Hot lava (game)

Hot lava (or the floor is lava) is a game, usually played by children, in which the players imagine that the floor or ground is made of lava (or any other lethal substance, such as acid or quicksand), and thus avoid touching the ground lest they get burned or otherwise injured. The players stay off of the floor by standing on furniture or the room's architecture. The players generally may not remain still, and are required to move from one piece of furniture to the next. The game can be played with a group or alone for self amusement. There may even be a goal, to which the players must race. The game may also be played outdoors in playgrounds or similar areas. Players can also set up obstacles to make the game more challenging. This is a variation of an obstacle course.

Typically, any individual can start the game just by shouting "The floor is lava!" Any player remaining on the floor in the next few seconds is "out" and can not rejoin the game for some period of time.

There often are tasks, items or places that can "regenerate" lost body parts or health. Depending on the players, these could be embarrassing tasks, or simple things like finding a particular person.

In one version called "Hot Lava Monster", usually played on playgrounds, players must stay off the ground (sand, rubber, woodchips, etc.) and on the play equipment. The person who is posing as 'monster' can be on the 'lava' with the objective of attempting to tag another player. 'Monster' must try to tag or catch the other players. In some versions, 'monster' is not allowed to touch certain obstacles, such as wooden platforms or may only touch objects of a certain color. The "Monster" player must navigate across structures such as across playground slides, Monkey bars, Ropes courses, etc. instead of the main platform.

By using the Stefan–Boltzmann law and taking convection into account, University of Leicester scientists have calculated that a high stakes version of the game would not be playable with actual lava, as the air above the lava would have a temperature too high for humans to survive for more than a few seconds.

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Wikipedia