Table and game for marbles

Abstract

An apparatus and related methods for playing marbles games. The apparatus is a circular or polygonal playing board or ring, which encompasses a playing surface. A top ring extends above the playing board along its outer circumference, and may extend over the outer perimeter of the playing board, allowing marbles struck off the playing surface to pass underneath into a marble collection mechanism. Marbles drop onto a sloped guide track, and then roll down to one of a plurality of collections slots.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for playing a marbles game for a plurality of players, comprising the steps of:
 providing a marbles playing ring, said marbles playing ring comprising:
 a horizontal top ring supported concentrically above a playing board with a playing surface to create a circumferential gap between the top ring and the playing surface; 
 a plurality of marble guide tracks positioned along the perimeter of the playing board, said marble guide tracks sloping downwards from a high point at a first end to a low point at a second end; and 
 a plurality of marble collection mechanisms positioned at or beneath one or more of said seconds ends; 
   providing a set of marbles with four separately marked types of marbles comprising:
 four taw marbles, each taw marble assigned to a different player; 
 eighteen moon marbles; 
 six planet marbles; and 
 one star marble; 
   initially grouping the non-taw marbles in the center of the playing ring in a diamond pattern;   breaking the initial diamond pattern by a first player shooting his or her taw marble towards one of the long points of the diamond;   each player, for as long as his or her turn lasts, sequentially shooting his or her taw marble towards one or more valid target marbles in the playing ring to attempt to drive the one or more valid target marbles from the playing ring, wherein a player's turn continues as long as least one of the valid target marbles is driven from the playing ring, no target marbles that are not valid target marbles are driven from the playing ring, and the player's taw marble remains inside the ring after the shot is completed, and further wherein the player collects target marbles he or she has driven from the playing ring during their turn;   if a player shoots his or her taw marble or a target marble other than the star marble that is not a valid target marble outside of the playing ring, then the turn is ended and all target marbles collected by that player during that turn are returned to the playing ring;   ending the game when the last non-taw marble is driven from the playing ring; and   determining the total number of points for each player based on marbles collected by that player, wherein different types of marbles are worth different point values, and the player with the highest point total is the winner;   further wherein valid target marbles are determined as follows:
 moon marbles are always valid target marbles; 
 planet marbles are valid target marbles only after 9 moon marbles are initially driven from the playing ring; 
 the star marble is a valid target marble only if all moon marbles and planet marbles are no longer in the playing ring; 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each moon marble is worth one point, each planet marble is worth three points, and each star marble is worth five points. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein if a player drives the star marble out of the playing ring before all moon marbles and planet marbles have been removed, then that player returns all target marbles previously collected on that turn and previous turns to the playing ring. 
     
     
         4 . The table of  claim 1 , wherein the top ring is padded. 
     
     
         5 . The table of  claim 1 , each said marble collection mechanism comprising a marble channel board with a channel sloping downward to a hole with vertical backing, said hole positioned to drop a marble into a collection channel. 
     
     
         6 . The table of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more angled deflection strips positioned above the plurality of marble guide tracks. 
     
     
         7 . The table of  claim 1 , wherein the table is adapted to be placed on a level surface. 
     
     
         8 . The table of  claim 1 , wherein the level surface is a table top or counter top.