Then look no further than badminton, the fastest-paced racket sport in the world.

It’s no wonder why this Olympic sport is one of the most popular recreational activities on beaches and rec centers around the world.

In fact, the only sport that’s played by more people than badminton is soccer.

Here’s a full rundown on how to play badminton so you’re ready for the next match. 

HOW TO PLAY BADMINTON? THE BASICS

Badminton is a game for two or four players. It is played using a net, one badminton racket for every player, and a small, lightweight projectile called a birdie or shuttlecock.

A shuttlecock can be made of cork with a feathered tail, or else made of rubber with a plastic tail.

A match between two players is called a singles match, a match between two teams of two players each is called a doubles match, and a mixed doubles match is played with one man and one woman on each team.

A badminton court is 44’ long, with a 17’ width for singles matches, and a 20’ width for doubles. The net should be placed five feet off of the ground across the entire width of the court.

The basic objective of badminton is to hit the birdie back and forth across the net without letting it touch the ground inside your zone.

One of these back-and-forth sessions is called a “rally”.

If the birdie touches the ground in your opponent’s zone, you are said to have “won” that rally and are awarded one point.

To win badminton game, a player must be at least two points ahead of his or her opponent, and have a minimum of 21 points in total. To win a match, a player or team must win a best two out of three series of games.

If players become tied at 20 points, play continues until someone achieves a two point lead or is the first to reach 30, whichever comes first.

>>Learn about different ways to play another one of our favorites: Ping-Pong

GETTING STARTED

To begin, toss a coin to decide which player or team gets to go first. The winner of the coin toss gets to decide which side of the court they would like to play on, and whether they would prefer to serve first or let their opponents serve to them.

In badminton, all serves must be underhanded. That means that contact must be made with the birdie no higher than the bottom of the server’s rib cage.

Both sides of the court are divided into two areas called service courts. When you are serving, you want to aim to the service court diagonal from you.

When the game is starting or the server’s score is even, both the server and their opponent stand in the right-hand service court. When the server’s score is odd, players start from the left.

During the serving phase, any contact between the server’s racket and the birdie counts as a serve, even if it’s unintentional. Once the rally begins in earnest, players can leave the right or left hand service zones as needed.

FAULTS, FOULS, ERRORS, & LETS

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Faults, also known as errors or fouls, are a term used to indicate a rule has been broken, resulting in an end to the current rally and a point for the opposing player or team.

Faults include:

• Hitting the birdie out of bounds. Note that in a lined court, a birdie landing directly on the line is still considered in bounds.
• Hitting the birdie so that it gets stuck in the net or otherwise doesn’t clear it. If the birdie strikes the net but passes over anyway, it is not considered a fault.
• Hitting the birdie after it touches the ground. A birdie cannot be returned if it bounces; as soon as the birdie hits the ground the rally is ended.
• Physical contact with the birdie, either with your body or your clothing.
• Deliberately distracting or otherwise impeding your opponent’s ability to play.
• Hitting the birdie while it is on your opponent’s side of the net.
• Hitting the birdie twice in a row.
• Hitting the birdie when it is already out of bounds.

A “let” is a term used to indicate some kind of interruption to the game that is no one’s fault. In the case of a let, no one loses any points, and the serve does not pass from one player or team to the other. Instead, the point is replayed entirely.

Lets include:

• Both players faulting simultaneously during a serve.
• Sudden inclement weather.
• A birdie falling apart.
• An outside person or object entering the court.
• It is too difficult to discern whether the birdie landed in or out.
• The server serving before the receiver was ready.

SHOTS & STROKES

In badminton, a ‘stroke’ is the term used for the different ways you can swing your racket. There are four main types of stroke:

• Overhead Forehand: the most common stroke, and the most basic to execute. A simple forward swinging motion from above the waist.
• Underarm Forehand: Hitting the birdie with the front of the racket below your waist. Generally used to return drop shots.
• Overhead Backhand: A difficult type of stroke for many to master, the overhead backhand requires you to turn your back to your opponent momentarily.
• Underarm Backhand: Easier to execute than the overhead backhand, this is a good way to return a low shot with added power.

The term ‘shot’, on the other hand, refers to the way the birdie is aimed with the stroke. All shots are executed by using one of the four main types of stroke.

• Clear Shot: Also known as a lob shot, this defensive play sends the birdie high over the net towards the back of the opponent’s court. The purpose of this shot is to buy yourself time to get back into a comfortable position.
• Drop: The aim of a drop shot is to send the birdie just barely over the net, so that it drops in the opponent’s zone as close to the net as possible. This is especially effective when your opponent is out of position.
• Drive: A quick and direct shot aimed close over the top of the net, a drive is often aimed directly at the opponent’s body, hoping to force a fault
• Smash: A downward angled shot, the smash is the faster, deadlier cousin of the drop shot. Smashes are effective, but only possible when the birdie is sufficiently high in the air.
• Net Shot: Returning the birdie close to the net often forces your opponent to use a high clear shot, setting you up for a smash
• Net Kill: Often used to return higher than intended net shots, a net kill is essentially the net shot version of a smash, intended to finish the rally and earn a point
• Net Lift: Intended to move play further away from the net, the Net Lift is often used to return net shots.

One game of badminton is often all it takes to turn people into lifelong fans.

The beauty of badminton is that it can be enjoyed by players of all skill levels and dedications, so whether you’re looking for a casual pick-up game at the beach or you’re a serious athlete looking to put your reaction time to the ultimate test, pick up a couple of rackets, a birdie, and a net, and get started!

The post How to Play Badminton? The World’s Fastest Racket Sport appeared first on Bar Games 101.

Despite having a simple set of rules, as outlined in our introduction to Go, there is a depth of strategy in Go unmatched by many games.

So if you’d like to start to understand some of the deeper strategies that have been refined over the centuries as worldwide players have tried to become masters of Go, read on below.

General Strategies

When it comes to reliably winning Go, there are a few basic rules to bear in mind. If any of the terminology below confuses you, feel free to consult the guide to Go basics.

