Calvinball
Ever-changing game rules
Calvinball is a game from the comic strip *Calvin and Hobbes* in which rules are invented on the fly and can never be used twice.
The term has escaped the comic to describe any activity where participants make up or change rules as they go: Our project meetings have devolved into Calvinball.
It suggests chaos dressed as a game, or flexibility taken to absurd extremes.
Comic about imaginative boy
- comic stripSerialized newspaper cartoon panels
- childhoodLife's earliest phase
- backyardOutdoor space behind home
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
Bill Watterson · stuffed tiger · cartoon · humor · mischief · adventures · wagon · treehouse
Spontaneous, unplanned creation
- chaosComplete disorder and confusion
- spontaneityActing without forethought
- ever-changingPerpetually in transformation
- unpredictableCannot be anticipated
creativity · imagination · wickets · zones · flags · masks · scoring · penalties
For a specific purpose
- inconsistencyLack of steady pattern
- unfairnessUnjust or biased treatment
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
- politicsGovernmental power struggles
relationships · workplace · negotiations · double standards · chaos · unpredictability · flexibility · adaptation
Calvin and Hobbes
Comic about imaginative boy
- comic stripSerialized newspaper cartoon panels
- childhoodLife's earliest phase
- backyardOutdoor space behind home
Bill Watterson · stuffed tiger · nostalgia · cartoon · humor · mischief · adventures · wagon · treehouse · philosophy
improvisation
Spontaneous, unplanned creation
- chaosComplete disorder and confusion
- spontaneityActing without forethought
- ever-changingPerpetually in transformation
unpredictable · creativity · imagination · wickets · zones · flags · masks · scoring · penalties · time-outs
ad-hoc
For a specific purpose
- inconsistencyLack of steady pattern
- unfairnessUnjust or biased treatment
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
politics · relationships · workplace · negotiations · double standards · chaos · unpredictability · flexibility · adaptation · improvisation
Calvinballchess
Strategic board game
baseball · algorithm · bureaucracy · Go · contract bridge
CalvinballOlympic sport
Athletic competition at Games
FIFA World Cup · championship match · league play · World Chess Championship · professional boxing