Cricket - On a dart board, you better believe it. This is a great darts game to play if there is only two of you. As in real cricket one player bats and the other bowls. The player who bats has to score as many runs as possible by throwing darts at the board and aiming to score as much as possible. Each point scored over 40 is then added to that players score, for instance if they score 60 then 20 runs are added to their score. If a player fails to score more than 40 in a given turn (3 darts) then no runs are added to their score. The second player is bowling and as in cricket, his aim is to take ten wickets. To take a wicket he has to hit the 25 ring (outer bull), if he hits the bullseye he then takes two wickets. You could obviously vary the degree of difficulty in the game by raising the score you have to achieve above 40 before scoring runs and by only awarding one wicket to the bowler for hitting the bullseye only. When the player bowling has taken all ten wickets, you swap around and the other player now bats and vice versa. The player who has the highest score when both innings have ended wins the game. You can of course play a test match and have two innings each, combining the totals to find a winner.

Killer - A great game to play in a large group down the pub, you could always add a bit of spice with each player putting a little bit of money in the pot. This game is also great darts practice as you have to hit a wide variety of doubles. Before you can start an order of play has to be decided then each player must throw one dart at the board with their non playing arm to determine what number they will be during the game. If a player hits a number already taken then they must retake their throw. Each player is allocated either 3 or 5 lives and starts the game by trying to hit their own double, once this is achieved they are now killing and must try and hit their opponents doubles. When somebody who is killing hits your number you lose a life and the winner is the last person left in the game with any lives remaining. If you hit your own double while killing, you lose a life. There are of course many variants to this game and it can also be played using trebles. one good tip is to try and ensure the number you hit and select at the start of the game is not adjacent to anybody elses number if possible.

Around The Clock - A simple fun game which is great for beginners. Each player must hit the single segments in numerical order from 1 to 20 and finish by hitting the 25 and bull. The player cannot move on to the next number until they hit their current number and the dart can land in the double or treble as long as it is in the correct scoring segment. The first player to hit every number followed by the 25 and bullseye wins. One variant you could use is for any player having 3 successful hits in one turn gets to go again until he eventually misses. For players of a higher standard you can play around the clock with doubles or trebles, this is also a good practice game to play on your own.

The more you play different games you will go on to create your own versions and maybe develop a couple of darts games of your own. Have fun with them and always enjoy your darts.