Darts Games You Can Play on Any Dart Board

A dart board is one piece of equipment and dozens of games. Some of them you will have played at a party without ever learning the name. Others are practice routines that pros use to sharpen a specific skill.

This page lists the darts games worth knowing, with rules you can read in a minute and start playing straight away.

All of them work on a standard clock dart board. Where a game is big enough to deserve its own guide, such as 501 or cricket, you will find a link to the full rules.

Games on this page:

1. 501 and 301
2. Cricket
3. Around the Clock
4. Killer
5. Shanghai
6. Baseball
7. Halve-It
8. Golf
9. Legs
10. Scram
11. Tic-Tac-Toe
12. Bob's 27
13. Which Game Should You Play?

501 and 301

Players: 2, or 2 teams. Best for: the real thing.

The game you see on television. Both players start on 501 and subtract each three-dart score from their total. The first to reach exactly zero wins, but the final dart has to land in a double or the inner bull. Score more than you have left and the turn is "bust": your score goes back to where it was and the other player throws.

301 is the same game from a lower start, often played with a "double in" rule so that nothing counts until you hit a double. It is over in a few minutes, which makes it a good warm-up before a longer session.

Full rules, bust examples and the double-out logic are on my darts rules and scoring guide, and the checkout chart tells you which finish to go for from any score under 171.

Cricket

Players: 2 to 4, or teams. Best for: bars, soft-tip boards, players of mixed ability.

The most played game in America. Only seven targets matter: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and the bull. Three marks on a number "close" it (a single is one mark, a double two, a triple three). Once a number is closed for you and still open for your opponent, every extra hit on it scores you points. The game ends when someone has closed all seven targets and is level or ahead on points.

Cricket has more tactics than 501: when to score, when to shut down your opponent's number, and when to leave the bull alone. I go through all of it in the cricket darts rules guide, including cut-throat cricket for three or more players.

Around the Clock

Players: any number. Best for: beginners, and solo practice.

Hit the numbers in order from 1 to 20, then the outer bull, then the inner bull. Each player throws three darts per turn and moves on to the next number only after hitting the current one. Doubles and triples count as a hit on that number in the basic game. First to the inner bull wins.

The version I give my students is stricter: doubles only, and if you miss the double with all three darts you drop back one number. It takes twenty minutes on a good day and much longer on a bad one, and it teaches the outer ring better than anything else I know. A variant with triples only is the equivalent for scoring practice.

Killer

Players: 3 to 8 is ideal. Best for: parties.

Everyone gets a number. The usual way to pick is to throw one dart with your non-throwing hand; whatever it lands in is yours, and if it is taken you throw again. Every player starts with three lives.

To become a "killer" you hit the double of your own number. Once you are a killer, hitting the double of another player's number takes one of their lives. In the traditional rules a killer who hits their own double again loses a life, so aim carefully. Lose all three lives and you are out; the last player standing wins.

Killer is the best game on this list for a crowd because everyone stays involved, and the good players become targets for everyone else.

Shanghai

Players: any number. Best for: a fast game with a twist ending.

Shanghai is played over seven rounds, and in each round only one number counts. Round one is the 1, round two is the 2, and so on up to the 7. (Play 20 rounds if you have the evening free.) Singles score face value, doubles score double, triples score triple. Highest total after the last round wins.

The twist is the Shanghai itself: hit a single, a double and a triple of the round's number in the same turn, and you win on the spot, whatever the scores. It does not happen often, which is exactly why the whole room watches when someone has two of the three with one dart in hand.

Baseball

Players: 2 or more. Best for: American sports fans, families.

Nine innings, and each inning is a number: 1 in the first, 2 in the second, through to 9 in the ninth. Every player throws three darts per inning at that number only. A single is one run, a double is two, a triple is three. Add up the runs after nine innings. If it is tied, play extra innings with the 10, 11, 12 and so on until someone leads at the end of an inning.

Because the numbers 1 to 9 are spread all around the board, baseball is a good way to learn where everything is without the pressure of a proper match.

Halve-It

Players: any number. Best for: pressure practice.

Agree a sequence of targets before you start. A common one is: 20, 19, 18, any double, 17, 16, any triple, 15, bull. Each player throws three darts at the target of the round and adds whatever they score. Miss the target with all three darts and your total is halved, rounding down. Highest score after the final round wins.

It sounds gentle. It is not. A player on 240 who blanks the treble round drops to 120 with one bad visit, and the last round on the bull decides more games than the first eight put together.

Golf

Players: 2 to 4. Best for: low-key games where accuracy beats power.

Nine holes, numbers 1 to 9 (or eighteen with 1 to 18). Each hole you throw up to three darts at that number and count the best one: a triple is 1 stroke, a double is 2, the fat inner single is 3, the thin outer single is 4, and a miss is 5. You can stop throwing once you are happy with a dart. Lowest total wins, as in golf.

Golf is unusual because a triple and a double on the same number are not the same thing, so you actually have to aim at the specific bed rather than the segment. That makes it a sneaky practice game for anyone who wants tighter grouping.

Legs

Players: 3 or more. Best for: quick elimination games.

Everyone starts with three legs. The first player throws three darts and sets a score. Each following player must beat the score of the player before them, or lose a leg. Beat it and you set the new target for the next player. Lose all three legs and you are out. Last player in wins.

It is essentially a scoring drill with consequences, and good players learn to throw for a big score when they are the one setting the target and to play safe when a modest score will do.

Scram

Players: 2. Best for: a cricket-style game with a defensive twist.

One player is the blocker, the other is the scorer. The blocker throws at any numbers from 1 to 20 and closes them with three marks, as in cricket. The scorer throws at any number that is still open and adds the points. When all twenty numbers are closed, the scorer's total is recorded and the roles swap. Higher total wins.

The blocker's decision every turn is which number to shut down first, and the answer is nearly always whichever open number the scorer is best at.

Tic-Tac-Toe

Players: 2. Best for: a change of pace.

Draw a three-by-three grid and put a number in each square; a classic layout is bull in the middle with 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14 and 13 around it. To claim a square you need three marks on its number (single, double and triple count as one, two and three marks). Three claimed squares in a row wins. If all nine are claimed and nobody has a line, it is a draw.

Bob's 27

Players: 1. Best for: doubles practice with a score to beat.

Start on 27 points. Throw three darts at double 1: each hit adds 2, and if all three miss you lose 2. Move to double 2 (hits add 4, three misses lose 4), and so on around the board to double 20 and the bull. Drop below zero and the routine is over. A finish above 27 means you hit more than you missed.

Bob's 27 is one of the routines in my darts practice guide, alongside a few others that turn solo practice into something you can keep score of.

Which Game Should You Play?

If you are new to darts, play Around the Clock until you can hit most numbers within three darts, then move on to 301 and cricket. Everything else on this list is easier once those two make sense.

Whatever you play, the throw underneath is the same. If the darts are not going where you want them, the fix is in the throwing technique guide, not in the game.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your game, book a coaching session or email [email protected].