501 and Cricket are the backbone of bar darts, but they’re two-player games at heart and they punish beginners. When you’ve got a crowd, a mixed-skill group, or you just want variety, reach for these five: Around the Clock (dead simple, great for first-timers), Killer (chaotic, hilarious, scales to a big group), Halve It (high-stakes and fast), Shanghai (one lucky round can win the whole thing), and Baseball(nine quick innings, easy to follow). Below: how each one is played, how it’s scored, and the night it fits best.
Walk into almost any bar with a board and you’ll find people playing 501 or Cricket. There’s a good reason for that — they’re excellent games, and if you want a refresher on exactly how they score, we wrote a whole guide on darts scoring and rules. But both are fundamentally built for two players or two teams, and both can be rough on someone who picked up a dart for the first time an hour ago.
We build tournament and league software for bars and amusement operators, so we spend a lot of time watching what actually keeps a room engaged on a dart night. The honest answer is variety — and specifically, games that let four, six, or eight people play at once and give a beginner a real shot at winning. Here are the five we’d put on the rotation.
1. Around the Clock — the perfect beginner game
Around the Clock (also called Around the World) is the game to reach for when someone says “I’ve never really played.” There’s no math, no strategy, and no way to lose track of where you are.
How it works: Each player throws three darts a turn and has to hit the numbers 1 through 20 in order, then finish on the bullseye. You can only advance one number at a time, so you’re working your way around the board sequentially. The first player to hit everything in order and close on the bull wins.
Doubles and trebles count as a hit on that number — they don’t skip you ahead — though a common house variation lets a double advance you two numbers and a treble three to speed things up. Pick one rule before you start and tell everyone.
When to run it:First-timers, kids’-night-style casual crowds, or as a quick warm-up before the “real” games. It’s also a genuinely good practice routine for accuracy across the whole board.
2. Killer — the big-group crowd-pleaser
Killer is the game that turns a group of six standing around a board into a loud, laughing scrum. It scales beautifully — the more players, the better — which is exactly why it’s a bar favorite.
How it works:Each player throws a dart with their non-dominant hand to get assigned a random number — that’s “their” number for the game, and everyone starts with three lives. First, you have to become a “Killer” by hitting the doubleof your own number. Once you’re a Killer, you go on offense: hit the double of someone else’s number to knock a life off them. Lose all three lives and you’re out. Last player standing wins.
Once you’re a Killer, if you accidentally hit your own double again, you lose a life. So the better you aim, the more careful you have to be — and alliances, betrayals, and trash talk follow naturally. It’s the most “party” game on this list.
When to run it:Any time you’ve got five or more people who want to play together rather than wait in a bracket. It’s also a great icebreaker for a new dart night before people know each other.
3. Halve It — high stakes, over fast
Halve It is the adrenaline game. One bad round can erase half your score, so every turn matters and nobody checks out mentally.
How it works: Everyone plays the same sequence of targets, one per round — a typical run is 20, 19, 18, 17, doubles, trebles, bullseye(you can set whatever sequence you like, as long as everyone agrees up front). On each round, you throw your three darts at that round’s target only. Whatever you hit on the target gets added to your running total — singles count once, doubles double, trebles triple.
Here’s the catch: if you miss the target entirely with all three darts that round, your score is cut in half (round down on odd numbers). After the final round, highest score wins.
| Round | Target | Hit it | Miss all three |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20s | Add what you score | Halve your total |
| 2 | 19s | Add what you score | Halve your total |
| 3 | Any double | Add what you score | Halve your total |
| 4 | Bullseye | Add what you score | Halve your total |
When to run it: When you want a short, tense game with a clear winner — perfect as a tiebreaker, a quick side game, or the opening round of a more structured night.
4. Shanghai — the lucky-round knockout
Shanghai is the game where someone in last place can win on a single throw. That built-in comeback mechanic makes it a great equalizer for mixed-skill groups.
How it works: The game runs over seven rounds, targeting numbers 1 through 7 (or 1 through 20 for a longer game). In round one everyone throws three darts at the 1, round two at the 2, and so on. You score only on that round’s number — single is face value, double is ×2, treble is ×3. Highest total at the end wins.
That instant-win rule is what makes Shanghai special: a player who’s been cold all night can land a Shanghai in round five and take the whole thing. It keeps everyone honest right up to the last dart.
When to run it: Mixed-skill groups, or any time you want a game where the trailing players still have hope. Short enough to run several rounds of in an evening.
5. Baseball — nine innings, easy to follow
Baseball is the most spectator-friendly game here because the structure is already familiar: nine innings, and you’re trying to score “runs.”
How it works: The game is nine innings. In inning one, every player throws three darts at the 1; in inning two, at the 2; through inning nine at the 9. A single counts as 1 run, a double as 2, a treble as 3 — anything off that inning’s number scores nothing. Most runs after nine innings wins, and a tie goes to extra innings. (For the record, a perfect game is 81 runs: three trebles in every inning.)
When to run it:Groups that want something quick and scoreboard-driven, or a crowd that likes the baseball framing. It’s easy to chalk and easy to explain to someone watching.
Quick reference: which game for which night
| Game | Players | Skill level | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around the Clock | 2–8 | Beginner | First-timers, warm-ups |
| Killer | 3–10+ | Any | Big groups, party energy |
| Halve It | 2–8 | Intermediate | Fast, tense, tiebreakers |
| Shanghai | 2–8 | Mixed | Comeback potential |
| Baseball | 2–6 | Any | Scoreboard-driven nights |
Turning a fun game into a recurring night
One game is a good time. A rotationof games is what turns a slow weeknight into a night people plan around. Open with Around the Clock to loosen up first-timers, run a couple rounds of Killer to get the room loud, then settle into 501 or Cricket for the people who came to compete. If you’re thinking bigger, these casual games are the on-ramp to a real dart league— they get people comfortable with the board before there’s anything on the line.
And when you’re ready to put structure around it — a bracket, a payout, standings that update themselves — that’s exactly what we built ThrowDown to do. It runs the formats in our bar tournament guide, tracks scores in real time, and keeps the boards full so nobody’s standing around. It’s a flat $10/month or $100/year — single plan, everything included, with no per-tournament fees and no tiers to puzzle over.
Open the live demo— no signup needed — and run a bracket in a couple of minutes. When you’re ready, start a free 30-day trial and host your next dart night on it. Questions first? Get in touchand we’ll help you set it up.
The short version
501 and Cricket earn their spot, but they’re not the whole bag. Around the Clock welcomes beginners, Killer owns a big rowdy group, Halve It keeps things fast and tense, Shanghai gives everyone a puncher’s chance, and Baseball is the easy-to-follow scoreboard game. Rotate them, post the rules on the wall, and your board stops being furniture and starts being the reason people show up.
Sources:Game rules verified against published darts references including DartHelp.com, GLD Products / Darts & Piks, Wikipedia (“Halve it”), and Dartly. Scoring, round structures, and win conditions reflect the most commonly used pub and league rule sets; house rules vary, so confirm your variation before play.