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Learn to shoot and knock out your opponents' marbles
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The game of marbles dates all the way back to ancient civilizations, and has been played by kids and adults alike for thousands of years since. The aim of the game is to knock marbles out of the ring. Play for keeps to take home your opponents’ marbles, or play for fun to keep things light and breezy. We’ll show you how to play a game, from setup to shooting to winning, and how to play variations on the classic rules.
Marbles Rules Overview
Draw a circle that’s about 3 ft (0.91 m) across on a flat surface. Each player adds 10-15 marbles to the circle, then chooses their shooter. Take turns using your shooter to knock marbles out of the circle. Whoever knocks out the most wins.
Steps
Section 1 of 4:
Setting Up the Game
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Draw a circle on the pavement in chalk, or make a circle with string. This will be your ring. Usually, marble rings are around 3–10 ft (0.91–3.05 m) across. For a beginner game, we recommend making your ring 3 ft (0.91 m) across. Draw the circle as evenly as you can to ensure a fair game. [1] X Research source
- To get a perfect circle, tie the chalk to a string that’s 1.5 ft (0.46 m) long. Hold the end of the string to the ground and orbit the chalk in a circle around it.
- Or, cut a piece of string that’s about 10 ft (3.0 m) long, then tie the ends together and place it on the ground, shaping it into a circle. Use this for your ring.
- It’s best to play marbles on smooth concrete, but it can be fun to shake things up! Play on hardwood, short carpet, or any flat surface.
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Choose a shooter marble. Your shooter (or "taw") marble will be what you use to knock other marbles (“mibs”) out of the circle. Choose a marble bigger than all your other marbles, so it has plenty of power. Qualities of a good shooter marble also include a heavier weight and a perfectly smooth, rollable roundness. [2] X Research source
- Other names for the shooter marble include Aggie, boulder, Steele, king, and middleman. [3] X Research source
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Place 10-15 total marbles in the center of the ring. Play with 2 or more people. Each player scatters an equal number of marbles into the ring. Space the marbles evenly, but try to place the majority nearer to the center. [4] X Research source How many marbles you choose depends on how large of a game you want. The more you place, the longer the game will last. [5] X Research source
- To start, place 5 of your own marbles into the ring, and tell your opponent to do the same.
- If you’re playing for keeps, it doesn’t matter if the colors are the same. If you’re playing for fun, make sure you and your opponents each have different-colored marbles, so you can tell them apart.
- As a beginner, try playing with just 1 or 2 other people, so the game doesn’t get too hectic.
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Decide whether you want to play for keeps. Marbles can be played either "for fun," which means that every player keeps their own marbles after the match, or "for keeps." If you choose to play for keeps, other players can win your marbles to take home after the match by knocking them out of the ring. Choose how you're playing in advance so you know what to expect while playing. [6] X Research source
- If you really love your marbles, play for fun. If you want one of the other players’ marbles, ask them if they want to play for keeps. You all have to agree beforehand!
- Don’t let other players pressure you into playing for keeps if you don’t want to.
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Section 2 of 4:
Knocking Out Marbles
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Determine who will go first by shooting marbles toward a line. Draw a line in the ground with your chalk, then stand about 10 feet (3.04 m) away from your line. Have each player take turns flicking their shooter at the line. The player whose marble lands closest to the line goes first (with second, third, fourth, etc., going as follows). [7] X Research source
- This method of determining the playing order is called “lagging.”
- Alternatively, decide who goes first with a coin flip or by playing Rock, Paper, Scissors.
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Kneel outside of the ring and shoot your taw marble from the ground. Your objective is to knock as many marbles out of the ring as you can each turn—including your own. To shoot your marble, fold your thumb, pinkie, and ring finger into your palm. Roll your pointer finger around the marble, holding it against your thumb knuckle. When you're ready to shoot, flick your thumb out. Always take your first shot from outside the ring. [8] X Research source
- At least 1 part of your hand must be touching the ground when you shoot. Use your dominant hand to shoot the marble.
- Some variations of the game give a penalty (like losing a turn) if you touch the chalk circle with your knees while shooting. Decide with your friends whether you want to play with this penalty.
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Grab any marbles you knocked out of the ring. Your turn ends after you take a single shot. Don't wait until the end of the game to gather your marbles, since you might not remember which ones your shooter got out. Pick them up right after your turn and gather them in a neat pile. [9] X Research source
- Some variations of the game state that if you knock a marble out, you get to go again. Ask the other players whether they want to follow this rule. [10] X Research source
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Leave your shooter in the ring if you don't knock out any marbles. You’ll shoot from this spot during your next turn (using the same shooting method as before). If your marble is moved inside the ring by another player, you’ll play from wherever it lands. [11] X Research source
- If you did knock out 1 or more marbles, grab your shooter. It’s safe, and next turn you’ll shoot from anywhere outside the ring.
- Decide with your friends whether you want to add a penalty, like a lost turn, for those who move their shooter marble by accident while it's in the ring.
