How do you play Marbles?
Marbles sit inside a ring drawn on a dirt yard. Flick your shooter to knock marbles over the line, and every marble you knock out is yours. You and a kid from the neighborhood take turns, one shot each, and whoever has more marbles when the ring is empty wins.
Your first shot comes from the line around the ring. After that you shoot from wherever your shooter stopped. Both shooters stay in the yard, so they can bounce off each other. There is always an odd number of marbles, so a match never ends in a tie.
What was alley marbles like in old Korea?
Kids drew a circle or triangle in the dirt, gathered marbles inside, and kept any marble they knocked over the line with their own. Korean kids also called glass marbles "dama", and a big heavy one was saved as a prized shooter.
This game brings that alley game to a 3D dirt yard with five settings: a sunny alley, a school playground, an empty lot at sunset, a yard after the rain, and a street lamp at night.
How many stages are there, and who do you play?
Single player is 60 stages against 12 neighborhood kids. Each kid covers five stages, starting with Minsu and ending with Mansik, the alley boss, at stage 60.
| Stages | What changes |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | A round ring with 7 marbles |
| 5 and up | Circle, triangle and square rings take turns |
| 8 and up | Stones sit inside the ring and deflect marbles |
| Every 10 stages | Two more marbles, up to 15 |
| Multiples of 5 | A rare marble joins the ring, and a legend marble on multiples of 10 |
Later kids think through more shots and their hands shake less, so they keep getting better. Lose and you replay the same stage. The game keeps going after stage 60.
What are the collection and the shooters?
Marbles you win go into a collection of 36 kinds (24 common, 8 rare, 4 legend). The shop has 12 shooters you buy with coins, each with its own size, weight and power.
- Common: cat eye glass marbles, milky swirls, a Taegeuk marble, Quail Egg and more.
- Rare: Gold Dust, Milky Way, Opal, Glow, Dragon Eye, Cherry Blossom and more.
- Legend: Rainbow, Gold, Black Pearl and Starlight.
- Shooters: you start with White Porcelain. Heavy ones like the Steel Ball push marbles farther. The last one is the Diamond Shooter.
You earn coins for each marble (3 common, 20 rare, 60 legend), for every win and for the 12 missions. Pass stage 60 with all 36 kinds collected to see the Marble King ending.
How do you knock marbles out more often?
- Pick your spot on the first shot. On the line, use ◀ ▶ to circle around to a side where marbles sit near the edge.
- Hit marbles dead center. A glancing hit sends them sideways and they often stay in.
- Do not always shoot full power. If your shooter rolls far away, your next shot comes from far away.
- Watch the aim line. While you pull back, a line shows the first marble you will hit.
Your stage, coins, shooters, collection and missions are saved in this browser. In 2 PLAYERS mode, red and blue take turns on one screen, and those matches do not count toward the collection or coins.