Keeping track of liberties, or the amount of free spaces touching any given point or stone on the board, is one of the most important, foundational skills in Go. Minimizing the amount of liberties your opponent has, and maximizing your own, is key to success.

To that end, it is important to keep in mind that when compared on a point for point basis, bent lines will always have fewer liberties than straight lines. That means that a bent line is easier for your opponent to surround, and thus claim, than the corresponding straight equivalent.

The outer line of the board is generally claimed early on in the game, but bear in mind when seizing these spots that they also have fewer liberties than open spots in the middle.

An open spot on the edge has three liberties, whereas a spot in the middle has four. That means that spots on the edge are fundamentally more vulnerable than those in the middle.

For this reason, the outer edge is often referred to as the “dead line”.

In the mid to late phases of the game, players of find themselves exchanging “ko threats“, capturing, losing, and recapturing territory.

This style of play can be compared to fencing, with lots of back and forth between opponents.

Aggressive play is inherently risky, as claimed territory tends to have fewer liberties than unclaimed space, but retaking control of territory that your opponent has claimed from you can often make the difference between victory and loss in Go.

As the game advances, that kind of high risk, high reward play becomes more common, and indeed more necessary to maintaining a point advantage, or coming back from a point deficit.

It is also important to remember that, when figuring out the liberties of a point, theoretical liberties still count as liberties. This is because captured stones are removed from play prior to determining stone liberty.

That means that if a point on the board currently has no liberties, but placing a stone there would capture stones and create liberties, then it is not an illegal move.

It is bearing this rule in mind that allows the player to understand the difference between live groups and dead ones.

If you have a group of stones surrounding an empty point, and your opponent then surrounds that group, that territory is now vulnerable.

All your opponent has to do is place one stone in the empty spot, known as a vital point, and suddenly all of your stones in that group are dead stones!

Since dead stones must be removed, this territory has now effectively been claimed by your opponent.

This back and forth is a key component of Go, and mastering the creation of safe groups is key to success.

The Eyes Have It

In Go, the ideal territory to claim is that which your opponent cannot take back, since all the claimed points would be illegal moves. These types of safe, uncapturable groups are known as “eyes” in Go.

A “false eye” is the term for an area that appears to be safe on first glance, but in reality can be recaptured by your opponent. Often, players do not see these vulnerabilities until it is too late.

A group with only one gap is inherently easier for your opponent to capture or recapture than a shape with two eyes. Thus, a group with only one eye is effectively a dead group.

If one of the two eyes in your group is a false eye, this is also a dead group. After all, if the false eye is captured, this leaves the second eye vulnerable.

Dead stones are all removed at the end of play, so it is especially important to keep an eye out for false eyes and dead groups. Remember that as control of the board shifts, so do the liberties of adjacent spaces!

It is a better play to leave two gaps in your claimed territory to avoid reversals, even if it means taking one less point at the end of the game. Better one less point for a large chunk of territory than losing it entirely!

The Shapes of Life and Death

When considering the ways that groups of stones can create liberties and eyes, there are several basic shapes that tend to pop back up.

These shapes are referred to as the “shapes of life and death”, and as you can imagine from their dramatic name, knowledge of the shapes can make the difference between victory and loss.

Fundamentally, all of the shapes of life and death can be categorized using two factors: the number of points in the eye, and what shape the points are in.

Two points in a row, a straight two, is considered a dead shape. Since a straight two is too small to be separated into two eyes, it can be surrounded and captured regardless of how the two free points are played.

Once you get to three points in a group and higher, turn order starts to play much more of a factor in whether a group lives or dies. This idea is referred to as “sente lives, gote dies“, meaning that the player who makes the play first will end up claiming the points.

The straight and bent three are two such shapes: whoever plays on it first will either save the group or kill it by placing their stone on the middle spot. This all-important point is referred to as a “vital point”.

Similarly, a group of four in the shape of a T, often called a pyramid four, is also sente lives, gote dies.

The vital point is directly in the middle, meaning that whoever places a stone there would either kill or save the group.

The bent four (which looks like an L) and straight four are both considered safe “alive” groups, meaning that they are shapes with more than one vital point. This makes them safe from capture, as no matter which space is played on first, it will still create two eyes.

Four points in a square formation, on the other hand, is a dead group.

This shape results in loss of points no matter who plays first, since placing a stone on any one of the four points turns the remaining shape into a bent three.

The crossed five, or flower five, looks a little like the D-Pad on a video game controller. With a vital point in the direct center, this is also a sente lives, gote dies shape.

Similarly, four points in a square with a fifth point sticking off is known as a “knife handle” or “bulky” five.

The vital point for this shape is the point that isolates the fifth point, aka the knife handle, leaving a bent three.

Six points in a rectangle, the rectangular six, is an “alive” shape much as the bent and straight fours.

The “rabbity” six, on the other hand, is sente lives, gote dies, with a vital point directly in the middle. This shape can be easily recognized by the two extra points sticking out of a group of four, like the ears on a rabbit.

Study Time

Learning to recognize shifting liberties, eyes, and the shapes of life and death is key to learning to think further ahead than your opponent in Go. Much like chess plays, the shapes are reference points for more advanced players.

So if you want to take your Go game to the next level, start studying. Being one step ahead of your opponent is often the difference between creating a cunning trap and falling victim to one.

The post How to Play Go Like a Master: Advanced Tips and Strategies appeared first on Bar Games 101.

Whether you’re an amateur looking to have a laugh with your friends or an aspiring expert looking to polish their game, the Flight Club franchise has something for you.

Flight Club is trying to bring the darts experience to the mainstream with an upbeat atmosphere, a drink menu of high class, ‘bespoke’ cocktails, and a menu designed for sharing.

But does the so-called ‘social darts’ experience live up to the hype? Is the fancy grub and custom cocktail menu worth the price bump over your local dingy pub of choice, or the dart board in your buddy’s garage?

Read on and find out!

What Exactly ‘Does Social Darts’ Mean?

