Skittles

Skittles is a hugely popular traditional game that has evolved over the years into many variants. Skittles consists of 9 wooden pins set up to be bowled down with a wooden ball.

Playing a game of Skittles is a perfect summer game for all the family and our Skittles range come in different shapes and sizes, which includes Skittles sets featuring popular character variants of Skittles, such as the Giant Royal Gaurds or Magnum Policeman.

Jaques range of Skittles include wooden balls, all hand turned and made from the finest wood. The quality of the Skittles balls are exceptional. The Challenge Skittle set includes a handy canvas case, whilst the Chelsea Skittles set comes beautifully presented in a handmade wooden storage case. Also available for younger players is the Royal Guards Skittles set, which includes a set of nine solid wood soldiers based on the world famous guards of Buckingham Palace.

How to play Skittles

To play Skittles firstly set the nine skittles up in a diamond formation, with each pin about 16 cm apart. The throwing point is normally 5 metres. You can be further away for a longer game. Just make sure both players are the same distance away for each turn. Players take it in turn to throw 3 balls each at the wooden skittles. If all 9 are knocked over by the first or second ball, they are all set up again and the player gets a free hand, that is a complete knock over or 'skittle' is a free turn, this means the player gets an extra go. This can be repeated 3 times maximum. Therefore a players maximum possible score is 27. A much more normal score is 7.

You can play garden skittles individually or in teams, each player adding their score to the team total. The winner is the player, or team, with the highest score after an agreed number of rounds.