How To Play Marbles

On your playing surface, draw or mark a circle that’s anywhere from 3 feet to 10 feet across. The bigger your circle, the harder the game will be.

Draw or mark a line next to the circle so that the circle just touches the middle of the line. Draw another line that mirrors the first line on the other side of the circle.

Decide who’s going first. Each player should stand behind one of the lines and toss or shoot one marble toward the other line. This is called “lagging.” The person whose marble lands closest to the second line goes first. The next closest player goes next, and so on.

In the very center of the circle, set up the marbles in the shape of a plus sign.

The first player kneels down anywhere outside of the circle holding his shooter in one hand with at least one knuckle touching the ground. This is called “knuckling down.” Get it?

With his thumb, the player flicks his shooter toward the marbles. His goal is to knock one or more of them outside of the circle while leaving his shooter inside the circle.

If the first shooter hits a marble outside of the circle, he picks up the marble and keeps it, for one point. He can now shoot again from the spot where his shooter landed.

The first shooter’s turn continues until he doesn’t knock out a marble. Then he has to leave his shooter where it is, and it’s the next person’s turn.

The next player now knuckles down and shoots from anywhere outside the circle. If she knocks out a marble, she picks it up and keeps it.

A player can also try to knock out another person’s shooter. If she does, on that player’s next turn, he won’t have the advantage of shooting from inside the circle, closer to the marbles. He’ll have to shoot from a spot outside the circle.

The game is over when all the marbles have been knocked outside of the circle. The player with the most marbles wins.