No matter where you’re playing, the game of darts tends to be a social. As long as you’ve got friends to play with, it’s got to be social, right?

So what does the Flight Club ‘social darts’ experience entail, and what makes it superior to the boring old regular variety?

Flight Club takes some of the best elements of bowling alleys and private karaoke parlours to deliver a curated, unique experience. That means private screens, score tracking, and more.

Intended for groups of 12 or more people, the extra layer of polish, along with the socially-focused menu, aims to give patrons a memorable experience, more akin to a party than your average game of darts.

But don’t just take our word for it. Here, straight from Flight Club’s own site, is how they describe the social darts experience:

We’ve reinvented darts for the twenty first century, developing a range of fast and exciting multi-player games, built to bring people together and designed to keep you unexpectedly hooked, insatiably entertained and full of joy. Whether you’re an expert darts sniper or a total beginner, everyone has a chance to win when they step up to one of our multiple throw lines.

Servers can be summoned with the push of a button, special screens and games keep the party rolling, and the fun doesn’t even stop when the game does.

In fact, 24 hours after your booking, you will receive a ‘story’ in your inbox detailing your experience at Flight Club.

What’s a Story?

The Story of your booking, a multimedia summary of your visit that will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your booking, is one of the more unique elements of the Flight Club experience.

Containing pictures, gifs, video highlights, and leaderboards, the Story is a tangible memory for all participants to share.

This might just seem like a fun gimmick at first, but it is in fact another element designed to enhance the shared experience of playing darts at Flight Club.

Having control of what gets recorded and emailed to all participants means that no one will be feeling the pressure to record things themselves. That means more time having fun and less time staring at your phone.

Stories are not displayed publicly on the Flight Club website, but emailed via unique link that will only be sent to authorized participants. If it hasn’t been accessed in 28 days, the content is deleted.

Drinks & Food

Flight Club takes the idea of social darts very seriously, having designed every element from the ground up around a positive shared experience.

This extends to the food & drink menus as well, as each Flight Club location has package deals for large groups.

Food menus are full of shareable options, with thin-crust pizzas, sliders, and all manner of delicious treats geared towards being perfect for parties.

Gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan items are all clearly marked on the menu as well.

Drink menus, full of what Flight Club refers to as ‘bespoke cocktails,’ are full of fun and fancy mixological creations worthy of even the choosiest influencer’s social media feed.

For the more traditionally-minded there are also plenty of beer, wine, and non-alcoholic options as well.

History

Founded in 2012 by friends Steve Moore and Paul Barnham, Flight Club was inspired after the duo witnessed a particularly raucous game of darts in a local pub.

Wanting to capture the high-energy, frenetic experience for themselves, and combine it with the welcoming, relaxed atmosphere of an English pub, the idea for Flight Club was born.

The first place they tested their idea was Moore’s shed. More than a million test darts later, and the social darts experience as they envisioned it really started to take shape. Now, Flight Club has four popular venues in four cities with strong pub cultures of their own.

Locations

Flight Club has four total locations across the US and the UK: London, Manchester, Chicago, and Boston.

Detailed pricing information for bookings and menu items can be found on the Flight Club locations’ web sites. Prices are largely comparable across venues, with booking rates fluctuating between peak and off-peak hours.

Reviews & Customer Consensus

At the time of writing, patron reviews online seem to be almost universally positive, praising the atmosphere, service, food, drink, and overall experience of every Flight Club location.

While such things can (and often do) change, it’s certainly a good sign that each Flight Club location has a solid, 4+ star rating online.

Fast Facts

• An ‘oche’ (rhymes with hockey) is the dart term used to specify one of Flight Club’s play areas. This is where you will be seated if you book with Flight Club, the area where your darts, dinner, and drinks will all take place.
• There is no dress code at Flight Club. As long as you don’t show up naked or dripping with mud, you’ll be welcome.
• There are other areas for groups to hang out and drink once their booking has ended, but generally, the oche will have to be vacated to make room for more bookings once your time is up
• You cannot bring your own darts to Flight Club. Their dart boards are specially designed to only recognize their own special darts.
• It is recommended that you arrive 15 minutes before your booking so that the staff can get you set up in time to maximize your reserved play time
• Drinks can be pre-ordered along with the booking to ensure that your entire party has fresh and cold cocktails waiting for them upon arrival

Check out them out:

• Facebook
• Instagram 
• YouTube

The post Flight Club: Could ‘Social Darts’ be the Next Big Thing? appeared first on Bar Games 101.

What do pinball, pachinko, and skee-ball all have in common? They can trace their origins back to 18th century France and the invention of the game Bagatelle!

As mini-putt is to traditional golf, so is Bagatelle to pocket billiards (aka pool).

A  game in the same spirit as outdoor party favorites like lawn bowling, bocce and croquet, Bagatelle was intended to be played indoors, so that fans of those games could continue the good times even in cases of inclement weather.

But you don’t need to be a croquet master to play Bagatelle. All you need to do is read on!

The Basics

The first thing to know about playing Bagatelle is that your play area will vary depending on what version of the game you’re playing. Traditional Bagatelle is played on a full sized Bagatelle table, which is a modified version of a pool or billiards table.

Bell Bagatelle boards, on the other hand, are generally much smaller, roughly the size of a typical board game, and come in wood, plastic, or some combination thereof. But no matter which version you’re playing, the general rules of scoring work the same.

In a game of Bagatelle, each player is given nine balls. It is each player’s goal to get those balls into the holes at the other end of the table, which requires getting them past obstacles in the form of small pegs. (Sounds a lot like bumper pool, doesn’t it?)

Some variants have fixed pegs while others do not, and some versions use pool cues while some are much smaller, but every version shares that one basic core system.

If you’re wondering which version of Bagatelle is best for you, don’t worry: all of the versions will be explained in greater detail below.

But no matter what version you decide on, whether large scale or small, the goal of this game remains the same: take turns hitting the balls into the holes to score points!

The Bagatelle Table

In many ways, a full sized Bagatelle table is similar to a standard pool table. They are both generally wood construction, with cloth walls also known as bumpers or cushions. But that’s that’s where the similarities end!

