Types of Marble Games

Marbles

• The most basic marble game is called Marbles or Ringer. In this game, players try to knock individual marbles out of a circle using a shooter marble. To set up the game, a large circle is set on the ground, and two lines are drawn on either side of the circle. Players scatter 13 marbles inside the circle, and then each player takes turns trying to knock one or more of the marbles out of the circle using her shooter marble. If she is successful, the player keeps the marble. However, if a shooter marble goes out of the circle, the player does not get to keep the marble.
  You can also play this game by setting up the marbles in a pattern. Players can also play for keeps, with every marble they knock out of the circle becoming their own marble to keep.

Mancala

• A classic marble game, Mancala is a favorite of many children and adults. Unlike regular marbles, Mancala requires a game board with six small holes and two large holes, or bowls. In the game, players try to move all of their marbles from inside the six small holes into their bowl at the end of the board.
  Though there are several variations of Mancala, many versions require players to pick up all their marbles and place them, one at a time, in each of the succeeding holes, placing a marble in their own bowl if they happen to reach it but skipping their opponent̵7;s bowl. The player who wins is the one with the most marbles in his or her bowl at the end of the game.

Chinese Checkers

• Chinese Checkers is another classic marble game that requires a game board. The board is a square shape, and the marbles are place in small holes in the shape of a six-pointed star. Players select one point of the star as their own. If only two players are playing, they must play the two corners directly across from one another. The object of the game is to get marbles from the player̵7;s own corner into the opponent̵7;s corner. A player can eliminate other players̵7; marbles by skipping over them if they are adjacent to her marbles, much like the game checkers.