Materials: Hopscotch grid (chalk outdoors or the printed cutout); Pebble or beanbag marker (the game's 'might-rule'); Tally sheet for counting tries; Analog fallback: sidewalk chalk and a pebble need no printed materials at all
Artifact: A mod with predict-then-test notes
Kills: More content makes a better game.
Hopscotch has two kinds of rule: always (hop pattern, turn order) and might (where the marker lands). Today you change one rule on purpose and measure what happens — not guess.
| Outcome | Tally | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 |
Play one round of hopscotch as written. As a group, name:
Pick one always-rule to change (example: must hop on one foot the whole way vs. two feet on double squares). Write a hypothesis you could lose:
If we change ___, then it will take ___ (more / fewer) tries to reach the end.
Make the smallest playable change. Do not change two things at once — you won’t know which one caused the effect.
Play 8–10 tries with the new rule. Tally every try on the sheet: success or miss. Someone watches in silence; someone else records. Swap jobs halfway.
Analog fallback: same tally, chalk marks in the dirt next to the grid.
Count the tallies. Did the number of tries to finish go up, down, or stay the same? Compare against your prediction — a prediction that was wrong is still useful data, not a failure.
Tell another group your rule change and what the tally showed. Did their rule change more or less than yours?
Keep the hypothesis card, the tally sheet, and your compare note. This is “a mod with predict-then-test notes” — export it to your Backpack.
Kills: More content makes a better game. → One well-tested rule change teaches more than five untested ones.