For one thing, many (but not all) Bagatelle tables are at an incline, in order to facilitate the balls rolling back towards the shooting end of the table.

A Bagatelle table is between two to three feet wide, and six to ten feet in length. But where a pool table has a rectangular play area, a Bagatelle table is rounded on one end, with one semi-circular side and one square side.

Both a pool table and a Bagatelle table have pockets, but where a pool table has six pockets in the corners and the midpoints of both long sides, a Bagatelle table has nine holes dispersed throughout its circular end.

When playing Bagatelle or any of its variants, players should stand at the square end of the table and shoot towards the rounded end.

A Game With History

Dating all the way back to 1777 and the reign of French King Louis XVI, Bagatelle is named for the Chateau Bagatelle, where the aristocracy often convened to party. At just one such shindig, thrown for the King by his brother, Bagatelle was played for the very first time.

The dimensions of a standard Bagatelle table, narrower and longer than most standard pool tables, make sense when taken in the context of billiards as they were played in 18th century France. Back then, pool tables were narrower, with wood or metal pegs on one end.

In those days, pool was played by shooting from one end of the table, trying to knock over wooden pins on the other side, much like bowling. But as resetting the pins started to become a chore (the modern bowling alley would sadly not be invented for quite some time yet!), players instead opted to fix the pins to the table and add holes among the pegs for players to aim for.

Bagatelle quickly became popular in France, and when French soldiers came to America to fight the British in the American Revolution, they brought the game with them. It didn’t take long before the game was just as popular in the new world as it was in the old!

As it spread throughout the rest of the globe, many variations began to crop up, inspiring games like pachinko, pinball, skee ball, and more.

Another traditional bar game you might like: Crokinole: An ovierview of a classic Canadian table-top game

Ways to Play Bagatelle

Victorian Bagatelle: the true Bagatelle experience

The most common full-sized version of Bagatelle is referred to as traditional or Victorian style. This variant is played with a pool cue and eight white or red balls. The ninth ball, in black, is placed in the center at the rounded end of the table.

Players take turns shooting all eight of the balls towards the rounded end of the Bagatelle table. The first shot must be taken from the ‘front spot’, a center point close to the rear of the table that is generally indicated on the table itself.

If the first shot does not strike the black ball in the center, it is removed from the table and does not score any points. Once the black ball has been struck once, shots no longer need to strike any other balls in order to score points, and can be taken from any spot behind the front spot.

For this variant of Bagatelle, the holes will often be numbered, and getting a ball into the hole results in an equivalent number of points for the shooter.

The higher scoring spots are often hidden among the densest clusters of pegs. Good aim isn’t enough in Bagatelle, you also need  good luck!

The black ball in the center acts as a doubler, making the highest possible score for one turn 54 points. A game of Victorian Bagatelle is played to 120 points total, but if one player reaches it first, the other can still win!

If player A gets to 120 points, player B is still allowed to take a turn of their own. If they can reach a higher score than their opponent on this turn, they win instead!

Sans Egal: a faster-paced, more competitive variant

French for ‘without equal’, this variant on traditional Bagatelle gives one player four red balls and the other four white ones. As in Victorian Bagatelle, players take turn shooting for the numbered holes at the other end of the table, but in Sans Egal, players alternate shooting one ball at a time.

A failure to strike the black ball in the center cup results in a penalty of five points and a removal of the shot ball from the play area. If it fell into a hole, those points are forfeit as well.

To really make things more interesting, striking an opponent’s ball in such a way that it falls into a hole results in those points going to that player. That means that sometimes you will take a turn that does more for your opponent than it does for you!

Play continues until both players have shot all four of their balls. To make the game last longer, a multi-round version can be played to a predetermined point total.

Northern Bagatelle: the competitive party-friendly version

This Bagatelle variant plays in some ways like Victorian Bagatelle, with each player shooting all eight balls on their turn. But this version places an emphasis on precision over luck.

In Northern rules, every shot must be taken from the front spot, and in order to be counted, it must strike the black ball before going in a cup or striking any other balls. If it does not, it is removed from the table.

If the black ball is no longer in play, then all shots must strike another white ball instead. If there are no white balls in play either, the ball has to strike a wall.

This version is considered more of a party game than Victorian Bagatelle, and is often played by teams.

Southern Bagatelle: where precision is king

This version is typically played to a score of 121 on a larger table with side pockets, with seven white balls and two red ones.

The red balls begin on the table, and much like the black ball in traditional Bagatelle, shots must strike one of these red balls first in order to be counted. Once the red balls are no longer in play, shots must strike another white ball, or if there are no white balls on the board, then it must strike a wall.

In southern style Bagatelle, players must call their shots before taking them, letting other players know what they are aiming for before they take the shot. If they fail to call their shot, or fail to strike the appropriate ball when taking their shot, they are penalized five points and the ball is removed from the table until the next turn.

In this version, sinking a ball into the side pockets counts for ten points, and sinking any shot with the red ball counts double.

Bell Bagatelle: a pocket-sized precursor to pinball

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This fun-sized variant of Bagatelle is a much more affordable version for those without access to a pool table, played on a small wooden or plastic game board with pegs, usually nails, placed throughout.

A direct precursor to pachinko and pinball, the launching mechanism for Bell Bagatelle will be instantly familiar to any pinball wizards, while the scoring system will be instantly obvious to pachinko fans.

Bell Bagatelle generally uses the standard rules of Bagatelle, with players taking turns shooting all of the balls before recording their scores for the round. The bell at the center of the board takes the place of the black ball in the center of a Bagatelle table, and is sometimes used as a doubler.

Mississippi Bagatelle: Where billiards meets croquet

In this southern-fried version of Bagatelle, rather than having holes, the table features a series of small numbered arches bisecting the play area.

The numbers on the arches correspond to the numbers of the holes in traditional Bagatelle, and serve a similar function when it comes to scoring.

