Rules

While greatly popular in England, skittles is also played with various versions throughout Europe.  These countries have a strong history of this lively game.

A popular regional version of the game Skittles, which much resembles bowling, is known as Old English Skittles.  Originating in the Greater London area, Old English Skittles uses nine pins and a cheese. A cheese is disc shaped, ranging from 8.5 to 12 inches in diameter and made from very heavy wood.

In a slight variation of the classic game, players stand at a setline and take turns flicking their marbles towards a hole. In the traditional game, the players each have 10 marbles, and the goal is to have the most marbles in the hole.

In 1951, Disney adapted Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland into a movie by the same name. A naïve girl named Alice falls down a rabbit hole into a whole new world, characterized by bizarre creatures, talking animals, and even stranger customs. One such tradition is the Queen of Heart’s game of croquet, with flamingos for mallots, human cards for hoops, and live hedgehogs for balls.

The United States Youth Soccer Association has set the rules for ball size and weight, and follows FIFA rules for material and other regulations.

Although somewhat smaller than most balls, marbles share the same spherical shape, and are a classic pastime. No one knows where they originated, but marbles have nonetheless evolved from simple stones in Egyptian times to artisan and industry crafted spheres.

Being a solid, oval rock thrown down the ice, the curling rock/stone serves as the ball in this winter-inspired sport. Believed to have originated as an enjoyable pastime of throwing stones over ice during a harsh Northern European winter, curling is now played world-wide at all levels of recreation and competition.

US Squash is the national governing body and membership organization for the sport of squash in the United States. It acts to increase participation in squash at all ages and to build awareness of the sport. The organization represents urban, junior and high school squash, college squash, accredited (sanctioned) tournaments and leagues, professional squash, coach and referee certifications, national championships and national teams. 

Factory Balls 2, an online logic game, uses virtual ping-pong balls and challenges you to duplicate patterns.  You are shown a picture of a ball decorated with a design.   You are given a number of tools such as buckets of paint, belts, sunglasses, seeds, water and spray paint.  The object of the game is for you to reproduce the pattern  by determining the correct sequence of steps and the correct tools.

Started one summer in 1965 when no one could find a shuttlecock to play badminton, Pickleball got its start using a whiffle ball, a low-set badminton net and solid paddles made of wood. A badminton court and tennis-like rules were combined for this ad hoc family game to be played with two to four players.