Hopscotch is a children game that can be played with several players or alone. Hopscotch is a popular game around the world.

 The first player throws the marker (a piece of tile) into the first square. The marker must land completely into the square.  The player hops through the course, skipping the square with the marker.  Single squares must be hopped on one foot.  Side by side squares are hopped with the left foot landing on the left square and the right foot on the right square.

 The “Safe” square is the last one and it is neutral. After hopping it, the player must turn around and return through the course, skipping the square with the marker again.  Once the player completes the sequence, he continues the turn throwing the marker into the square number 2 and repeating the pattern.

 If while hopping through the court in either direction the player steps on a line, misses a square, or loses balance, the turn ends.  The first player to complete one course for every numbered square on the court wins the game.

 Hopscotch is played across the globe: KITH-KITH in India. RAYUELA in Spain. CAMPANA in Italy KLASY in Poland. BEBELECHE in Mexico. SOTRON in Romania. AMARELINHA in Portugal and Brazil. MARELLE in France. RRASAVI in Albania. LAY LAY in Iran. HIMMEL UND HÖLLE in Germany. POTSY in New York. EL TEJO in the Canary Islands.

 In Germany, Austria and Switzerland the game is called Himmel und Hölle (Heaven and Hell). The first square is called Erde (Earth), the second to last square is the Hölle (Hell) and the last one is Himmel (Heaven). The first player throws a small stone into the first square and then jumps to the square and must kick the stone to the next square and so on, but the stone or the player cannot stop in Hell so they try to avoid that square.

 The spiral shape of the snail’s shell is the pattern used for one variation of hopscotch played there. Escargot is one of the few hopscotch games in which no puck/stone is used. The game is also called La Marelle Ronde.  Players must hop on one foot to the center of the spiral and back out again.  A player marks one square with his or her initials, and from then on may place two feet in that square, while all other players must hop over it.  The game ends when all squares are marked or no one can reach the center, and the winner is the player who “owns” the most squares.

 In Australia, hopscotth is played in stages.  First stage is played by hopping with the standard rules. Once this stage is complete, the player is promoted to the next stage where the player jumps into each square with two feet.  Final stage is the most difficult, you must jump with your legs crossed. The first player to complete all three stages wins.