Shuffleboard

What is Shuffleboard?

Table shuffleboard is the game on the long, polished wooden table you find in pubs and bars. You slide heavy, chrome-rimmed weights by hand down a waxed maple board towards the far end, where the scoring zones are, and try to finish farther down than your opponent, or knock their weights off into the gutter.

Here you play one against one against the computer on a regulation table, 22 feet long and 20 inches wide, four weights each. The first to 15 points wins (11 on Easy). There are three levels of opponent, and every day brings a Daily game, the same for everyone.

How to play Shuffleboard

A game is a run of frames. Each one goes the same way, following the regulation rules of The Shuffleboard Federation.

• Eight slides. You and the computer take turns, four weights each. The player who shoots second has the hammer, the last slide of the frame.
• Sliding. Press on the board where across it you want the weight to leave your hand, pull back towards you and let go. The further you pull, the harder the slide; pull to the right and it goes to the left.
• The foul line. A weight that does not come to rest wholly past the far foul line, 6 feet from the end, is taken off the board. So is one knocked back short of it.
• The gutter. A weight that leaves the board, slid too hard or knocked off, drops into the gutter and is out of the frame.
• Scoring. When all eight weights are down, only the player with the weight farthest down the board scores. Each of their weights beyond the other's farthest counts the zone it lies wholly in: 1, 2 or 3. A weight on a line counts the lower zone, and a weight hanging over the far end, a hanger, counts 4.
• The next frame. The player who scores shoots first in the next frame, so the other gets the hammer. When nobody scores, the player who had the hammer shoots first.
• Help by level. Easy shows where a slide would stop on an empty board and marks the strength. Medium shows the line it goes along. Hard shows only its first few centimetres.

Tips and strategy

1. The hammer is worth a lot. With the last slide you can always answer. Without it, think about what the computer can still do to your best weight.
2. Short is safer than long. A weight just inside the 3 zone scores almost as much as a hanger, and one that goes too far is lost in the gutter.
3. Knock off what counts. When the computer's weight is farthest down, sliding hard straight through it often gains more than another draw.
4. Guard your leader. A weight in front of your best one, on the same line, blocks the straight path of a knock-off.
5. Come in at an angle. Starting from one side of the board lets you curve round a weight in the way to reach the one behind it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shuffleboard free?

Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.

What is a hanger?

A weight that stops with part of it over the far edge of the board while its centre is still on the table. It counts 4 points, the most a single weight can score, but it is also the easiest weight to knock off.

Why do weights short of the foul line come off?

That is the rule: a weight must lie wholly past the far foul line to stay in play. Taking short weights off keeps the board clear in front of the scoring zones.

Why does my slide not go exactly where I aimed?

Nobody's hand is perfect. Every slide strays a hair, a little more on Hard. The stray comes from the game's seed, so a replay of your game goes the same way.

What is the Daily game?

Every day everyone plays the same computer opponent on the same terms, at Medium, so the scores compare directly on the leaderboard.