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Section 3 of 4:
Winning the Game
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Knock the other player's shooter marble out for a quick win. If your opponent's shooter marble is within the ring, it's vulnerable to being knocked out. Players whose shooter marbles are knocked out automatically lose the game. If this person was the only other player besides yourself, you win the game by default. [12] X Research source
- Because shooter marbles are bigger and heavier, they are generally harder to knock out than other marbles.
- Some people decide to play without this rule, and play until all the smaller marbles are knocked out.
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Continue knocking out marbles until none are left in the ring. The game ends as soon as no marbles are left in the ring, including shooters. [13] X Research source Unless your game ends abruptly by knocking other shooters out, this is the only way to end the game. Most marble games last from between 15-30 minutes.
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Win the game by knocking out more marbles than your opponent. Count up how many marbles you knocked out. Each marble equals 1 point. When you've finished counting your marbles, compare how many you have to how many the other players knocked out. The player who knocked out the most wins the game. [14] X Research source
- If you're playing with marbles of different colors or sizes, you may want to assign points to each marble type depending on difficulty.
- If you played for keeps, you take home all the marbles you knocked out. If you played for fun, give each player their marbles back.
- Some players agree to each give the winner a marble of their choice as a prize.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionHow many people can play marbles?EvisceratedCommunity AnswerAs many people as there are shooter marbles! You can also share one, so really, there's no limit to how many people can play.
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QuestionWhat if it is a tie? Do you continue playing?Community AnswerThis is up to you. If you're playing for fun, you can just shake hands and accept the tie. But if you're playing a serious game of marbles and want to determine a true winner, play another round.
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QuestionWhen do I use my aggie?EvisceratedCommunity AnswerThe shooter marble, or aggie, is used on your turn to knock the smaller marbles out of the circle.
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Tips
- For practice, play marbles against yourself. Set up the traditional marbles game and knock out all the marbles until you're done. Try to knock them out faster and with fewer tries each time.Thanks
- If you play on a table, cover it in black construction paper so you can draw your circle in chalk.Thanks
- Always establish whether you're playing for keeps before you start to avoid arguments.Thanks
Tips from our Readers
The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.
- Play a couple of games for fun before you play for keeps, so that you get a hang of the game before there are real stakes.
- You can also trace around a hula hoop to make a perfect circle for a ring.
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References
- ↑ https://www.nationalmarblestournament.org/_files/ugd/6cc3d0_ab8897ab0ffe4fa7871eecd8ae5a61b3.pdf
- ↑ https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/marbles/
- ↑ http://dare.wisc.edu/survey-results/1965-1970/childrens-games/ee6a
- ↑ https://www.nationalmarblestournament.org/_files/ugd/6cc3d0_ab8897ab0ffe4fa7871eecd8ae5a61b3.pdf
- ↑ https://www.toyassociation.org/genius/play-ideas-tips/play-ideas/marbles-game.aspx
- ↑ https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/playing-for-keepsies-marble-play/
- ↑ https://www.ducksters.com/games/marbles.php
- ↑ https://www.toyassociation.org/genius/play-ideas-tips/play-ideas/marbles-game.aspx
- ↑ https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/playing-for-keepsies-marble-play/
- ↑ https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/20058/play-marbles
- ↑ https://www.familyeducation.com/fun/marbles/marbles-game
- ↑ https://www.ducksters.com/games/marbles.php
- ↑ https://www.toyassociation.org/genius/play-ideas-tips/play-ideas/marbles-game.aspx
- ↑ https://arizonahistoricalsociety.org/education/esperanza/marbles/#marble-games
- ↑ http://www.streetplay.com/thegames/marbles/marbleglossary.shtml
- ↑ https://www.mississauga.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2021/01/26150732/Games-with-marbles.pdf
- ↑ https://daily.jstor.org/losing-our-marbles/
About This Article
Article Summary
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Marbles is a classic game traditionally played with two teams of six players, although you can also play one-on-one. The goal of the game is to collect the most marbles (called “mibs”) by knocking them out of the play area. To set up the game, make a circle on the ground that’s about 3 feet (1-2 meters) in diameter. You can draw a circle in dirt, make a circle using string, or draw a chalk circle on a sidewalk. Place 13 marbles in a cross-shape at the center of the circle; these are the “mibs” for the game. Chose a player or team to go first. On a player's turn, they kneel outside of the circle and flick their marble into it using their thumb. If they strike a mib and knock it out of the circle, and their marble stays inside of the circle, they win the mib they knocked out and take another shot from inside of the circle wherever their marble landed. A player can continue shooting until they either don't knock out a mib or they knock out a mib but their marble exits the circle. If a player's marble lands in the circle but doesn't knock out a mib, their turn is over and their marble stays where it is until their next turn. After the first player's turn, the other player or team goes next. If a player knocks their opponent's marble out of the circle, they get all of the mibs their opponent has collected so far. Play continues until every mib has been knocked out of the circle. At that point, the player or team with the most mibs wins! For different variations of marble games, such as Cherry Pit or Bull’s Eye, read on!
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