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Darts games beyond 501

501 is the match game, but a dartboard supports many others. The five below are the ones most often played for practice or for fun, and each trains a different part of the game.

At a glance

Game Players What it trains
Round the Clock 1 or more Accuracy on every number
Cricket 2, or two teams Trebles and tactics
Killer 3 or more Doubles
Shanghai 2 or more Grouping on one number
Halve-It 2 or more Nerve

Round the Clock

Hit every number from 1 to 20 in order, then the bull. You move on only when you hit the number you are on. The first to finish wins.

Harder versions require a double or a treble of each number.

Cricket

Cricket uses only the numbers 15 to 20 and the bull.

  1. Hit a number three times to close it. A double counts as two hits and a treble as three.
  2. Once you have closed a number, further hits on it score points for you, as long as your opponent has not closed it too.
  3. When both players have closed a number, it is dead.
  4. The winner is the first to close everything while level or ahead on points.

The tactical choice is whether to keep scoring on an open number or to close the next one.

Killer

Each player throws one dart with their weaker hand to be given a number. No two players share one.

  1. Hit the double of your own number to become a killer.
  2. A killer then throws at other players’ doubles. Each hit takes one of their lives.
  3. Everyone starts with three lives. Lose them all and you are out.
  4. A killer who hits their own double by mistake loses a life.

The last player left wins.

Shanghai

The game is played over a set number of rounds, usually seven. In round one only the 1 segment scores, in round two only the 2, and so on.

The highest total after the last round wins. A player who hits the single, the double and the treble of the round’s number in one turn has thrown a Shanghai and wins at once.

Halve-It

Before the game, agree a list of targets, one for each round. A typical list is 20, 16, double 7, 14, treble 10, 17 and bull.

Each round, throw three darts at that round’s target and add what you score. If all three darts miss, your running total is halved. The highest total at the end wins.

One bad round can undo five good ones, which is the point of the game.

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