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How to Play Marbles & Taws

The game of marbles has been around for thousands of years with many variations in play and scoring. The traditional game simply involves knocking marbles out of a circular area. Players use shooter marbles, sometimes referred to as taws, to accomplish this. These marbles are often a little larger than the target marbles. Players who can continue to knock marbles out of the circle have a better chance of winning.

Things You'll Need

String (chalk or a stick)
Masking tape
13 target marbles
Shooters (taws)

Instructions

- 1
  Make or draw a circle on a level surface. The circle can range in size from 3 to 10 feet in diameter. Use string if playing indoors, chalk if playing on concrete, or draw a circle with a stick if playing in the dirt. The larger the circle, the more difficult the game is to play. Make two opposing, parallel lines on two sides of the circle. Use masking tape, chalk or a stick.
- 2
  Lag to see which player starts the game. To do this, each player stands behind one line at one side of the circle. He rolls his shooter marble across the circle toward the other line. After all players have had a turn, the player whose marble comes closest to the line without going over wins and starts the game.
- 3
  Arrange 13 target marbles in the center of the circle. Place one marble exactly in the center of the circle, and position four marbles to the right, left, above and below this marble forming a plus sign. Space the marbles about 2 inches apart.
- 4
  Prepare to shoot if you are the player who won the lag. Stand or kneel outside any area around the circle. With your shooter marble, or taw, resting on your curled index finger, place your knuckles on the surface.
- 5
  Propel the marble forward toward the center target marbles with your thumb. If you knock a marble out of the circle, then pick it up. If your shooter remains inside the circle, take another turn playing from where your shooter has stopped. Continue to play until your shooter goes outside the circle, or you fail to knock a marble out of the circle. In this case your shooter remains where it stopped, you lose your turn, and the next player shoots.
- 6
  Knock out an opponent's shooter marble from the circle when it is your turn. This is not require, but is a good strategy because if you are successful you get to take all of your opponent's marbles and he or she is out of the game.
- 7
  End the game when all of the marbles have been knocked out of the circle. Each player counts the number of marbles they have collected, and the player with the most marbles win the game.

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