In this variant, players take turns shooting nine balls up the table and through the arches. In order for a shot to count, it needs to strike a wall before passing through an arch.

If it does not strike a wall before passing through one of the arches, the points are added instead to the scores of the player’s opponent(s), and the ball is removed from the table until the next turn.

On the other hand, if a shot bounces off of a wall but doesn’t pass through an arch, subsequent shots can push it through an arch and the points will be counted. Once all players have shot nine balls each, point totals are added and a winner is decided.

Trou Madame: Add some luck to Mississippi style Bagatelle

This version is a variant on Mississippi Bagatelle, and is played much the same way except for one change.

In Trou Madame, once a ball passes through an arch, if it falls into one of the cups, those points are added to the point total as well.

This makes for higher scores, but is also introduces an element of randomness and luck, so if you’re looking for a pure test of skill, consider sticking to Mississippi style.

Whether you’re playing on a pocket-sized play board or a custom-crafted, full-sized table, Bagatelle is a game that requires both skill and luck. That combination of randomness and control has made it a worldwide phenomenon, and is exactly why it would make the perfect addition to your next game night!

Top Image via: Wikimedia Commons

The post The Basics of Bagatelle: Game overview and ways to play appeared first on Bar Games 101.

Quarters is one of the most popular drinking games in the world, and for good reason: it’s simple to learn, difficult to master, and can be played just about anywhere.

At it’s essence, Quarters is a game about bouncing a coin into a glass.

If you have some pocket change, some glasses, and plenty of drinks, you’re ready to play Quarters.

That simple versatility has made it the perfect game to play in a bar, and a mainstay among backpackers and bar flies everywhere.

How to Play Quarters: The Basic Rules

To begin, clear your play area of any spilled beverages, stray cell phones, or other obstructions that might get in the way.

You don’t want anything interfering with your shots when the quarters start flying.

Have your players spread out evenly around the play area.

Here are the rules for a standard game of quarters:

• Put one full cup of beer or shot of liquor at the center of the table. This is the “penalty drink”.
• Take two quarters and two goal cups, and place them in front of two players sitting opposite each other. The goal cups can be anything you have handy, but bear in mind that as the goals get smaller, the shots get harder.
• When a neutral party tells the players to start, you will begin trying to bounce quarters into your goal cups. As soon as a player lands their shot, they pass the cup clockwise to the next player in the circle.
• Coins must be bounced on their faces, not their edges, and all shots must bounce at least once in order to count.

The goal of quarters is to avoid ever having both cups at the same time.

The player who passes another player a second cup should stack their cup inside the other, or tap it with their own. This is called “screwing” them. If you get screwed, you must take one final attempt to land the coin inside the stacked goal cups.

If you can’t make the shot, you must drink the contents of the penalty drink. If you do make the shot, you may pass one of the cups to anyone who doesn’t already have one in hand.

Once the penalty drink has been refilled, a new round begins.

Play carries on until players have had enough to drink, or just get tired of playing.

There is no way to “win” Quarters, so remember to have fun and always make sure there are no stray quarters in anything you drink!

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Optional Quarters Rules & Variations

Quarters is a game with as many regional variants as there are coins in a bank.

If you’ve ever played it before, you’ve probably encountered at least one twist on the standard rules.

Mixing and matching different “house rules” is one of the best things about Quarters, so we’ve assembled a list of some of the best and most popular twists on this classic.

Feel free to use as many or as few of them as you like.

The Challenge Rule:

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Any “near miss” shots that either bounce out of the glass or off the rim, can be challenged by other players. The challenged player can choose to pass on the challenge, and play on as normal, or to accept the challenge by retaking the shot.

Sinking the challenge shot means that all challenging players must drink.

Failing it, on the other hand, means you must take one sip, or chug for one second, for each challenging player.

Three in a Row Rule:

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The three in a row rule is one of the more well known Quarters variants.

If a player makes three shots in a row without missing, they are allowed to make one rule.

Every time someone breaks a rule, they must take a penalty drink. Each new rule replaces the old one.

Rules should be creative and funny, rather than demeaning or embarrassing.

Typical examples are prohibiting pointing, use of the word “drink”, or saying people’s names.

One Cup Rule:

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A simpler variant on Quarters, the one cup rule is good for small groups or a slower-paced, less competitive crowd. For this version, there is only one goal cup and one quarter in play at a time.

Players take turns, passing to their left once they successfully land a shot.

The shooter’s turn does not end until they make a shot, at which point another player of their choosing must take a drink.

Speed Quarters:

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As the name implies, this is a faster-paced version of Quarters.

The main difference comes when someone gets the second cup.

In Speed Quarters, rather than stacking the cups, one is overturned and the second is placed on top. The defending player then has two chances to make the shot.

If they make it on their first try, they can pass the stacked cups to any open player, who then also has two chances to make the shot.

If they make it on their second shot, they pass the top cup to their left, and the bottom cup to the player across from them.

If they miss completely, the player who screwed them spins a quarter.

The defending player must chug until the quarter stops spinning or leaves the designated play area.

Other players are encouraged to do whatever they can to keep the quarter spinning as long as possible. Once the spinning quarter drops, reset for the next round.

Super Quarters (AKA Chandelier):

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In this heavy-duty variation of Quarters, a large penalty drink is placed in the center of the play area. This is called the “Big Chug” or the “chandelier”.

Place one shot glass around the base of the big chug for every player at the table.

As play progresses, players take turns trying to bounce the quarter into the cups at the center of the table.

If a quarter lands in your cup, whether you are the one who bounced it or not, you must drink.

If a player misses entirely, they must drink. Each player takes only one shot per turn, with play continuing to the left.

If someone gets their quarter in the big chug, everyone must immediately drain their entire cup. The slowest player then has to drink the entire big chug.

The Screw Shot Rule:

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Some variations of the game say that if the defending player makes their penalty shot after being screwed, the person who screwed them is now in the hot seat.

Play goes back and forth between those two players until one of them misses, at which point they have to drink.

This is a rule that’s well suited for players who are looking more to show off their skills than they are to drink a lot.

