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February 14, 2018
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January 04, 2018
Fun Outdoor Games and How to Play Them
Since it’s SUMMER TIME, we wanted to share with you some of the fun outdoor games you can play at your next birthday party, BBQ or hang out! Some of these you may have played before and some might be new to you. We have included pictures and an explanation of each outdoor game, so you can enjoy the nice weather and play a fun game outside! A few of these games are even available on our Delta-13 website!
This is a great game you can play on your lawn, in a parking lot or on the beach! You will need 2 corn hole boards and 8 bean bags. Set up your corn hole boards facing each other with 27 feet between the front edge of each board. All players will toss from the left or right side of the corn hole board, behind the front of the board (30 foot foul line). Each single or team of 2 will have 4 bean bags.
Cornhole can be played as doubles or singles. If you are playing doubles, one member of each team will toss from one Cornhole board and the others toss from the other Cornhole board. In singles play, both players will toss from the same Cornhole board. In both cases, you will alternate back and forth on who’s turn it is to toss.
After all bags have been thrown, a bag remaining on the board is worth 1 point and a bag that went in the hole is worth 3 points. The Cornhole match shall be played until the first individual or team reaches (or exceeds) 21 points. If the Cornhole match is tied at 21 or more at the end of an inning, you will play inning after inning until someone achieves a higher score.
Now pick your bags and get ready to play!
To learn more of the official rules for cornhole, check out the ACA page for the complete breakdown.
Ladder Golf (Ball)
Attention good tossers, this is the lawn game for you! Prior to game play, a line must be set 5 paces from the ladder and will be known as the toss line. The official toss line is 15 feet away. Ladder Golf is played with 2 or more players or teams. Each player has 3 golf ball bolas (2 golf balls attached by a nylon rope). The object of the game is to wrap your bolas around the rows of the ladder. The ladder consists of 3 rows, a top, middle and a bottom. The top row is worth 3 points, the middle row is worth 2 points and the bottom row is worth 1 point. Players can score an optional bonus of 1 point by hanging all 3 bolas from the same row or by hanging a bola on all 3 rows in one round.
The first player must toss all 3 bolas before the next player is able to toss their bolas. Bolas can be tossed in anyway the player chooses, as long as they are tossed individually (they can be bounced off the ground).
Games are played to an exact point total of 21. In order to win, a player must be the only one to score exactly 21 points after the completion of a round. If a player goes over the exact point total, that players points for that round do not count. In the case of a tie, the players that tie will play as many overtime rounds as needed until one player ends a complete round (2 points ahead of the other player). The 2 point rule only applies in overtime rounds.
To learn more of the official rules of Ladder Golf, check out this website.
Cribbage
For those game players that like to use their brain, this is the game for you! You will need a deck of cards and a cribbage board. The object of the game is to score 121 points, which are pegged on the board by points in your hands. Each hand determines how many points you will have. A standard cribbage board comes with 3 different colors on the top of it with 121 holes in each color. The game also contains three pegs of each color. A peg is used to keep track of the points that you have scored throughout the game.
To play a game of cribbage you need at least two people, but can have a few more. With two people, the dealer deals six cards each, with three people, the dealer deals five cards each and then one off to the side and with four people, the dealer deals five cards each. The way the points system works is any cards that add up to the sum of 15, pairs, flushes (four or more of the same suit), three-of-a-kind and runs of 3 or more (cards that are in numerical order). You will want to determine the combination of cards that will get you the most points as you may have to discard one or two of them (depending on how many players are playing). These discards are placed face down in a pile in front of the dealer which is known as the crib. The crib is made up of discards which the dealer will count for extra points at the end.
After the first person lays down their card and announces the card value, then it is the person to the left of them to lay down one of their cards in an attempt to add up to 15 for 2 points. Another way to score two points, is to lay the same card right after the last one is laid. A third way to earn points is by trying to add up to 21 for 3 points and then you would peg three points on the board. The last way to score points while laying down a card is to add up to 31. This is the highest number that someone can add up to as you cannot go over 31.
Once all the cards have been laid down, then it is time to count your hand again. To start counting your hand, you need to first determine all the different ways that a card can add up to 15. You also need to determine if you have any pairs, runs, or three-of-a-kinds. Once complete, you would peg that many holes on the board. If you cut the cards at the beginning of the game and cut a jack, the person that cuts that jack gets 2 extra points.
Once the counting is finished this process starts all over, but with the person to the left or the person that did not deal last time starts dealing the next hand. This process continues until one of the players gets 121 points or more altogether, winning the game.
