A Fun Warm Weather Game

by Crazy Ivan


Once it's warm in NYC it's pretty much warm all over the US so it seems like a pretty appropriate time to share one of my all time favorite outdoor Myachi games.  I can't actually remember when we started playing this game or who came up with it.  It was probably just one of those organic evolution type things where the game just gradually grew around things we were already doing.

This is essentially a Myachi version of "Follow the Leader" and if you have a good suggestion for a name I'd encourage you to leave it in the comment section below.  "Follow the Myachi" or "Follow the Master" come up wanting and we've never bothered to put any effort toward naming it.

This game can be played with two or more players and you can play it pretty much anywhere.  You don't have to play it outdoors, but that's the only time we ever find ourselves playing it.  It usually comes up when we're walking down a particularly cool street.

For a Myachi player, this is about as cool as a street can get.

For the game to work its best, each player should have a Myachi.  Ideally, everyone should have a really yummy one, or at least have ones that are at equivalent stages of yummification.  It doesn't work well if one person has a wideboard Pakisack and the other is jamming a brand new Sabertooth.

To start, one player will be the "leader".  Only the leader can gain points.

The game is essentially like MYACH, except that you use street surfing throws and catches instead of tricks.  Tricks sneak their way in here and there as you'll see in a moment, but mostly this game is about cool tosses and catches.

The leader will toss, let's say, so that their Myachi bounces off a stop sign and then they catch it.  Now all the other players have to match this throw.  For every player that misses, the Leader gets one point.  If the leader fails to catch his or her throw, the next player in line becomes the Leader.

This is essentially the whole game in a nutshell, but I know better than to leave things so open ended.  There are a few specifics that you'll want to keep in mind as you're playing.

Timing - You can work the game out in one of two ways.  You can either play to a certain number of points (first player to 21 wins, for example) or you can play to a destination (whoever has the most points by the time we reach the school wins, for instance).  We usually play for a destination because we almost always play this game when we're walking somewhere, but if you're playing indoors or in the backyard you'll have to choose a number of points to play to.

Fair Throws - Unlike MYACH, in this game the Leader does not need to call their shots.  They can just toss the Myachi anyway they'd like.  If they don't hit exactly what they were aiming for, it doesn't matter.  The other players still have to match the same throw.  Say, for example, that the Leader was aiming for a stop sign but accidentally hit the street sign above it.  Now all the other players would still have to hit the street sign that the leader hit by accident.

There are a few rules about what constitutes a "fair throw" though.  Players don't have to try to match throws that might (a) cause them to lose their Myachis if they miss, such as a toss near a high window sill or the roof of a building or (b) break something or force them to trespass.  I know this might seem like it goes without saying, but I've had to clarify it before.

"Okay, you have to toss over that giant chasm of lava then leap across and catch!"

Tricks and Variations - There is a limited use of tricks in this game.  You can use trick throws (such as Behind the Back, Under the Leg, Trampoline, Slingshot, etc.) and trick catches (such as Spiderman, Mantis, Hulk, Toe Stall, etc.) but each throw must interact with the environment in some way.  That's the key to this game and what makes it different than a roving game of MYACH.  When we say that the throw must "interact" with the environment, we mean that you must use the surroundings in some way such as:

• Bouncing off something (a wall, an awning, a tree, a chair, etc.)
• Hitting something (a pole, a flag, a bottle, a sign, etc.)
• Going over something (a banner, a wire, a street lamp, etc.)
• Grinding off something (a wall, a window, a curved surface, etc.)
• Going through something (a sign hanging from an awning, a void in a sign, etc.)

This, for example, is begging to have a Myachi thrown through it.

All throws must at least hit a target or bounce off a wall in order to be considered legit.  You can force the players into a trick throw and/or catch, but you must also use the environment.

Specificity - Obviously you can't precisely match any throw.  You'll have to be pretty forgiving on what does and does not count as a match.  For example, on a stop sign you can't force somebody to hit the same letter that you hit.  If you bounce off a wall and your Myachi happens to do a kickflip on the way back to your hand the other person won't have to match the spin the Myachi takes.

"You didn't hit the same molecule on it that I did!"

Mistake shots still count as long as the Leader manages to catch their throw, but you have to define the shot pretty broadly to keep the game fun and competitive.

Misses - If the Leader misses their shot, the next player takes over as the Leader.  You should determine the order before the game starts and when players match the Leader's shot, they should take their tries in order so that everyone will remember who goes after whom.

When a player that is not the leader misses, the Leader gets a point.  There is no other penalty for missing so the player who misses the most won't always be the losing player.  Rather, the Leader who sets the toughest tosses will usually win the day.