Next time you’re looking to get the party started, but don’t have the supplies for more complex drinking games, don’t forget Quarters.

It’s a classic for a reason!

The post How to Play Quarters: Rules for this Classic Drinking Game appeared first on Bar Games 101.

If so, you’re not alone.

If you’re in the market for a board game that has enough strategic depth for endless replayability, but is simple enough that a child can learn it, look no further than Blokus.

A game of interlocking multicolored pieces called polyominoes, Blokus is all about placing your pieces down on a grid-based play board.

The Blokus Board & Pieces

The Blokus board is a grid of 400 equal sized squares in 20 rows and 20 columns.

The polyomino game pieces are composed of one to five squares arranged in a multitude of patterns.

There are five different kinds of polyomino featured in Blokus, each with one to five individual squares.

Single square pieces are called monominoes.

Double square pieces are called dominoes, a word (and shape) you probably recognize.

Triple square pieces can either be called trominoes or triominoes.

There are two possible arrangements of tromino, an elbow and a straight line.

Pieces with four squares are called Tetrominoes.

There are five possible tetrominoes, and you might remember their shapes from the popular video game Tetris!

Finally, pentominoes, pieces with five squares, are the largest ones in Blokus.

There are 12 possible pentomino arrangements, and you’ll have to deal with every one of them if you want to win!

There are polyominoes larger than five pieces, but none feature in Blokus.

Related: Learn how to play Mexican Train: The Best Dominoes Variant You’v Never Heard Of

How To Play Blokus

To set up, have each player choose a color. Blue goes first, followed by yellow, then red, and green goes last.

Each player should have 21 colored pieces, one for each polyomino featured in the game.

The first piece played by every player should be placed in their respective corner of the board.

After that, pieces may be placed in any open spot, so long as the corner of the new piece is touching the corner of one of your previously placed pieces.

Pieces can only be placed where they are touching corners with another piece of the same color.

Note, however, that only corners are allowed to touch. Edge to edge contact between two pieces of the same color is not permitted.

When it’s your turn, place any of your pieces down on the board somewhere there are no other pieces.

As long as it fits in the available space, and none of its edges touch any of your previously placed pieces, it’s a legal move.

Play continues clockwise, with each player taking turns placing one individual piece or else passing their turn.

As play continues, it becomes increasingly difficult to find open spots.

Eventually, players will either begin to run out of pieces, or run out of open spots to place their remaining polyominoes.

In order to win the round outright, a player must be the first to place all their pieces on the game board.

If the final piece played is a monomino (one square), the player is awarded a 20 point bonus. Going out on any other piece awards a bonus of 15.

If play goes around the table and no one can play any more of their pieces, the game ends, and each player should count the individual squares in all of the pieces they were able to place on the game board.

The player with the highest total is the winner.

Game Strategy

In the early game, most players tend to emphasize placing their larger pieces.

Since there are more pentominoes than there are other pieces, and the pentominoes are worth more points, it is wise to play those quickly.

Playing your large pieces early means you will have plenty of space to fit them, and are much less likely to lose out on those points come the end of the game.

Playing your small pieces is worth less points, but as the board fills up, smaller pieces can often be the only ones that fit in the remaining spaces. Thus, it makes more sense to save smaller pieces for the end of the round.

At the same time, it’s extremely important to pay attention to what your opponents are up to.

Placing your own pieces to disrupt your competition’s plans can force them to use small pieces early on, or even to miss out on placing their large pieces.

Always keep an eye on what everyone else is doing!

Two & Three Player Versions

Though Blokus is designed with four players in mind, there are variants for two or three player games as well.

Playing a two player game in Blokus is fairly straightforward.

Each player is given two colors, and must play both of them.

To get their point bonus, going out with either color awards bonuses as normal, but play continues until no one can place any more pieces, or a player has played all of their pieces for both of their colors.

As a variant of the two player rules, play ends when any color goes out completely. Both players add up their point total, with one sum for both colors.

This variant can bring up surprising results, where despite not being the one to place the final piece, players win with higher overall point totals.

In other words, in this variant of Blokus, adding up the point totals of the second and third place colors can sometimes beat those of the first and fourth places!

To play with three players, decided on a neutral color. Before regular play begins, take turns placing the neutral color randomly throughout the play board.

The neutral pieces should be placed as obstructions for all players. Do not place them in such a way that one player has a clear advantage over the other two in terms of open spaces in their corner of the board.

Other Variants of Blokus

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Blokus Duo AKA Travel Blokus: A two player version of Blokus, this version uses a smaller game board and only two colors. Starting pieces are placed in the center of the board rather than at the corners since there are only two players.

These two factors combined means that players start running into eachother’s pieces sooner in the game. This forces more offensive strategies on both players’ part, and makes for a faster-paced, more competitive experience than standard Blokus.

Blokus Trigon: This version is similar to the original Blokus in terms of strategy and rule set, but features triangle-based game pieces and a hexagonal grid game board rather than the square grid and game pieces of the original game.

Blokus Giant: This larger-than-life version of Blokus is exactly what it sounds like.

Colors and rules are the same as the standard game, as is the play grid, but both are larger in scale.

The only difference to this version is the size of the game board and polyomino game pieces, making it perfect for small children or people with poor vision.

Blokus Junior: The children’s version of Blokus is a two player experience, similar to Blokus Duo. The rules are the same as regular Blokus for this version.

The only difference is in the variety of game pieces.

To help children understand the rules and engage with the strategy of the game, a smaller, simpler variety of polyominoes is used for each color.

Since its release, Blokus has been a favorite of teachers and daycare workers for its use as an educational tool. It’s a game where you have to plan, visualize, strategize, and try to outwit your opponents, and it’s that depth that has turned Blokus into a sensation.

Whether you’re a parent looking for a fun way to help get your kids’ brains working hard or just looking to add a fun, competitive, and strategic party game to your board game collection, Blokus might just be exactly what you’re looking for!

Top Image Credit: Judith Doyle @ Flickr

The post Learn How to Play Blokus (The “Polyomino” Game) appeared first on Bar Games 101.

