Long before the existence of tricks named dolphin and dragon, skateboarding’s humble game of SKATE existed. Played in front yards, parking lots, and skateparks worldwide, it’s a timeless part of skateboarding.

So buckle up friends, because we’re about to 23 and Me this bitch.

Let’s set the scene: Skate City Skatepark, Whittier California, which according to Concrete Disciples was “one of the last parks built from the ’70s skate boom and is often argued as one of the best skateparks ever built.” This park was home to legends John Lucero, Lance Mountain, Neil Blender and more.

When asked about the park, John Lucero remembers it as, “One of the few where there was a younger generation [of skaters around]. The kids older than us were a lot more serious and kinda gnarly” In the time of aggressive, Tony Alva dominated skateboarding, the Skate City skaters stood out.

It was during this era that he remembers multiple games coming out of Skate City, including something called Glove. “One guy has this old skate glove, and everyone else takes off throughout the park, so you’d chase people down and throw the glove at the person, usually at their wheels so it would stop them. Whoever gets gloved would then be the glove, and it would start over again,” said John.

“It was basically a game of tag with an old dirty glove,” he laughed. “You break out the glove and everyone is like, ‘OHHHH NOO.’”

Skate City, circa 1981

To this day, John stresses that none of this stuff was groundbreaking, they were just kids having fun. But in their fun, a game emerged that would inspire contests viewed by worldwide audiences. A game that skateboarders across the globe continue to play every day.

When it comes to that game, John is quick to pass the buck to his buddies Lance [Mountain] and Neil [Blender], saying, “Lance was really the one who invented SKATE more than anybody. We were doing it in 1980-81.”

When we talked to Lance, he remembered his time at Skate City similarly to John. “The Skate City group was known for these types of games because we were dorks. People would come to our skatepark and instead of practicing for some contest the whole skatepark would be playing tag,” he said.

“The eggplant, that trick, came out of that game.”

In regards to the origins of SKATE, Lance said a game called Add On came first. It was a simple game created at a time when lines were important to contests. Lance explained it, “You’d do a move, and then the next guy had to do that move and then add one.” This game even led to the creation of some tricks still around today.

“The eggplant, that trick, came out of that game. I was playing with Neil Blender and some other guys, and we were doing all these hand plant variations, and I was just trying to do another variation to get Neil out, so I grabbed switch hand and did something really awkward, and he was like, ‘That stinks. What’s that, a rotten egg?’ That name stuck, even when it was done a year or so later on vert.” said Lance.

This attempt to get another person “out” in Add On eventually led to SKATE. “I think it went from HORSE to OUT to SKATE,” he said.

Skate City, circa 1982

Lance went on, “Add On was more about lines and longevity and when we wanted to play that game we had to dumb it down and do tricks that everyone could do. It very quickly went to SKATE, which was more progressive, forcing others to learn new tricks or do tricks that the other person hadn’t done.”

With that, the game was loosely established.

“When these games started, basically everyone could do the same eight moves, but over time kids had like 40 tricks or something.”

“Everyone was inventing their own moves. You were doing a move to get the other person out, to teach the other person a brand new move. You were doing the move to challenge and force yourself to learn something that wasn’t natural for you that was natural for someone else,” said Lance.

“It was a weird, awesome time that was taking place,” he went on. “When these games started, basically everyone could do the same eight moves, but over time kids had like 40 tricks or something.”

The game pushed the progression of skateboarding. Something it is still praised for to this day.

Now loosely established as a game, SKATE left the confines of Skate City Skatepark and began taking different forms. Without consistent rules outside of matching your opponent’s trick and receiving a letter if you miss, it was left to wander blind.

Unique house styles slowly developed, and names varied. Internationally, you may have played POSER.

Jay Thorpe, Baker’s Team Manager, remembers playing a shorter version, either OUT or SK8, back in 1992-93. To his memory, SKATE “had slightly different rules then. Not everyone had to try a trick. If someone didn’t make it, the next person could pick the trick.”

