Rules for Ringer (A Marbles Game)

What Is Ringer Marble Game?

When you think of kids playing marbles, you are probably picturing Ringer in your mind – a circle on the ground and kids shooting at the marbles within.

The rules for Ringer are given below. You might want to review marbles terminology before going through them. There are house rules and other variations which can be added. These are very simple rules to make it easy for Cub Scouts to learn the game. Traditionally, there are two players, but you can let up to six beginners play together.

How to Play Ringer

Lagging

The first person to shoot in a game of marbles is determined by lagging:

  1. Draw a line on the ground.
  2. The players shoot at the line from 10 feet away.
  3. The player closest to the line goes first.

The Game

  1. Draw a ring (a large circle – usually about 5 to 10 feet across) and put 13 marbles in it . The marbles should be in a cross and spaced 3 inches apart.
  2. Each player shoots in turn from outside the circle, trying to hit a marble out of the ring while keeping his shooter inside the ring.
  3. If the shooter has a miss, his turn is over and he picks up the shooter.
  4. If the shooter has a hit but the shooter also rolls out of the ring, he keeps the marbles that rolled out and his turn is over.
  5. If the shooter has a hit and the shooter stays in the ring then player shoots again from the place where the shooter stayed.
  6. On each new turn a player shoots from anywhere outside the ring.
  7. The person who collects the most marbles is the winner.

More Resources

Marble Terminology

What is a Shooter? What does “Knuckling Down” mean? What is the difference between “Playing for Keeps” and “Playing for Fair”? Learn about these marble terms and even more before playing your first game of Ringer.

These Cub Scouts Have Not Lost Their Marbles

See how a Cub Scouts participated in a marbles tournament and successfully participated in this large group game.

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