Lawn darts is a lawn game

Lawn game

A lawn game is any outdoor game that can be played on a lawn. Many games that are traditionally played on a pitch are marketed as "lawn games" for home use in a front or back yard.Common lawn games include:*Horseshoes*Lawn darts*Croquet*Cornhole*Bocce...

 for two players or teams. A lawn dart set usually includes four large darts

Dart (missile)

Darts are missile weapons, designed to fly such that a sharp, often weighted point will strike first. They can be distinguished from javelins by fletching and a shaft that is shorter and/or more flexible, and from arrows by the fact that they are not of the right length to use with a normal...

 and two targets. The game play and objective are similar to both horseshoes

Horseshoes

Horseshoes is an outdoor game played between two people using four horseshoes and two throwing targets set in a sandbox area. The game is played by the players alternating turns tossing horseshoes at stakes in the ground, which are traditionally placed 40 feet apart...

 and darts

Darts

Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...

. The darts are similar to the ancient Roman plumbata. They are typically 12 inches (30 cm) long with a weighted metal or plastic tip on one end and three plastic fins on a rod at the other end. The darts are intended to be tossed underhand toward a horizontal ground target, where the weighted end hits first and sticks into the ground. The target is typically a plastic ring, and landing anywhere within the ring scores a point.

Rules

There are a number of variations of lawn darts, including Traditional and Handly Cup Style. Either variation can be played one-on-one or in teams of two. In the team version the players stand with one member from each team at each end (when throwing, they should be sure to stand well back when the other side is throwing) and toss the darts to a target about 35 feet (10.7 m) away (with variation based on the players' skill and the venue in which the game is being played).

In Traditional Lawn Darts, points are scored when a dart lands in the target area. Usually if a player from each team lands a dart in the target, the scores cancel each other (so if Team A got 2 darts into the target, and Team B got 1 in, Team A would get 1 point and Team B would get 0). Also, some versions of Lawn darts include a smaller "bulls-eye" ring for additional points.

In Handly Cup Style Lawn Darts, scores are based on darts in the ring plus darts closer to the ring than any of the opposing team's darts. Darts landing inside the ring, or "ringers", are worth 3 points each, and can be cancelled by an opponent also throwing a dart into the ring. Additionally, any dart that is closer to the ring (but outside) than any other dart by the opposing team is worth one point. This means that if neither team managed to place a dart into the ring, but Team A had two darts closer than any of Team B's darts, Team A would score 2 points. If Team A had one dart in the ring, and one dart closer than any of Team B's darts, they would score 4 points. If both teams have darts in the ring it is impossible for a dart outside the ring to score any points (as it is farther from the ring than the opposing team's dart that is inside). If Team A and Team B each had a dart inside the ring, and Team A also had two darts outside the ring but closer to the ring than any of Team B's other darts, neither team would score any points for that round. Handly Cup Style matches typically are played in teams of two, with the pairs alternating, until one teams total score is 21 or more. In addition, for a point to count the dart must stick into the ground.

Controversy

On December 19, 1988, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lawn darts from sale in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 due to their hazards as a flying projectile with a sharp metal point causing multiple deaths.

Shortly after, in 1989, they were also banned in Canada. Since then, alternatives have surfaced that are available for sale in Canada that are made of plastic.

Similar games

• Crown darts is a variation using the same equipment in which the darts are tossed towards a target dart instead of a plastic ring target.
• Kubb
  Kubb
  Kubb is a lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. Kubb can be simply described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes...
  
  is a similar throwing game involving wooden batons instead of darts.

External links

• TossingGames.com
• Zarts