Instant energy.
Real connection.
Every youth night.
Get every student playing, from the athlete to the shy kid to the first-timer, in 5 minutes flat. No big space. No big budget. No athletic ability required.
Every youth pastor knows this moment.
The doors open. Your regulars cluster into the same groups they always do. A new kid stands near the wall, staring at his phone, trying to look busy. You've got a gym full of games, but the athletic kids dominate them and everyone else watches from the sidelines.
The night hasn't even started, and you can already see who's in and who's out. And you know from experience: the kid who never connects in the first 20 minutes is the kid who stops showing up.
9 Square in the Air was built for exactly this moment.
Why every kid plays. Even the ones who never play anything.
Anyone can learn it in one round
Hit the ball out of your square before it drops. That's the whole game. Students learn it by watching for 30 seconds, so there's zero barrier for the first-timer or the kid who "doesn't do sports."
Nobody sits out for long
Rounds last seconds, not minutes. When you're out, you rotate to a fast-moving line where the cheering and trash talk are half the fun. Everyone stays in the action the whole night.
Connection happens on its own
Students stand shoulder to shoulder, laughing with kids outside their usual circle. Leaders jump in and play alongside them. The walls come down without anyone forcing it.
Born in a church.
Built for yours.
Steve Otey was a junior high youth pastor in St. Louis when he noticed something that bothered him every single week. The same kids kept gravitating to the same games. The same groups stayed separate. The students who weren't athletic sat out.
Real connection, the kind youth ministry actually runs on, wasn't happening. So Steve built a game to fix it. Fifteen years later, 4 million people play 9 Square in the Air every year across 25 countries.
The math youth pastors love to share.
$899 sounds like a big line item. Until you spread it across how long a set actually lasts.
One Big Event Night
An inflatable rental, pizza for the group, and prizes buys you one great night. Then it's gone, and next week you're starting from zero again.
9 Square in the Air
Youth groups run a single set weekly for 5+ years. That's hundreds of youth nights of guaranteed energy for less than you'd spend on a bag of candy prizes.
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Everything you want to know.
25,000 youth groups and 4 million people can't be wrong.
Some students only come back for the 9 Square. It's become the anchor of our Wednesday nights.
Some shy kids really start to open up once they get into the game. I've watched introverted students become the life of the room.
Students are sad if I don't set it up. That tells you everything.
9 Square is an absolute must for any work I do with youth -- in the church world and the nonprofit world.
We've used it for over 12 years. It has gone everywhere -- retreats, camps, events. Still going strong.
More than just a game.
9 Square in the Air Deluxe Game Set
The proven weekly-use set trusted by 25,000 youth groups. Built to last 5 to 7 years of regular use.
Game Ideas in Your Inbox
Fresh ways to play delivered straight to your inbox, drawn from 40 game variations for groups of every size, up to 80 students at once. Several pastors told us this alone is worth it.
1-Year Warranty
If something breaks, we make it right. Call or email us and a real person picks up.
Setup Support
Questions about setup, space requirements, or how to use it for a specific event? Real people, real answers.
DAY
GUARANTEE
Play it for 30 days.
If it doesn't land,
send it back.
Set it up. Run it with your youth group. If the line doesn't form, if your students aren't asking to play again next week, if it doesn't do what we say it will, send it back for a full product refund. We've been doing this for over 15 years. We're not worried about this guarantee. You shouldn't be either.
Two ways to get started.
Buy Now
Everything you need for years of youth nights:
- The Deluxe Game Set trusted by 25,000 youth groups
- Game ideas delivered to your inbox
- 1-year warranty
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Ships quickly
Ministry Scholarship
Running a smaller ministry? Tight budget this season? We set aside a limited number of scholarships each month. Submitting takes 2 minutes.
Apply for Scholarship
Questions before you buy? Call (877) 672-3938. A real person picks up.
(His name is Brett. He's been a missionary and youth pastor. He gets it.)
Not ready? Stay in the loop.
Join our monthly newsletter for fresh ways to play, from our library of 40+ game variations for groups of 8 to 80. We'll also point you back to the site whenever we add new ones. No pressure, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Joining thousands of youth leaders who get our game ideas.
I was a junior high pastor when I built the first set, and I still remember the first night we played. The kid who never joined anything stepped into a square, and by the end of the night he was laughing with students he'd never spoken to. That's the moment I keep building for.
You already know that games aren't really about games. They're about a student deciding, in the first 20 minutes, whether this is a place where they belong. I built 9 Square in the Air to make that answer yes more often.
If budget is the thing holding you back, apply for the scholarship. If you have questions, call us. And if you're on the fence, order it, run it for a month, and let your students decide. That's what the guarantee is for.
Steve OteyFounder, 9 Square in the Air. Youth pastor first.
