Gravball
Common through most of known space, gravball is the best-known zero-gravity sport, even if building an appropriate arena is more difficult on planets.
Gravball is primarily played with two teams, though some leagues specialize in matches with three or more teams, each of which field five players and a goalie. Much like most sports, the goal in gravball is to score points by throwing or kicking a ball through the opposing team's goal, and the team with the highest score wins when the timer runs out.
The unique aspect of gravball is that players are forbidden from holding the ball for more than two seconds, as well as the sport's use of kinetic barrier generators. Each player has a generator, which can be used to create a short-lived magical barrier or handhold that is immobile in space, allowing them to ricochet the ball, use it as a foothold or handhold, or almost any other use they can come up with. The generators only can be used a certain number of times every minute, with the device rapidly recharging after being used, but it adds a degree of strategy to the sport.
Most versions of gravball don't allow players to attack others, but there's a version rumored to be played by djinn which uses a live plasma grenade with a random timer as the ball, as well as other more esoteric versions where the players can stun one another by hitting them with the ball.
Comments