Jason Rothmeyer, ’90s pro for Santa Cruz and Foundation, recalls playing against Mark Gonzales in 1991 via an ESPN article. “I remember he did a really good 360 flip and we were tripping out,” he said.

“They would do the same trick over and over until someone missed. They’d start with kickflips and do like 50 in a row (probably more).”

Jenkem’s own Thomas Barker lived close to PJ Ladd in the early 2000s, and he remembers watching PJ play a variation of the game with Ryan Gallant.

“They would do the same trick over and over until someone missed. They’d start with kickflips and do like 50 in a row (probably more). I remember being blown away when they each did 15-20 nollie inward heels in a row when that trick wasn’t standard. Their games would take like an hour,” said Thomas.

While that version might only work for PJ and Gallant, it shows how different groups were taking the outlines of the game and making it their own. And the stories of different iterations are endless.

411 vm #38, circa 2000

But the most well-documented early game of SKATE came from now defunct video magazine, 411vm Issue 38 in 2000. It featured Keenan Milton, Gino Iannucci, and Eric Pupecki playing the game in a “Roomies” segment. Along with clips of Keenan smacking Gino in NHL 2000 and some pickup basketball, you get a clear layout of its modern form.

“Keenan [Milton] was always getting people to play it. He loved it.”

Kelly Bird, Global Brand Manager for Nike SB, remembers it well, “That’s the Croft House. Playing SKATE was probably 50% of the total skating they did in that little moment in time. Keenan was always getting people to play it. He loved it.”

Kaspar van Lierop, a former pro from the Netherlands and current Brand Manager for Asics Skateboarding, saw the game for the first time via that 411 issue. “I had never heard of it until the Gino/Keenan Roomies thing came out,” said Kaspar.

When we asked Gino if he thought those games were impactful, he simply responded, “I did not know or think we were introducing it to a lot of people.” As for where he thinks the game came from, he made the obvious nod toward basketball.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, circa 1999

“Where did we hear about it? No idea. Maybe it came from playing HORSE in basketball which we all did growing up and is the same concept and just brought it to skateboarding naturally,” he said.

And this makes sense. Most neighbourhoods had at least one kid with a basketball hoop in the yard, and with Michael Jordan still in the league, I can’t imagine anything much cooler than basketball at the time. Even in both video games Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (1999) and Thrasher Skate and Destroy (2000), a version of SKATE was playable, but still under the name HORSE.

But regardless of where each skateboarder found the game, whether trickled down from the Skate City boys, from front yard basketball, or from THPS, it would forever change in 2003 when Eric Koston’s èS Game of SKATE went down at an Action Sports Retailer (ASR) tradeshow.

In a lone video recap of the 2003 Eric Koston’s èS Game of SKATE, Kevin Flanagan, the then Group Show Director for ASR, laid it out, “For the first time at ASR we have a game of SKATE. It’s kind of like HORSE if you’ve ever played hoops. You get a letter for every trick you miss.”

Don Brown, VP of Marketing at Soletech, èS’s parent company at the time, remembers how they, “Wanted something sporty and a little more competitive for èS, and HORSE (later game of SKATE) made sense.”

As far as Koston’s involvement, Don said this, “Eric’s so good at everything he does. He’s so technical on flatground, so we built it around Eric and put his name behind it.”

For those inaugural games, a very young, tall tee-clad Paul Rodriguez ended up taking home the $10,000, but it was only the beginning.

“We took the game and made it ours,” said Don.

Eric Koston’s èS Game of Skate, circa 2003

What did that mean? It meant branding the game, creating rules and regulations, and bringing it to the people on a tour. It meant taking pro skaters on the road, creating hype, and encapsulating the all-but-forgotten demo days that we look back on fondly. And for that, Don turned to Mark Waters, a skater and event organizer.

While Mark is no longer with us, Don remembers, “He was running all the events. He was the one that put the structure, brackets and the rules and regulations in it, like no feet on the ground.”