If you’re not quite a world-class athlete, but you still crave the heady rush of elite competition, you might be right for the Beer Olympics, the pentathlon of drinking games.

A popular favorite at frosh weeks, pub crawls, and house parties, Beer Olympics is a great choice for large crowds.

By dividing groups into competing teams and sticking to a set schedule of events, even the rowdiest of parties stays on track with the Beer Olympics.

First, we’ll give you 7 Beer Olympics games to play, including games of skill and games of endurance. Then we’ll provide a general guide to setting up and running your own event.

Beer Olympics: Games of Skill

Quarters:

Test your precision by bouncing quarters into shot glasses. First one to bounce the quarter into the glass is the winner! This event can be played one on one or team versus team.

Learn how to play Quarters here.

Beer Pong:

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Arrange six cups in a bowling-pin arrangement, and fill them part way with beer. Players take turns throwing the ping pong balls into each other’s cups from across the table.

If a ball makes it into a cup, the defending player must drink its contents and then remove it from the play area. First one to clear all of their opponent’s cups gets the big points.

This event should be played one on one or in teams of two with teammates taking turns.

Learn more about Beer Pong

Flip Cup:

place rival teams opposite each other across the play area. Each player should have a drink on the table in front of them.

When the game starts, players must drain their drink, then place it upside down, with the rim hanging over the edge of the table.

Using one finger, players must attempt to strike the cup so that it flips back over and lands right-side up. Once the first team member is finished, the next may begin. This is a whole team event.

Learn more about Flip Cup

Beer Olympics: Games of Endurance

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Chug Race:

Nominate the best chugger from each team, and have them sit in a group facing the ref. When the referee says to begin, everyone starts chugging their drink as quickly as they can.

If you stop drinking before your opposition, you lose. If you finish your entire drink without spilling any before your opposition finishes theirs, you are the winner.

Big Bucket Challenge:

Place one full drink per team member into a large vessel, either a pitcher or a clean bucket. The team must finish the beer, again without spilling any, by any means necessary.

This is a full team event, and a time penalty should be applied for spilling or interfering with the other team.

Relay Race:

This is a team event that requires some running, so be sure to clear out a path beforehand. Have teams stand in a line at one end of the room, each of them holding a beer. When the referee says go, the two lead players begin to drink their beer.

Once they finish their beer, they must bend over so that their forehead is touching the end of the baseball bat. Using the vertical baseball bat as a central point, they must take ten full rotations around the bat until they are nice and dizzy.

Their spins completed, they must then run to the other end of the room, touch the wall, and run all the way back to tag the next person in line. The team who gets their final player back to the starting line first wins.

Case Race:

Typically reserved to be the final event of the Beer Olympics, the Case Race is exactly what it sounds like: each team races to finish an entire case of beer.

The Setup

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In the Beer Olympics, teams of at least four people compete in a set series of events.

There is no limit to the number of teams that can participate, but teams should not be any larger than six players.

It is better to have a large number of smaller teams than it is to have a small number of larger teams.

Tip: Try to divide teams so that all teams have roughly equivalent drinking capacities.

If you have a designated driver or otherwise non-participating friend, they can act as the referee. Try to make sure that whoever is chosen as referee is as impartial as possible.

To decide which events will take place and in which order, each team should designate a team captain to speak on their behalf in a pre-game meeting. Send team captains to confer with the referee.

Once the events have been selected and announced, teams should decide among themselves which team members will compete in which solo events.

Events should be chosen to test a variety of skills. No player is allowed to play in multiple solo events.

If you decide to include individual events, make sure to pick a number equivalent to the amount of players on each team. That way, every team member gets to play in at least one solo event, and no one is drinking a disproportionate amount compared to their teammates.

Teams should be encouraged to get into the spirit of things, wearing uniforms, choosing entrance music, and engaging in some friendly trash talk.

If you decide to divide teams on a national basis, the reigning champions or event organizers always get to play as the “home team”.

Once all the teams are in position, have the referee announce the events and reveal the prize. The more you want to foster the competitive spirit of your players, the more over-the-top you want to be with your opening ceremony.

Equipment

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Due to the large number of players for Beer Olympics, it is advised to have all teams bring their own alcohol.

Tip:Make sure that all of your drinks have roughly the same alcohol content to avoid giving anyone an undue advantage.

What equipment you will need for your particular version of Beer Olympics will depend heavily on which events you select.

To be on the safe side, try to assemble all of the classic party game supplies:

• Cups
• Shot glasses
• Ping Pong Balls
• Quarters
• Baseball or wiffle ball bat
• A Prize

Scoring

Score is determined by placement in the Beer Olympics, and will vary depending on how many teams you have.

Last place is always one point, second-to-last is worth two points, all the way up to first place.

The more teams there are competing, the more valuable it is to win, but the more difficult it is to maintain a winning streak!

Once all events are complete, add up all the points. The winners take home the prize, and gain the privilege of being the next event’s reigning champions.

Faster players might drink more than slower ones, but each player must complete at least one full beer in order to qualify as having successfully completed the case race.

The beauty of the Beer Olympics is that there are as many potential events as there are drinking games in existence.

If you’ve got a favorite competitive drinking game, make it an event at your next Beer Olympics and show the world what a gold-medal competitor you are!

The post The Beer Olympics: Games of Skill and Endurance appeared first on Bar Games 101.

But it’s also notoriously cutthroat, the kind of party game that can quickly turn a quiet family evening into a heated argument.

So what if you want to play a game that’s got the deep strategy of dominoes but with a less in-your-face style of competitive play?

That’s where Mexican Train, a dominoes variant for two to eight players, really shines.

THE BASICS

To play Mexican Train, you’ll need a set of double-12 dominoes, a marker for each player, and a central “train station” hub piece. 

The main objective of Mexican Train is to be the first one to play all your dominoes.

If you don’t have double-12 dominoes, variants can be played with other kinds of dominoes as well, depending on how many players you have.

