Move your marbles toward their goal by connecting to other marbles along the way.
2-4 players
Goal
Roll your marbles into the circle that is across from you (your home circle). You win if you get the highest number of marbles into your home circle. In case of ties, the player who did it first wins.
Set-up
1. Select a playing surface: a short carpet, rug, or large table covered by a tablecloth.
2. Tie together the two ends of about 18 inches of string to make a circle about 6 inches in diameter. Make four of these circles.
For four players set up the circles as in the diagram above. The circles across from each other should be about 3 to 4 feet apart (whatever you agree upon). The above diagram is not to scale, but just shows the relative placement of the circles.
For three players, set up the circles as a triangle. For two players, set two circles up across from each other.
3. Each player picks a color and gathers just 7 marbles of that color. (You can decide to use all 10 marbles, but the game takes longer.)
4. Each player sits behind a different circle and places their marbles next to that circle (called the starting circle).
5. In the center of your playing area, scatter the 10 marbles from an unused color so none are sticking to each other. This seeds the playing area for so more chains will form.
Play
Phase 1 (Create some chaos): A Mini Meteor Shower
1. Each player gets ready to roll 7 their marbles.
2. When someone says "Go," each player quickly rolls the 7 marbles they have one at a time into the center. Marble chains will be forming right and left in the center of the playing area.
3. If, during this little meteor shower, any marbles roll completely out of the playing area, these marbles are returned to their owners and set inside their respective starting circles. They will be used in phase 2 (below).
Phase 2 (Create some order): Sending the Marbles Home
1. In this phase, players take turns rolling a marble. The goal is to roll your marbles into your home circle (the circle across from you).
2. On your turn, you either roll for the home circle directly or roll to connect to another marble(s) in the playing area.
Be careful! If you roll a marble and it doesn't get into the home circle or it doesn't connect to another marble(s) in the playing area, then you lose this marble. It is removed from the playing area and set aside.
Game Over
The game is over when no player can move a marble to their home circle. Count up the marbles in each home circle. The player with the highest number wins. In case of ties, the player who did it first wins.
What marbles can be rolled? A player can roll a marble of their own color (1) that is in their own starting circle or (2) at the end of a chain in the playing area.
Examples: Consider the green marbles in the chains below. In the first chain, the green marble can be rolled because it is at the end of a chain. In the second chain, the green marbles cannot be rolled because they are not at either end. When the white marble is rolled, for example, a green marble will be at the end at then you will be able to roll it. In the third chain, the green marble can be rolled. And, of course, in the fourth chain, the green marble can be rolled--it is the only marble in the chain.
What if a chain forms a circle (as below)? All marbles in a closed structure can be rolled (otherwise, the game will never end because you will never be able to roll one of these marbles).
What if my marble is surrounded by marbles from the unused color? Suppose that yellow is the unused color and that two yellow marbles surround your green marble. You are out of luck. The green marble can never be played, unless this chain gets transformed into a closed structure--which is very unlikely. Sorry.
What happens to those marbles returned to my starting circle (from step 3 in phase 1)? The marble(s) returned to your starting circle need to be rolled toward your home circle (just like your other marbles). On your turn, they can be rolled just like any other marble in the playing area.
We advise you to get these marbles out of the starting circle quickly. They could get trapped by the player using this circle as the home circle. In the picture below, suppose the green marble was returned to its starting circle. The blue player rolls marbles into her home circle and surrounds the green marble. The green marble is trapped! It can no longer move!
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