Along with no feet on the ground, èS instituted rules like no hands on the board, offense must land the trick completely clean, and defense is allowed a larger margin of error, but would be decided by the judges.

In 2004 they traveled through U.S. cities like Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Tampa, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and more. They went to shops, held a tournament where the locals battled it out, and left with a local winner. Each of those winners was then flown out to compete in an Amateur finals, with the winner of that AM contest moving on to Eric Koston’s Pro Finals.

“With all the hype on competitive skateboarding like the X-Games, the éS Game of SKATE breaks out and brings skateboarding back to its roots – no obstacles for tricks – just the contender, the board, and flat-ground creativity,” said an old Transworld article.

“Diego Najara was kind of found through one of the events. A lot of people came up through those games.”

It was a bonafide hit. “It got a lot of kids’ names out there to where they were getting recognized for games of SKATE,” said Don. “Diego Najara was kind of found through one of the events. A lot of people came up through those games.”

èS Game of Skate Pro Final, circa 2007

And it continued to grow, year after year. According to Mark in a 2005 Transworld writeup about that year’s event, “All told there were 1251 skaters in the US tournament, and we weeded them down to 12 skaters. These 12 will meet up with the four international winners from Japan, Europe, Australia, and Canada, in San Diego, for the éS Game of SKATE Amateur World Championships, presented by Boost Mobile.”

“I’d say 110% it’s the reason the Game of SKATE blew up.”

That final was, “The culmination of the world’s largest skateboard contest ever,” said Mark. It brought the humble game of SKATE worldwide and forever engrained the game into local communities far and wide.

“I’d say 110% it’s the reason the Game of SKATE blew up,” said Don.

While it’s no longer on the level it once was, sponsored by Boost Mobile and presenting thousands of dollars to the winner, the core of the game was officially outlined and defined by èS. But after industry challenges, it would eventually go dark.

That is until a little skatepark in a warehouse in Los Angeles picked up the torch. You might remember the name of this place. The Berrics.

In 2008, the new skate website at the time, The Berrics, posted a two minute game of SKATE between Eric Koston and Mike Mo Capaldi, Mc’d by Steve Berra. The reason for the game was a young boy named Johnny Romano.

Johnny was fighting childhood cancer, and being a skateboarder the community rallied around him. He was given a guest pro board for REAL, had shoutouts on Fuel TV, and it was for Johnny that this inaugural game of SKATE at the Berrics happened.

“Eric said before the game, ‘Hey, if I win Johnny Romano’s coming to the park,’ and Eric ended up winning. It was something we wanted to do for Johnny. We wanted to lift his spirits,” said Berra in an Inside the Berrics video.

The game went viral. Well, viral to 2008 standards at least.

“On YouTube, we saw it had been seen, in three or four weeks, like 700,000 times. We were like, ‘Oh wow, not just kids, skaters from young to old must really like to watch the game of SKATE,’” said Berra.

He went on, “I know I like watching it [the game of SKATE], and it was awesome seeing Mike Mo and Eric battle it out, so that’s when we came up with the idea for the Battle at the Berrics.”

Koston vs. Mike Mo, circa 2008

They started releasing two matches a week online to their website, and it snowballed, launching the game into a newly online world and creating a recurring franchise.

DVS shoes came on board to sponsor the first-ever Battle at the Berrics, which culminated in a final between Mike Mo Capaldi and Benny Fairfax in early 2009, one where Mike Mo took home $10,000.

According to a writeup by the Wall Street Journal, “Thanks in part to the event, The Berrics.com, the site that organizes and webcasts The Battle at The Berrics, has grown to one of skateboarding’s most popular websites in a few months. In January the site had more unique visitors than sites for all of the major skateboarding magazines, and ESPN.com’s action sports page.”

Clearly, the magic that èS capitalized on back in the early 00s was ever-present in 2009. But, one thing was different about Berra’s brainchild. It wasn’t seeking unknown talent on the road. It brought diverse, top-name pros head-to-head in a casual setting, something not often done at the time.

