Marbles

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    Learn More About Marbles

    Learning how to play marbles is easy, making it a game that’s a blast to play for young and old alike. Keep things light by playing for fun or get your competitive juices flowing with a game for keeps. There are tons of variations of marbles, but here are some basic guidelines for a standard game for two or more players:


    1. Create a circle. If you’re playing inside, use a string to make your circle. Outside, use chalk or draw a circle in the dirt. The standard circle size is about three feet in diameter, but feel free to make it larger or smaller. The larger the circle the more difficult a game.
    2. Choose a shooter, also known as a taw, marble. Check your marble sizes. This marble should be larger than the others because the added size and weight will help knock marbles out.
    3. Create a straight line, then each player rolls their shooter towards it. A proper shot is flicked out of your hand with your thumb. A common form of play requires players to “knuckle down,” meaning their knuckles must touch the ground as they shoot. Whoever is closest to the line goes first, or if you prefer, you can play rock, paper, scissors, or flip a coin.
    4. Each player puts the same number of marbles inside the circle. The more marbles you choose, the longer the game.
    5. From just outside the circle, the first player shoots their shooter. Each marble they knock outside of the circle is theirs. Decide if you want to play a version where the shooter keeps going until they don’t get a marble out, or limit each turn to a single shot.
    6. Leave your shooter inside the circle as your opponent takes their turn. One variation of the game is to take your next turn from that spot. If you want to make the game more difficult, shoot from outside the circle each time. Another variation allows a player to hit the other player’s shooter or taw marble out of the circle for an instant win.
    7. Keep taking turns until all of the marbles are out of the circle. Then tally up how many marbles each player has. Whoever has the most wins!

    Marbles were originally handmade with materials like marble, stone, clay, or ivory. However, machine made glass marbles eventually took over as the predominant style on the market. Still, there are several other kinds of modern marbles. An aggie is made of agate. An alley is made of marble or alabaster. A steel marble is a steely. Then there are designs and patterns, such as a swirly (clear with a swirl of color), a cat’s eye (with eye-shaped color cores), or a tiger (clear with orange or yellow stripes).


    Whether you’re playing marbles with friends or just adding to your collection, there are always new marbles to discover. If you’re a collector, explore the vintage marbles from Etsy sellers. For a personalized touch, go with a custom marble pouch to carry your collection.

    Beyond the game of marbles, there are plenty of toys that use marbles as part of the fun. Here are a few of the most popular types of marble toys:


    • Marble mazes: Sometimes called labyrinths, a marble maze is a box with a maze on top. The player tilts the maze to guide a marble through to the end, trying to avoid holes along the way.
    • Marble run toys: Build a marble run track then watch your marble roll down all of the twists and turns. Many have features like tunnels, cones, ferris wheels, and lights. Marble run toys are great ways to promote creativity and kids’ budding engineering skills.
    • Marble roller coasters: A variation of a marble run toy, a marble roller coaster focuses more on speed and upside down loops. These can also make great science projects since physics are part of the experience.