SKATE.

Let’s Play.

The name of the game is SKATE. No, I’m not talking about the video game. This is a common game in the skateboarding community.

It allows you to test your skills and abilities against one or more of your friends. Or just play against that annoying kid at the park, who thinks he’s the best. If you’ve ever played HORSE with a basketball, you should have a pretty good idea of how the game is played.

Choose who goes first. We will usually do rock, paper, scissors for this part. The person who starts attempts to land the first trick. If they fail to land the trick then the next peron goes. If they fail to land a trick the next person goes.

If someone lands a trick however, the next person doesn’t have a choice in doing any trick. They must attempt to land the same trick that was landed previously. If they successfully copy the trick, then it’s the next person’s turn to attempt the trick.

When someone fails to copy a trick, they receive a letter. If you collect all five letters of the word SKATE you are out of the game.

When someone lands a trick play continues until everyone has attempted to land the trick. Now it is time for the original person who landed the trick to go again. They must now attempt a trick, which hasn’t been landed yet. If they land the new trick, everyone must attempt it. If they fail to land it, the next person tries to land a trick, which hasn’t been performed yet.

Play continues this way until everyone, but one person has all five letters in SKATE. The one person left is the winner. Playing games like these are a great way to keep skateboarding exciting and help you get better at some tricks.

I like watching people play S.K.A.T.E. too though! It’s a great way to learn how others do tricks and watch their overall style. Some people tend to try harder when playing S.K.A.T.E. too (their reputation is on the line after all). So, it’s possible to see some really tech tricks go down during a good games.

So you’ve played quite a few times? If you want to try some new variations to the game keep on reading. I’ve played S.K.A.T.E. with a pretty good number of people and these are some of the variations I’ve come across.

Who is next trick lander- Some people play where you only get one round as the trick lander. This means if you land a trick everyone must attempt it too, but you wont get to set another trick. Once everyone has attempted the trick and play returns to you, it becomes the next person in line’s turn to set the trick. If someone fails to set a trick play would continue as in a normal game.

Everyone must land the trick- Some people play where everyone needs to land the trick. I’ve played with people who don’t play this way though. They play where only the next person needs to land the trick. If they land the trick, then they get to set the next trick for the next person. If they don’t land it however, they get a letter and it’s the next person’s turn.

Number of tricks until you can repeat- The way I usually play, we say no repeats of any tricks. Some people play where you can repeat tricks after a three or five tricks have been performed. Some also play where you can repeat tricks as long as it is on different terrain or over a different obstacle.

Irregular/Switch only games- These are games where the players can only perform switch tricks. Or in the case of irregular S.K.A.T.E., anything except doing tricks the way you normally ride. This means only fakie, nollie, and switch tricks allowed!

If you want to play with some one who is a lot better than you, there are a few ways to give them a handicap. If they are just a little better than you they can play a game where they only need three letters to be out. You can still have all five letters in S.K.A.T.E., but they only get the three in SK8. If they are a lot better than you, you can make it so they must use switch tricks instead of regular tricks too.

Hopefully you have a good idea of how the game is played and maybe some ideas for variations too. SKATE can be a very fun game. Have fun with it and skate on my friend, skate on.

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