See the “variants” section for more details.

Most dedicated Mexican Train sets come with player markers and hubs, but anything at all can be used as a marker. If you’ve got a coin, a poker chip, a guitar pick, or even a piece of candy, you’ve got markers.

To begin, take the double-12 domino and set it in the middle of the play area. This piece is referred to as “the engine”.

If you don’t have a train station, simply place the engine piece in the middle of the play area.

Once the engine is in place, put the rest of the dominoes face down on the play surface and shuffle them.

Each player then draws their hand according to how many people are playing the game:

Once everyone has a hand, the youngest player goes first.

You can also draw straws, flip a coin, or play rock paper scissors to decide who gets the first move.

There is little advantage in turn order in Mexican Train, so don’t worry too much about this part.

The important thing is to get the train a-rollin’.

Players now begin to take turns starting their own trains.

To begin a train, take any domino that matches the engine piece and place it so that the matching side is touching the train station.

This first train each player creates can only be played on by the person who created it.

There’s no upper limit to train length. If one becomes too long for your play surface, curve it as necessary to fit your play area.

As long as everything is clear to all players, it’s fine.

Play continues clockwise. When your turn comes again, you may place a matching domino on any train that is open to you.

Players can start a new train on their turn the same way that personal trains are started.

This secondary train, known as the Mexican Train,  is open to all players.

The Mexican Train should be kept separate from the train station. There can only be one Mexican train per round of play.

Once every player has their own train and a Mexican Train has started, no new trains can be created until the next round begins.

If any player can’t play, they must draw a new tile from the boneyard.

If they still can’t play after drawing, then they must place their marker on their own train to or show that their train is now open. Open trains can be played on by all players.

The train will remain open to other players until the train’s owner plays on that train again.

At that point, remove the marker and the train is once again closed to all players except its creator.

When a player only has one tile remaining, they must let the other players know by tapping their final domino twice on the play area.

DOUBLES

Playing a double (a tile with the same number of pips on both ends) allows a player to take another turn.

You can’t play another double on this second turn, but otherwise, this secondary turn functions normally.

If the player who played the double does not play another tile on it, this double is considered “open”. No other pieces can be played on any other trains until the double is “closed”.

 The player who initially plays the double is the only player who can leave the double open without having to mark their own train open as well.

If players don’t have a tile to match the open double, they draw from the boneyard.

If the tile they draw still doesn’t match the open double, they give up their turn and must mark their train as open.

The only exception to this rule is when another double is drawn from the boneyard.

If this happens, the double can freely be played on any suitable spot, and the player draws again.

This other open double must be closed as well before normal play can be resumed.

Open doubles must always be closed in the same order in which they were opened.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

Play ends when a player runs out of dominoes. This player is the winner of the round, and gets a score of zero.

All remaining players must add the pips on their tiles together, and this number becomes their score for the round.

If the boneyard becomes completely depleted before any player runs out of dominoes, play ends in a draw, and all players tally up all the points on their remaining dominoes.

For the second round of play, the engine will be the double-11, and all new trains must be started with matching tiles. The third round starts with the double-10, the fourth with the double-9, and so on.

Play progresses for 13 rounds, with the final round using the double blank domino as the engine.

At the end of 13 rounds, the player with the lowest point total wins.

In the event of a tie, the player who won the most individual rounds takes the victory.

POPULAR VARIANTS WITH MEXICAN TRAIN

If you’d like to try Mexican Train, but you don’t have double-12 tiles, never fear.

Other versions can be played with different kinds of dominoes.

-Double-6 dominoes are perfect for two players.

-Double-9 dominoes can be used for up to four players

-Double-15 dominoes are good for large groups of 9 to 12 players

-And finally, Double-18 dominoes are only for large groups of 13 players and up.

Branching Doubles:

In this variation, once an open double has been closed, the train can branch off in three different directions.

This greatly enhances the benefit of doubles, and decreases the likelihood that players will need to draw from the boneyard.

This is a faster version of the game.

Teams:

To play a team version of Mexican Train, first ensure that you have an even number of players, and sit partners opposite each other.

The rules for the team version are mostly the same, except partners can play on each other’s trains, and no train becomes open until neither partner can play a tile on it.

Play continues until one member of the team runs out of tiles.

The winner and their partner both get a score of zero, regardless of how many tiles the partner still has in their hand at the end of play.

Blanks are wild:

In this version, blanks are considered wild, meaning they can be matched with any tile whatsoever.

Open Hand:

For an interesting extra layer of strategy, have all players play with their hands face up.

Simultaneous Play:

For a faster version of Mexican Train, players take their first turns simultaneously, creating the longest possible train that they can make with their starting hand.

Once everyone has played all the tiles they can, play reverts back to normal, with each player taking turns to play one tile at a time.

This version is significantly faster than the standard version, but since players begin by playing simultaneously, the power of open doubles is significantly reduced for the first turn.

This removes a strategic layer to the game, but also makes it easier for beginners to master.

Swan Dive:

In Swan Dive, after playing on their own train, players can also play a tile on each other open train.

They must play these trains in clockwise order, with the exception of the Mexican Train, which can be played on after any other train in the sequence.

As soon as the player encounters a train they cannot play on, or they make it all the way around to their own train, their turn ends.

Swan Dive is a great way to play a faster version of Mexican Train without compromising the competitive strategic elements of standard play.

MEXICAN TRAIN: TIPS & ADVANCED STRATEGIES

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Purposefully playing a double you cannot clear is a risky move that can pay off big in two different scenarios.

It’s a particularly effective move if you know that the pip value of the double is well represented on the board already.

That means other players are less likely to have matching tiles, and will have to open  their own trains.

It is also a good move to block someone from playing their last tile. The less dominoes they have, the less likely they are to have a tile to match an open double.

This means that lots of trains will be marked public and players will have to draw.

It’s a desperation play that is effective as a stalling tactic, particularly when you have many more dominoes than other players.

Armed with these tips and tricks, you’ll be ready to derail your competition and really take your Mexican Train game to the next level!

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