King of the Hill
One player holds the top and keeps the others off it; whoever pushes them off and stands there becomes the new king.
King of the hill is a game with no ending built into its rules. The top passes from hand to hand, and a game lasts exactly as long as the company finds it interesting.
That makes the not a winner but a target. Take the top and everyone else is at once against you alone — a position that is favourable in height and hopeless in numbers.
What stands in for rules
No markings, no equipment, no score. All that is wanted is a with room for one and not for everybody.
The one thing that has to be agreed beforehand is how much contact is allowed. Pushing is usually in, knocking down and grabbing at clothing usually out, and a snowdrift in winter permits more than a concrete slide in summer.
The rules of king of the hill
The place
A rise is chosen: a snowdrift, a heap of sand, a low mound, a playground slide. The top must be one that takes a single person.
Dangerous places — with hard edges, glass or a drop — will not do.
The start
The first king is whoever took the top first, or whoever a counting rhyme picked.
Play
The king holds the top and keeps the rest from climbing: attackers are pushed back down.
The others storm it one at a time or together.
Changing king
The king changes when somebody has forced them off the top and stood there themselves. From that second everyone else — the former king included — is against the new one.
Contact
Pushing is allowed. Grabbing clothing, striking, knocking down and pushing anyone who stands with their back to the descent are not.
The end
There is no agreed end to a game. It is played until people tire of it; if wanted, a time is set and the king is whoever held the top longest.
Worth knowing
This game has no length of hold, no score and no end condition: different companies set their own or do without altogether. The permitted contact has to be agreed before the start as well — the play itself puts no limit on it.
Glossary of terms
- King
- Whoever is holding the top at this moment.
- The hill
- The rise the game is played for: a snowdrift, a heap of sand, a mound, a slide in a playground.