How to Play Marbles
Children were playing marbles as long ago as 4000 BC in Ancient Egypt, and the game has fallen in and out of fashion ever since. There are many different varieties, but all have been entertaining children (and adults) for centuries. Here are two versions of the classic game.
Method I: The Classic (Ringer) Version
Step 1
Make a circle on the ground. You can draw a line with marker or chalk or make a ring out of string or ribbon. The circle can be as big as you’d like — generally speaking, 3 – 10 feet (1 – 3.3 m) across. Note: The bigger the circle, the harder it is to win!
◦ Use a flat surface. If it isn’t flat, your marbles are going to be rolling wherever they please.
◦ With masking tape (or chalk if outside), put two straight lines on either side of the circle. These will be the lines the players must sit behind when throwing outside of the circle. No cheating!
Have each player throw their marble to the opposite line. Whoever’s marble winds up closest to the line goes first when playing the game.
Step 2
Set up your marbles. You can do this however you like. A plus sign is fairly standard, but you can also make a circle or just scatter them randomly. Use at least 13 marbles (an odd number to determine the winner).
Step 3
Have the first player “knuckle down.” They should sit outside of the circle on the first go. With the shooter (the player’s special marble) resting in the crook of their index finger, they place their knuckle on the floor (hence the term) and flick the marble out with their thumb.[1] The aim is to hit another marble out of the circle while keeping the shooter in.
The shooter is generally a bit larger than the normal marbles. If you have a favorite shooter, it is known as your “taw.” Your favorite marble, on the other hand, is known as an “alley.”[1]
Step 4
If the player successfully knocked out another marble (while keeping their shooter in), have them go again. And they get to take the marble they knocked out and receive a point. When the go again, they must knuckle down where the shooter landed.
Determine if you literally get to keep the marbles you knock out. If so, this is known as “keepsies.” Know the term “playing for keeps?” There you go!
Step 5
Shoot from behind the line if a player knocks out your shooter. If the first player didn’t knock out a marble, the second player gets their turn. If they knock out the other player’s shooter, they don’t get a point or to keep the shooter, but the other player does have to shoot from outside the circle (which is much more difficult) on their next turn. It’s sort of like an automatic “lose your turn” move.
Step 6
Finish the game when all the marbles are gone. Whichever player knocked out the most marbles wins. Ready for another round?
If you find knuckling down to be difficult, you can roll your marble. But practice the knuckling! It’s more authentic and keeps the game interesting.
Method II: Bull’s Eye Marbles
Step 1
Draw four circles. Draw each one inside the other to create a target effect. The innermost circle is worth the most points – 100. The next circle going outward is worth 75 points, the next is worth 50 and the outer circle is worth 25 points. The size of the circle should be at least 30 cm (12″) across.
Of course, the values are up to you. If you’d like a teeny tiny circle inside the 100 to be worth a million, go on ahead. Many variations of marbles exists — yours could be next!
Step 2
Draw a shooting line. Draw this about 180cm (6 feet) from the outer edge of the biggest circle. The farther away your line, the more difficult the game will be. Don’t let any player cross it!
Step 3
Start playing. Define how many rounds the game will have. Each player in turn stands on the shooting line and shoots three marbles at the target. The target is the bull’s eye. Each marble that lands in a circle earns the number of points marked in that circle. Landing outside the circles scores nil.
Step 4
Add up the points. Add the points for all three marble shoots to reach the player’s score. At the end of the turn, the marbles are picked up to leave the field clear for the next player.
If you do choose to leave the marbles, make it so if they’re knocked out, they’re not counted. Only marbles that are left at the end of both turns have value. This makes the game more competitive!
Step 5
Go for another round. When everyone has had a turn, start the next round, adding on the scores. The winner is the player with the highest total score at the end of the game.
How To Play the Classic Marble Game of Ringer
Most children understand the game of marbles the first time it is explained, but to make it easier, these drawings show the most common plays. (For a simpler version of Ringer, see the video above.)
FIG. 1
To start a game of Ringer the children lag from a line, drawn tangent to the ring, to a parallel line across the ring, which would be 10 feet away.The child whose shooter comes nearest the line has the first shot. Players must lag before each game.Practice lagging, as the first shot may mean the winning of the game before your opponent gets a shot. In lagging, a child may toss his or her shooter to the other line, or he or she may knuckle down and shoot it.
FIG. 2
This shows child No. 1 who won the lag, preparing to knuckle down. His knuckle has not quite reached the ground, which is necessary before shooting.He can take any position about the ring he chooses. (The process of picking the best possible position for starting is referred to as “taking rounders.”) The 13 marbles in the ring are arranged as in tournament play. For casual games, a one foot ring is drawn inside of the ten foot ring and each player puts in some 5/8″ marbles, so that there is about a dozen marbles in the smaller ring.
FIG. 3
Child No. 1 knocks a marble from the ring on his first shot and his shooter stays in the ring. He picks up the marble. As he has knocked one from the ring, he is entitled to another try. Players are not permitted to walk inside the ring unless their shooter comes to a stop inside the ring. Penalty is a fine of one marble.
FIG. 4
Here we see child No. 1 continuing play. He “knuckles down” inside the ring where his shooter stopped on the last shot. This gives him the advantage of being nearer to the big group of marbles in the center of the ring for his next shot.Expert marble shots try to hit a marble, knock it out of ring and make their shooter “stick” in the spot. “Sticking” or shooting seven consecutive marbles out of the
ring and winning the game without giving an opponent a turn is usually good for two days of playground bragging rights.
FIG. 5
On this play, No. 1 hit a marble, but did not knock it from the ring. At the same time his shooter, too, stays inside the ring. He can not pick up the marble, and whether he is allowed to pick up his shooter depends on the type of play – in tournament play, if your shooter is in the ring at the end of your turn, you must remove it. In casual games, if your shooter is in the ring at the end of your turn, it becomes a legitimate target and any player who hits it out collects a forfeit from you, or even your shooter! (Players should agree in advance whether to use this rule.)
FIG. 6
Child No. 2 may start by “knuckling down” anywhere at the ring edge.In this case he may shoot at the 11 marbles in the center or if he wishes, he may go to the other side and try for the marble that No.1 almost knocked from the ring. In a casual game he might also try to knock the other player’s shooter from the ring.
FIG. 7
Child No. 2 chooses to try for No. 1 child’s shooter and knocks it out of ring, winning all the marbles No. 1 has taken (and his shooter, if that rule is being followed) and putting No. 1 out of that game. Or he could shoot as shown in Fig. 8.
FIG. 8
Child No. 2 hits a marble but does not knock it out of the ring, yet his shooter goes thru the ring and stops outside where he may pick it up.The target marble remains where it stopped in the ring, and as No. 2 did not score, it is now the turn of No. 1 to shoot again.
FIG. 9
No. 1 “knuckles down” inside the ring where his shooter stopped (Fig. 5).He is going to shoot at the marble nearest his shooter. By hitting it at the proper angle and knocking it from the ring he can get his shooter near the center of the ring for his next shot. Play alternates until one player has knocked a majority of the marbles out of the ring.