Marbles was a popular childhood game with real-world consequences. Expressions like “losing the marbles” and “playing for real” come from the game. To play, a suitable field is created, players contribute marbles to the center, and the goal is to knock out other players’ marbles. The winner collects the most marbles. Official tournaments still exist, and marbles can be purchased at most stores.
Although the game of marbles may have largely fallen out of use among modern schoolchildren, it was once a very popular childhood game with some real-world consequences, such as the sudden loss of a favorite “aggie” or “eye of cat”. Expressions like losing the marbles, going about business, and playing for real can all be traced back to the original game of marbles. There are still official marbles tournaments held in various locations around the world, and the marbles themselves can still be purchased at most local department and toy stores, but there aren’t as many players of the game as there once were.
To play the most basic game of marbles, a suitable playing field must first be created. A sandy playground or safety area for a baseball field would be ideal, although any flat outdoor area with minimal grass would be suitable. Using a stick or compass, a player circumscribes a large circle between a few feet and about ten feet in diameter. The area within this circle is the official playing surface and should be cleared of any large debris that could affect play.
Once the field is created, all players must contribute a certain number of small marbles to the center of the ring. These marbles are arranged in the shape of a cross, with each marble spaced a few inches apart. The balls in the ring are considered targets for each shooter. At this point, players should decide whether they are playing for fun or “for the little ones”. If playing for fun, the same marbles are put back into the ring after each game. If playing for keepies, the winners of each game keep all played marbles, and each player bets on new marbles for the next round.
To determine who fires first, a player shouts “First!” or each player uses a larger marble to stay in place. Delaying means starting behind a line at the bottom of the circle and shooting a shooting ball towards a line at the opposite end of the circle. The shooter who lands closest to the line goes first, followed by the second-closest shooter, and so on.
The first shooter can place his ball anywhere on the outer perimeter of the circle. The goal of the basic game of marbles is to drive another player’s target marbles or shooter completely out of the ring without sending your own shooter out of bounds. The first shooter generally aims at the central array of balls and positions his shooter in a slot formed by curling his thumb behind the second knuckle of his index finger. The index finger holds the thumb in tension until the player takes his shot. This is called a knuck down, and the release should be strong enough to push the largest ball into the ring and force at least one ball out of the circle.
As long as the shooter keeps hitting balls out of the ring without losing his shooter, the round continues. The shooter must play the shooter’s ball where it is in the ring, but the direction is still at their discretion. All balls ejected from the ring during a round are collected by the shooter and counted.
If the shooter fails to hit a ball, his turn is over and the next shooter takes to the ground outside the ring. This second shooter can target either the smallest balls or the first shooter’s largest ball. If the shooter manages to knock another player’s ball out of the ring cleanly, the other player is no longer considered a valid player for that round.
A game of marbles ends when all marbles have been cleared from the ring. Eligible players count the number of marbles they have collected, and the one with the most marbles is declared the winner of that game. Subsequent rounds may be played to determine an ultimate champion, or play may simply continue until enough players have run out of marbles to make future rounds impossible.
Thankfully, tournament-grade glass marbles aren’t prohibitively expensive, although some older marbles are considered highly collectible depending on their age, condition, and manufacturer. Back when a game of marbles was a form of neighborhood challenge, some successful players compiled quite valuable collections of glass or stone marbles. Commercially produced modern marbles may not be as collectible, but at least they are still sold alongside other nostalgic games such as jacks and picking sticks.
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