To learn more about playing Cribbage, please read the following webpage.
Kubb Lawn Game
Looking for a fun/new game to play? The Kubb Lawn game is a great one to learn! To play this game, you will need 10 kubbs or wooden blocks measuring 3″ x 3″ x 6″, 1 King or wooden block measuring 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 16″, 6 wooden throwing batons that measure 1.5″ x 14″ and 4 corner markers.
The object of the game is to be the first team to knock down all your kubbs and then the king, or be on the opposite team of the player that knocks down the king before knocking down all of their kubbs.
Mark off a 16 by 26 foot field by placing stakes in the corners. Stand the king in the center and evenly spread five kubbs along the baselines. Team 1 throws it’s batons at the kubbs on the opposite baseline. Batons must be thrown underhand and must travel straight or end over end, they cannot be thrown horizontally. Next, Team 2 throws their batons at the opposite baseline. Team 2 has two chances to throw each kubb into the opposite half of the field. If they throw the kubb out of bounds twice in a row, the offending kubb is placed 6 inches behind the king.
Once all the field kubbs have been thrown, Team 1 stands them up. If a kubb was thrown into the field and it hit another field kubb, the kubbs are stacked on top of each other. There is no limit to how many kubbs can be stacked in this way. Team 2 then must knock down all the field kubbs before throwing at the baseline kubbs. Any baseline kubbs that are knocked down before the field kubbs, do not count and are stood back up.
When Team 2 is done throwing, Team 1 picks up any knocked down kubbs (both field and baseline) and throws them back into the opposite half of the field for Team 1 to stand up. If Team 2 left any field kubbs standing, Team 1 may throw their batons from behind an imaginary line that runs parallel to the kubb that is closest to the king. Play continues on this way until one team knocks over all their field and baseline kubbs. That team may then attempt to knock down the king. All attempts on the king must be taken from the baseline. Once the king is knocked down, the game is over.
To learn more about how to play the Kubb Lawn Game, read this article.
Yardzee
This is the game of Yahtzee, but in an outdoor yard version, which sounds so much more fun! What you need is a dice cup, 5 dice and a score pad. The object of the game is to get the highest number on the dice. To roll the dice, you place all 5 dice in your dice cup or bucket, shake it around and dump them out. You will have three times each turn to get the highest scoring combination for one of 13 categories and each player has their own score card.
- Ones: The best roll is five 1's. You get one point for each 1.
- Twos: The best roll is five 2's. You get two points for each 2.
- Threes: The best roll is five 3's. You get three points for each 3.
- Fours: The best roll is five 4's. You get four points for each 4.
- Fives: The best roll is five 5's. You get five points for each 5.
- Sixes: The best roll is five 6's. You get six points for each 6.
- Three of a kind: Add up face values of all five dice.
- Four of a kind: Add up face values of all five dice.
- Full house: Three of a number and two of another number will get you
25 points.
- Small straight: Any four consecutive numbers gets you 30 points.
- Large straight: Any five consecutive numbers gets you 40 points.
- Yahtzee (five of a kind): Any five of a kind gets you 50 points.
*An additional Yahtzee gains you an extra 100 points.
Each time you roll, you will set aside your “keepers” and re-roll the others. If after one roll you complete one of the categories, there is no need to roll again. Once you decide which one you are going for, if you successfully complete it, you mark it off with your score, if not, you place a zero in one of the combinations on your scorecard. A Yahtzee is rolling all of the same number in all 5 dice. This is one of the 13 combinations. Once each player has completed all 13 combinations, they will tally up their score and the player with the higher score wins!
Here is the complete instructions if you want more information!
This game can be played indoors or outdoors and is also available in a giant set to play outside!
To set up, you will place 3 blocks on the table parallel to each other. With the next layer, you will rotate the next 3 at a 90 degree angle along the horizontal axis from the last layer. Continue this until all 18 rows are stacked (54 blocks total) and it is smooth and even all around.
You will need at least 2 players for this game. With each turn, each player will need to remove a block from the stack. You want to look for the blocks that are the easiest to move and can push or pull depending on the placement. Most people, poke around to find these pieces. Remember, you can only have one hand on the piece at a time, but can alternate hands. No one can take any pieces from the top three rows. Once a piece is pulled out, it must be placed on top as you will be “rebuilding” the Jenga blocks.
The tower will grow higher as it gets more unstable and will eventually teeter and fall. The object is to not be the person who makes it fall. If you are, you have lost the game.
For more game information visit here.
