if the players didn’t trust each other with tossing one of their phones in the air with a slight chance of damage.
watch it
A video of the playtest is attached below. Major credits to my roomie Ayaan for playing my game and to Abdul Kareem for shooting the video.
what happened here
Yeah so I lost to him in a game of my own creation. I did, however learn a lot from the experience of playing the game with another person. We played with 5 tosses each. My understanding was that a complex toss would be harder to catch. I had told Ayaan that I’ll be tossing in the way I know best, i.e, trying to make it spin in all three axes. He tried the same way for the first one or two throws but then switched to a different strategy. As it turns out, it is sometimes slightly harder to catch the phone as it spins along its length. During his last throw (the one where I dropped the catch), this strategy supported him. However, since the rules I created prior to playing the game had no mention of the kind of toss, all rules were maintained. The game was quite fun to play too (or maybe Ayaan just said that to make me feel good) – we ended up playing a couple of additional rounds (and yes, I got my revenge). The game was played how I envisioned it. All rules were maintained. The only thing that I hadn’t accounted for was some margin of error in the catch. For example, when the score went from 1-1 to 1-2, Ayaan caught it in between his fingers. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and amended the rules accordingly.
assessment
Phone Toss allows players to come up with their own strategies of how to best toss the phone. I guess this could count as a form of ‘creation’. However, I am well aware that this game is quite dangerous and could invite a lot of destruction (the phone could break because of a bad landing). It invites more destruction than creation, but if played with caution, the destruction is next to zero. The method of tossing also allows the players to add their creativity into the game by means of deciding how to best toss the phone. Different strategies for throwing by different players could count as a form of expression.