The game of marbles is over four thousand years old.  Archaeologists have discovered in the country of Pakistan what they say are marbles from an ancient settlement of Indus Valley peoples.

 

Marbles is played in a circle of various sizes.  At the start of the game, the marbles are placed in the center, arranged in an X pattern.  Players use a larger marble to knock out of the ring more marbles than their opponent.  This is done by flicking the larger marble with your thumb.

The marble used by a player to knock the other marbles out of the circle is called the shooter marble.  Sometimes the shooter marble is also called the “taw”, the “masher”, the “thumper”, or the “toebreaker”.  The first shot must be taken from the edge of the circle.  Any marbles knocked out are collected by that player.  The players take turns shooting.

Players must only knock their own marbles out.  If a shooting player knocks another player's marble out of the circle, the shooting player gets to keep the marble for the rest of the game.  If the shooter marble stays inside the circle on the first shot, the next shot can be taken from the spot where the shooter landed.

Some games are called keepsies because the players get to keep the marbles they win in a game.  Marbles is a lot of fun, and no video game equipment is needed!