Playing Marbles: Rules of the Game

Playing Area

• The playing area for marbles is a 2-foot-wide circle. In asphalt and concrete areas, you can use a piece of chalk to designate the playing field. In other fields of play such as carpet or wood, you can use a piece of string. Place a group of marbles tightly within the center of the circle. Players decide how many marbles are within the circle. There is no required amount. Keep only the shooter marble in your possession. The shooter marble is the marble in your group that is larger than the others.

Instructions

• With your playing partners, take turns shooting the target marbles at the center of the circle. Shooting requires the player to flick the shooter marble out of your hand by using your thumb. The main goal of the game is to knock each marble outside of the circle with the shooter marble. If you successfully manage to remove a marble from the playing area, you are granted an extra turn. Otherwise, players alternate chances at one throw per turn.

Declaring a Winner

• Players must gather the marbles they removed from the playing area during their turns. Continue playing until every marble has been removed from the circle. From here, scores are calculated and a winner is determined. Each marble you remove from the circle counts as your cumulative score. Compare your score to the other players in the game. The individual with the highest score is the winner.