I found this fascinating quote today:
Four Square: This ball game is played on a square court further divided into four smaller squares, numbered one through four. One player stands in each of the squares, with the highest ranked player in number one, lowest in number four. You bounce the ball among the players, bouncing once in the other person’s square before that person catches it. When I played this as a kid, we had countless additional rules to choose from. The person in square one got to choose the rules. Anyone who violates the rules will have to move down in the ranking, or be eliminated with another player rotating in to square four. Number of Players: Four, unless you take turns. Equipment: A four square court or sidewalk chalk, a playground ball.wired.com, 30 Classic Games for Simple Outdoor Play, Aug 2009
You should read the whole article.