“We’d all seen our favorite pros’ video parts, but during this era, rarely did fans have access to casual footage of them.”

Going further, it was something to look forward to during a time when it wasn’t uncommon to wait 3-5 years between seeing your favorite pro skate.

According to Ian Michna, our publisher, “We’d all seen our favorite pros’ video parts, but during this era, rarely did fans have access to casual footage of them. You know, playing a game or dicking around, even hearing some of these guys talk, you hadn’t seen much of that before.”

“The Berrics gave you an intimate look behind the curtain at the time, showing a casual fan and skater what it would be like to hang with these guys and play SKATE with them,” said Ian.

The games captured skateboarders’ attention nationwide, and while other Berrics video series like Battle Commanders and Wednesdays with Reda were popular, Battle at the Berrics was the true stand-out.

Nyjah Huston vs. Paul Rodriguez, circa 2022

For the next 10+ years, Battle at the Berrics was a synonym for the game of SKATE, bringing different versions, like Us vs Them, Goofy vs Regular, and Pros vs Joes, to screens everywhere. Games surpassed the million view mark regularly, with a standout match between Nyjah Huston and Paul Rodriguez garnering 4.7 million views on YouTube alone just three years ago.

These days, the Berrics rules are the new standard, bringing additions to the format èS laid out, like no sliding your trick on the ground if an opponent pops theirs, and the addition of the West Coast rule, last letter gets two tries.

But like all great things, Battle at the Berrics got too big for its britches. Wonky sponsors, allegedly “rigged” games, and online beefs meant the pros we wanted to see compete dropped out, and the looming prize money transformed the once lighthearted, homie-centric game into a tense, strategically boring game.

And while the fall of the Berrics warrants a different article, it’s undeniable what Steve, Eric, and the Berrics staff throughout the years did for the game of SKATE.

It’s up in the air where SKATE will land next, and while we know assumptions make an ass out of you and me, there is a new contest format that’s taking the skeleton of SKATE and trying something new.

For that, we look no further than the first-ever winner of Battle at the Berrics, Mr. Mike Mo Capaldi.

Mike launched PSL, the Professional Skateboarding League, in February of this year, a new contest series he hopes will solve the “format problem” and “subjectivity” in skate contests. And if you watch the first matchups, it looks eerily similar to the game we’ve been talking about.

Albeit with new rules and a completely new look, PSL is, at its core, SKATE. To quote Mike Mo, “The format is yes or no.” Meaning, you make the trick or you don’t. And if you don’t, someone gets a point. Sounds familiar?

It may be hidden under layers of sports lingo and heavy production, but it’s based on the game we all know. It’s interesting to see someone trying to reinvent the format, and while PSL has its fair share of issues, what it does is show how versatile the game of SKATE can be.

PSL Final, circa 2025

All things considered, it’s important to remember why we love the game to begin with. It brings people together, and let’s be honest, the best games are ones with friends. Those games that are lighthearted and fun, yet challenging all the same, are what SKATE is all about.

Back to Skate City Skatepark, it was always just a fun warm-up, a way to break the contest monotony. And while èS put rules in place, for them it was all about community. Even the Berrics was special at the jump because it was casual, it was intimate.

Today, there’s no game of SKATE with huge prize money attached. There’s no traveling competition or dominant online series. It’s back to its humble beginnings, so go play how you want.

Put your hands on the floor, grab your board, whiff a handplant, and break the rules. Pay homage to the inventors who started it all.

Be a dork.

And hey, SKATE may take different shapes, it may grow and shrink, but it will never go away. Because for every early morning session, every sluggish warm-up, there will be a friend in a similar boat, and the question will always be the same: Rock Paper Scissors or Ro Sham Bo?

Written by: Ben Komins
Interviews: Ben Komins, Ian Michna and Thomas Barker
Header Art: Wilson Lucas
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