Have You Seen This? World's most epic game of 'the floor is lava'

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

THE LIVING ROOM — The floor is lava. I know you've all played it, and odds are you've played more recently than you're willing to admit.

You jump from the coffee table to the couch and then to the recliner, all to avoid falling into the imaginary lava that covers the floor. Those moves are child's play, but now comes the tough part: the recliner to the fireplace. Your sister lost a leg to the lava a few days ago on this transition, and your brother got 12 real stitches about 6 months ago. It's scary, but it has to be done.

You leap, and your toes barely make it. Your heels get scorched, but it's OK because you're safe — safe until you have to go from the fireplace to ottoman, anyway. But that's an obstacle for another day because the “lava” quickly flows back into the volcano as your mom comes in yelling. "Are you kidding me?" she cries. "The same thing your brother went to the emergency room for? Get off the fireplace!"

It's a great game, even if it's a little dangerous at times.

While you may think you're pretty good at it, the truth is you're not. You're mediocre at best. All of us are just amateurs when it comes to this guy.

Andri Ragetti is a Swiss freestyle skier and ultimate champion of the floor is lava. In this video he does some COVID-19 at-home parkour by playing the iconic game and keeping his balance in what seems to be impossible situations.

So, next time you think that leap from the fireplace to the ottoman is impossible, remember that Ragetti backflipped off his dining table from a roller and then sanitized his hands.

The ottoman doesn't look like such an Everest any more, does it?