7 Board Marble Games

Do you feel like you’ve lost your marbles as of late? Have you sat around feeling bored and wondering what could possibly keep you entertained while challenging our brain at the same time? Perhaps you’ve lost your marbles over the fact that your kids are equally as bored and in need of something to do. Luckily, you can get your marbles back with the help of 7 board games with marbles.

Board marble games are a fun way to pass the time. You can play board games no matter the weather outside, and some board games you can choose to play by yourself or with someone else. The list of board games below can help you choose those that best suit you whether you are looking for a game for you or perhaps your children.

1. Solitaire

Pass the time away with this single player board game featuring a round wooden board with 37 round grooves and 36 marbles. The goal of Marble Solitaire is to clear all but one of the marbles off the board by jumping one space over a marble using another marble. While that might sound relatively simple, directional movement limitations make this game both fun and challenging at the same time. For an entertaining brain teaser, this marble board game is highly recommended for one person looking to pass the time.Enter your text here…

2. Aggravation

Aggravation is a classic marble board game that was first introduced in 1962. The game is fun for 2 people or an entire family of 6. Aggravation challenges players to move their marbles around the board from their base positions to the home area. The first player to get all of their marbles to the home area wins the game. Keep in mind that challenging players can capture your marbles, which makes this a challenging, competitive, and fun game to play.

3. Chinese Checkers

Of the 7 board games with marbles found on this list, Chinese Checkers is perhaps one of the most well-known. The game offers a natural wooden board that is 11.5 inches in diameter and 60 wooden marbles in 6 different colors, including red, green, white, black, blue, and yellow. Chinese Checkers provides fun and challenging play for up to 6 players, a player for each set of colored marbles. The goal of the game is to move your colored marbles across the board to the adjacent triangle. 

You can move your marbles in any direction you would like, but you can only “hop” one space to an empty adjacent space. You are allowed to hop over the marbles belonging to other players as long as there is an empty space just beyond where their marble sits. Keep in mind that you are not allowed to jump over more than one marble at a time. All-in-all, this class marble game can provide hours of intellectual challenges and entertainment.

4. Mancala

Mancala is yet another classic, yet well-loved, well-received game. The game is played on a wooden folding board with 48 beautiful glass gemstones or slightly flattened marbles. The game encourages strategic and fun gameplay among 2 players. To play, place the board long ways in front of you. You should have 6 holes on your side of the board and 6 holes on your opponent’s side of the board. Take the 48 marbles you have and place 4 in each of the empty holes.

The goal is to move your marbles in a counter-clockwise direction. You grab all of the marbles at once but you are only allowed to drop one at a time into the hole next to your gems. The first player to get rid of all of his or her marbles wins the game. In other words, losing your marbles in this instance is a good thing.

5. Hungry Hungry Hippos

Most of the other board games mentioned above are for older children and adults. Young children might find the brain-teasing, mentally challenging games above too difficult for their liking. Fortunately, Hungry, Hungry Hippos is the perfect game for young crowds. The goal of this game is to get your designated hippo to swallow as many marbles as possible. Whoever manages to get their hippo to swallow the most marbles wins the game.

Hungry, Hungry Hippos supports up to four players. Each player chooses their designated hippo and the 20 small marbles are placed in the middle of the board. Players then send their hippos into a feeding frenzy in order to swallow as many marbles as possible. This game is great for groups of young children or even a fun, family-friendly game night.

6. Ker Plunk

For over 35 years, Mattel has used a combination of marbles and strategy to create a fun game known as Ker Plunk. In order to play, players must push 30 of the included thin sticks through the small holes in the middle of a plastic tube. You must then pour the 32 included marbles on top of the sticks. Players take turns removing sticks one at a time, but you must do so carefully. The player who causes the marbles to fall to the bottom loses the game. This blast from the past is a fun game to play for 2-4 players.

7. Screwball Scramble

Screwball Scramble might be an older marble game, but it is still a goodie. This fun game encourages young players between the ages of 5 and 10 to race against the cock as they scramble to get their marble through a maze of obstacles. From a moving platform to jumping through hoops, this game can provide hours of entertainment with just one marble and some careful thought process. The game is just challenging enough to be fun and yet simple enough that young children will enjoy it, too.

Fun Facts About Board Marble Games

Marbles have a long history of use for fun. The first traces date back around 1588 according to TIME Magazine. One notable location where marbles have been used for centuries is Tinsley Green, West Sussex, England.

Ever since 1932, the British and World Marbles Championship have been held at Tinsley Green on an annual basis. The first championship in 1932 was won by a team from the Black Horse public house in nearby Charlwood. As history went on, the marbles playing season would go on from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday. As you can imagine, people back then were very superstitious. It was thought that playing after Good Friday would bring bad luck.

Professional marble players around the world often tend to collect several types of marbles of different shapes, sizes, and textures. Many people look forward to purchasing scarce marbles from known artisans and producers. A marble’s worth is primarily determined by the type, size, condition, and visual appeal, coupled with the law of supply and demand. Ironically, some ugly but rare marbles are also high on the asking price range. But you should know that this is rather an exception than a rule.

As you can imagine, marbles today are rarely made by hand. That’s why the artisan-made ones are so much more valuable as a rule of thumb. But in the older days, marbles were made mostly by hand, the most valuable ones being produced with stone or ivory. You could also find the more common clay, pottery, ceramic, or porcelain marbles that were made by rolling up the material into a ball and letting it dry over a fire. Either way, it’s outstanding to think about how much a little ball can be worth in today’s currency. For something so simple, marbles are really unique.

Verdict

The list above provides you with some of the most entertaining board games played with marbles that there are. Luckily, you can now use one of the games mentioned to prevent you from losing your own marbles. You can keep yourself, your family, and your children entertained for hours with any one of the games mentioned above.

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