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Merkball

Merkball is a German-language school and group game from the dodge-game family. Players throw a soft ball at each other; a hit player leaves the field and remembers who hit them. When that thrower is later hit, the players they eliminated may return.

LevelMain sport FamilyBall Sport CategoryBall game

AI-generated illustration: Merkball — AI-generated illustration

Classification

Category Ball game

Family Ball Sport

Level Main sport

Getting started

Kurzbeschreibung A dodge game with soft ball and return rule: hit players remember who hit them.

Geeignet für Suitable for groups wanting a fast simple warm-up or PE game with movement and concentration.

Cost 0-30 EUR if a hall/space is available; one or more soft balls are enough. Low; mainly replacement balls and possible hall access. Not required; typical in school, youth group or club warm-up. Set head-hit and step rules first.

First progress Rules take minutes; fair play needs clear moderation.

Fitness level medium

Was du brauchst

soft ball
clear gym or marked area
larger group
boundaries
head/safety rule

First steps

mark boundaries
choose soft ball and step limit
agree head-hit rule
start a slow test round

PE class, youth group, holiday programme, club warm-up or game collection.

Use only soft balls, no hard head shots, enough room and clear stop commands.

Weitere Angaben

Aliases Memory dodgeball, Zombieball variant, Merk-Ball, Zombieball-Variante

Tags Merkball, dodge game, softball, school sport, Abwurfspiel, Softball, Schulsport, merkball

Rules and format

Die Grundlagen

Ziel

Hit other players with a soft ball and stay involved through memory/return logic.

Teilnehmer

Larger group, usually from about ten people.

Teamgröße

free-for-all or group variants.

Spielfeld

Gym, schoolyard or marked playing area.

Dauer

Depends on format and event.

Wertung

Round win, return order or variant scoring by game leader.

Gewinnbedingung

Often the final player remaining in the field wins.

Ausrüstung

soft ball
field marking
clear gym/area

Wichtige Regelpunkte

head-hit rule breach
step-limit breach
leaving the field
wrong return

Regelquellen

Federations and sources

Merkball Spielewiki · game-guide · medium
Merkball Sport-Woerterbuch · education-pdf · medium
Zombieball-Varianten Vlamingo · teacher-blog · medium
Ballspiel-Ideen fuer den Sportunterricht Unfallkasse Hessen · school-sport-guide · medium