The 20 on the board should be centered at the top. The bull's-eye should measure 5 feet, 8 inches (173 cm) from the floor. A toe line should be marked (in tape or chalk) six to nine feet from the bull's eye.
A throw determines which player or team goes first; the closest to the bulls-eye takes the first turn. Each player or team gets three darts.
If a player's foot crosses over the toe line as he throws his dart, the throw counts for no points and may not be rethrown.
Darts have to stay on the board for at least five seconds after a player's final throw to count.
A throw doesn't score if it sticks into another dart or if it falls off the board.
Standing behind the toe line, the first player or team throws three darts, leaving them on the board, and records the resulting score. The opponent does the same. At the end of this first leg, all the darts are removed from the board. The second leg begins, the first team going first again and throughout the game.
To win the game, a player/team has to throw a dart that puts their score at exactly zero-- and that throw has to be a double (a hit to the double ring). For example, with 40 points left, a player needs to hit a double 20. If she hits a single 20 on the first dart, she now has 20 left and needs to hit a double 10 to win.
Darts are scored as follows:
In the most basic game, both players/teams start with a score of 501. After each throw, they reduce their score by the number of points they hit.
Tip: Hang a scoreboard near the dartboard for keeping score.
Round the World (aka Round the Clock) is simple to play and a great way to practice. Singles and doubles don't count. The object is to hit the numbers 1 to 20 in order, then the outer bull's-eye, followed by the inner bull's-eye.
In
Shanghai
, players start by throwing at the number 1 on the board. The object is to hit a single, double, or triple (in any order). The first player to hit all three in one turn wins. If no player achieves this on number 1, the play to number 2, and so on until someone wins. In some versions of Shanghai, a player is out of the game if he deson't get at least a single on the number in question.Flat Earth can only be played with a board that isn't permanently attached to the wall. The board is rotated after each game; the first rotation pointing to the "20" east, then south, and finally west. Another version of Flat Earth is played outside. The board is laid flat on the ground and the players throw their darts downward instead.
Baseball is played in nine innings. Players try to hit the number on the dartboard that corresponds to the current inning. For example, in the first inning players have to hit the 1 to score points. A single is one run, a double is two runs, and a triple is three. At the end of nine innings, the player with the most runs wins. In case of a tie, extra innings are played using the bull's-eye as a target; the player who hits the bull's-eye first wins.
Hound and Hare usually begins with a coin toss to decide who'll be the hare and who'll be the hound. The hare has to travel clockwise around the board starting at 20 and wins the game by returning to 20 before the hound catches up with him. The hound usually starts from either the 12 or 5. The hound wins by overtaking the hare.