How to Play Marble Boccie

Boccie or bocce is a game derived from games played in the Roman Empire. The game in its present form originated in Italy and is also sometimes called lawn bowling. The game is played on soil or asphalt with small balls a bit bigger than a softball. However, you can scale the game down and play it with marbles.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A space of hard ground
• 6 marbles for each player
• A larger marble for target
• 2 or more players
• Stick to draw a line

1. Find a nice place outside on the hard ground to play this game. Make a shooting line on the ground with a stick and have all players sit behind it.
2. Designate 6 marbles of 1 color for each player. Each player should have different colors to distinguish between players.
3. Set up a target to shoot at on the playing field. This can be a marble of that is a different color than the players' marbles or a larger marble.
4. Take turns shooting your marbles down the playing field, aiming for the target or other players' marbles to get them out of the way.
5. Win the round and score 1 point if your marble is closest to the target after everyone has shot their 6 marbles.
6. Score an additional point, as the winner of the round, for each marble you have (if any) that are closer to the target than any other player's. For example, if you have marbles that are in the first and second positions, you have earned 2 points. If you only have the first position, you get 1 point.
7. Win the game if you are the first player to score 21 points in the game.

Tips & Warnings

• Play strategically. Sometimes you may have to forgo hitting the target and aim for another player's marble in order to knock it out of position.
• It is okay to hit the target marble in the game of Marble Boccie. There is no penalty for doing so.