Rules for Ringer (A Marbles Game)

One of the requirements for the Marbles Belt Loop from the Cub Scout Academics and Sports Program is to explain the rules of Ringer and play a 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.

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.