Around Abbys Table: Marbles, a Family Game

Description: Choose your dice and your marbles for a fun family game!

“Marbles”

Lets start with an all time family favorite of ours. As far back as I can remember my family has been playing Marbles. It is a game much like “Sorry” or “Aggravation,” but played on a home made board with four different colored marbles. Grandpa made boards, my mom and her siblings grew up playing, in turn all the grand kids grew up playing. My sister and I even taught our friends to play. Many hours were spent at family holidays around my grandma's table playing with my cousins and aunts. Now we have taught our kids to play, and we play together as a family.

What you need is four friends to play, your marble board, marbles (four each of four colors), and four dice. Each player picks a base, and their marbles. The object of the game is to get all four of your marbles from base to home first.

The rules are pretty simple:

1: Each player rolls their dice- highest # rolls first

2: You can start a marble from base if you roll a 1 or a 6

3: A 6 rolls again

4: You cannot jump your own marble

5: If a different player lands on your marble- go back to base

6: First one to move all their marbles around the broad from base to home WINS!!!

The “SUCKER HOLE” because only a sucker will use it ;). Let me explain. There is a short cut around the board if you want to take it. It is a risky move but will cut your trip around the board down by ¾.

1: There are of course rules for the Sucker Hole:

2: You can only enter on YOUR base corner

3: You can only exit on YOUR home corner

4: You can only exit if YOU roll a 1

A one or six starts a marble...

A six earns another roll, and gets you to the sucker hole from starting position.

It is having to roll that last one that makes it a sucker move. I have gone most a game without ever rolling a 1. I have also played games that ALL I rolled was 1's. Myself, I like to play it safe and stick with moving each marble around the broad and not risk the Sucker Hole, but the kids and the hubby fight over it. You an often hear someone yelling out “I hope you rot there!” or “You're a sucker."

When I moved out I asked my grandpa to make me my own marble board, he gave it to me for Christmas. Now I have taught my husband and kids to play marbles, and we spend many nights around the table playing the loved game. Seeing and hearing my little family around my table playing on the broad Grandpa made for me, brings so many memories flying back. Memories from all my cousins and I sitting around Grandma and Grandpa's table, to childhood friends in a circle on the ground. Chasing each others' marbles around the broad, laughing for hours, even the occasional “you cheated”hollered across the room, to the joyous shout of a victory. Marbles is a fun game for any family to spend some time around their table playing.

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