TabletopBocceTextVersion

This is an AutoGeneratedTextVersion of TabletopBocce

Tabletop BocceAdapted as a flicking game for Piecepack by Mark A. Biggar Version 1.0,
November 2002Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Mark A. Biggar2, 4 or 8 players, 20-40 min
DescriptionThis is an adaptation of the game Bocce or Lawn Bowling as a piecepack coin
flicking game.

DefinitionsFlick (verb) to propel a game piece (such as a piecepack coin) across the
playing area
with a single finger. A flick is not a sustained push, but a sudden snap. A properflick
is performed by resting a single fingertip on the playing surface with the
fingernail against the game piece, then either (1) straightening the finger with
thehand held motionless, or (2) straightening the whole hand at the wrist with the arm
held motionless.

Setting Up The CourtCreate the playing court like the diagram below. The game should be
played on a smooth
surface table that allows the coins to slide easily. A polished wooden surface works
well.The 3-foot distance between the court's ends can be adjusted to allow for
differences in
table surfaces. A medium strength flick should propel a coin from inside one of the
endboxes to inside the other without bouncing off the back of the box. The bounds of
the
court are the rectangle formed by the outside edges of the two end boxes and a coin
isconsidered out of bounds if it is completely outside of that rectangle.


Tabletop Bocce Court

The Jack and the BowlsThe game is played using nine coins: one coin showing the blank
face is called the “jack”,the other eight coins, divided into two sets of four showing
the suit-side, are called
“bowls”. It is suggested that the bowls be four moons and four suns. Each side in
thegame chooses one of the sets of bowls to play with.
Playing RoundsThe goal of the game is to score points by flicking more of your side’s
bowls closer to the
jack then the other side.
The game is played in a series of rounds. All flicks in the game are made from inside
one
of the end boxes starting with the coin completely behind the dashed line. Rounds
areplayed from alternating ends of the court.
Each round starts with the placement of the jack by the leader. During the game the
sidethat scored on the pervious round is considered the leader. At the beginning of the
game
choose a leader randomly. The leader places the jack by flicking it from the end box at
theplaying end of the court. The jack must be flicked past the dashed line in the
diagram and
must end up inbounds of the court; otherwise the leader must flick it again.
After the jack is placed, the other side now flicks their first bowl attempting to
place it as
close as possible to the jack. Then the leader side flicks their first bowl. The
sidesalternate flicking bowls until all eight bowls have been played, then the round is
scored.
Any bowl that is flicked or is knocked out of bounds of the court is out of play and is
notconsidered for scoring. It is legal to hit the jack or other bowls to try to improve
your
side’s position in the round. Bouncing a bowl off the insides of the opposite end box
isalso legal. If the jack is knocked out of bounds, then the round is void and is
replayed
from the placement of the jack. If a tile from one of the end boxes is knocked out
ofplace, it should be replaced before the next coin is flicked even if this requires
moving a
bowl or the jack.

ScoringOnly the side whose bowl is closest to the jack scores any points. That side
scores as
many points as they have bowls that are closer to the jack than the closest bowl of
theother side. Thus a side can score from 1 to 4 points. A side must score exactly 21
points
to win the game. If a side scores more than enough points in a round to take their
totalscore over 21 points, then they subtract the round’s score from their total
instead. For
example, a side has 20 points and scores 4 more during a round, then their new total
scorewill be 16 points.

Two Player RulesIn a two-player game there is actually no reason to alternate ends of
the court each round.
Swapping ends is an artifact of the original lawn version of the game. Bocce courts
aretypically 75 to 100 feet long and no one wants to walk the length of the court more
often
then necessary. Each player plays a side and flicks all four bowls for their side each
round.

Two vs. Two Player Team Rules Station one member of each team at each end of the court.
When a round is played from
an end of the court, the two players (one from each team) stationed at that end of
thecourt play the whole round each flicking all four of their side’s bowls. The two
players at
the other end of the court will play the next round and so on.

Four vs. Four Player Team RulesStation two members of each team at each end of the
court. When a round is played from
an end of the court, the four players (two from each team) stationed at that end of
thecourt play the whole round each flicking two of their side’s bowls in alternating
order.
For example, if team A (with players A1 & A2) is the leader playing against team B
(withplayers B1 & B2), the round is played in the following order: A1 places the jack,
then the
bowls are played in the order: B1, A2, B2, A1, B1, A2, B2, A1. Note that the twoplayers
on a side do not have to maintain the same order from round to round. If you
wish, you can use all four suits for the bowls. It is suggested that you use 2 suns &
2moons verses 2 crowns & 2 shields. The four players at the other end of the court will
play the next round and so on.
History20021004 0.5 mab original version20021104 0.6 mab first web page version
20030322 1.0 mab update for web page

Thank you for playing my game. Please report rules problems or variantsuggestions to
mark@biggar.org.
Copyright 2002, 2003 by Mark A. Biggar. Permission is granted to copy, distribute
and/or
modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant
Sections, no
Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license can be found at
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.