Croquet
Croquet is an outdoor game as you will need a big patch of grass to play. The object of game is to use your ball to go through the set up wickets faster than your opponent by using your mallet to hit the ball through the wickets in order. You will need to see the link below to figure out how to set up your game as there are 9 wickets that need to be placed in a specific manner along with two stakes. Each wicket scored by a ball is one point, the person or team to reach 14 the fastest wins the game.
You will need to follow the colors on the wickets in order; blue, red, black, and yellow in a four ball game and blue, red, black, yellow, green, and orange in a six ball game (depending on the number of players playing). In a four ball game, the teams are blue/black against red/yellow. In a six ball game the teams are blue/black/green against red/yellow/orange. When there are three teams of two, the teams are blue/yellow, red/green and black/orange. When you make your wicket in order or hit the turn stake, you get one extra shot. If you hit another ball, you get two more strokes.
Two extra strokes are earned for going through the first two or upper two wickets in one stroke. If you make your wicket and hit a ball on one stroke, you get two extra shots. The maximum number of “bonus shots” is two. If a ball travels backwards through its wicket to position itself to go through the correct way, it must score the wicket in the correct direction to gain a point and an extra stroke.
Once you score all the wickets, you are a rover. A rover helps their side’s balls while hindering the opponent’s balls. A rover may hit the opponent's balls once per turn. Any ball can cause the rover ball to hit the finishing stake thereby removing it from the game. The winner is the first team to score 14 wicket points and 2 stake points for each of its balls.
Please visit the following page to find out how to set up your game and for any other information. For the complete list of rules, visit this website.
Horseshoes
With only two metal stakes and four horseshoes, you can play a game of horseshoes with your friends and family or even participate in an official tournament. In this game, the object is to throw your horseshoes closest to a metal stake. The entire horseshoe court should measure 50 feet in length. The 14-inch metal stakes you pitch the shoes at are 40 feet apart from each other. The National Horseshoe Pitchers Association states that men throw from no closer than 37 feet, while in women's tournaments, the competitors pitch from 27 feet. Those under age 18 also throw from 27 feet away.
Each player gets two horseshoes. The first player pitches both shoes, one at a time, and then the other player pitchers her two horseshoes. After all four horseshoes have been thrown, you have completed one inning. Walk to the stake and score the shoes for that inning. The pitching order switches after every inning. You can play horseshoes until you reach a certain number of points, or complete a predetermined number of pitches. The Sports Know How website explains that regulation games are played to 50 points while informal games are usually played to 21 points.
Your score in horseshoes depends both on your pitch, and your opponent's. Throw a ringer, where the horseshoe circles the stake, and you score three points. However, ringers from opposing players cancel out, so if you opponent also scores a ringer, then neither of you receives points for those throws. If there is no ringer from either player, one point is awarded to the horseshoe closest to the stake. If you throw the only ringer in the inning and also have your other shoe closer to the stake than either of your opponents, you receive three points for the ringer and one point for the closest horseshoe.
If you are looking for a complete list of rules and regulations, please visit here.
Polished Horseshoes/ Beersbee
This is a fun backyard, beach, and park game! The official rules of the backyard game of Polish horseshoes you will need two ski poles (5 ft tall), two empty beer bottles and a plastic disc (frisbee). Stick the poles into the dirt or sand, about 25 feet apart, then balance an empty beer bottle on top of each pole.
Polished horseshoes usually features two teams of two players. To begin the game, each team stands behind their poles. Teams take turns throwing the Frisbee at the other team's pole with the attempt to knock the bottle off. Players earn 3 points for knocking the beer bottle off with a frisbee and bottle contact, they earn 2 points for knocking the bottle off by hitting the pole and if they hit the pole, but the bottle does not fall off, they earn 1 point. The game can go to either 11 or 21 points.
The receiving team must catch the offensive team's Frisbee each time it is thrown. If they fail to catch the Frisbee, the throwing team earns a point. Players cannot catch the frisbee until it crosses the pole and only “catchable” frisbees result in penalty points. Catching the bottle before it hits the ground reduces the offense's score by one point, as well as catching the frisbee. To make the game a bit more exciting, all players must hold a drink in one hand, making it much harder to catch the frisbee and falling beer bottles.
For more rules and regulations, read this article.
Some other games we came across that you know how to play, but are in outdoor versions include; Checkers, Large Connect Four and Lawn Dominos! Of course there are tons more, but we wanted to just share the most popular ones!
What is your favorite out door game? Tweet us @thedelta13
