Compare yard games

Every comparison uses the same four axes, all sourced rather than felt:

1. Footprint, from the governing body's published court dimensions where one exists.
2. Player count, from the published rules or the manufacturer's listing.
3. Surface and weather tolerance, from the published material and the surfaces the rules name.
4. What each one asks of the player — strength, reach, fitness or placement.

What we do not do is tell you which is more fun. We have not played these, and a fun ranking from someone who has not played them is worth nothing. The full method is on how we pick.

The closest pair on the whole site. Washer toss borrows cornhole's scoring almost exactly — three for the hard shot, one for the easy one, first to 21 — and needs about 26 feet instead of 33. What separates them is that one has a published rulebook and the other has regional conventions: cornhole vs washer toss.

The games added to this site recently each come with the obvious alternative a buyer weighs them against: bocce vs lawn bowling, Spikeball vs pickleball, Kan Jam vs Polish horseshoes, hook and ring vs ring toss, tetherball vs gaga ball, dunk tank vs slip and slide and capture the flag vs flag football.

Spikeball vs Slammo settles a brand question rather than a game one; pickleball vs badminton is decided by the ground under your feet; ladder toss vs washer toss is the small-yard pair; and quoits vs horseshoes is the pitching game with a pit against the one without.

The matrix gaps, filled. America's default game against the Scandinavian one in kubb vs cornhole. The two boules games in bocce vs petanque and petanque vs lawn bowling. The two pit-and-target games in washer toss vs horseshoes, and the soft-tip newcomer against the governed original in lawn darts vs horseshoes. On the net side, volleyball vs badminton and Spikeball vs volleyball; and for a yard full of children, gaga ball vs tetherball.

The two biggest party games, finally compared: cornhole vs giant Jenga. On the net side, pickleball vs volleyball comes down to whether your ground is hard or stakeable. Disc throwers get disc golf vs Kan Jam; the rolling family gets croquet vs lawn bowling; and the giant shelf gets giant Jenga vs giant dominoes.

For the small-footprint throwing games, ladder toss vs ring toss and quoits vs ring toss. For exact-finish scoring, Molkky vs ladder toss. For precision without a lawn, petanque vs horseshoes. For summer, slip and slide vs sprinkler games. And for a lawn big enough to run on, flag football vs backyard soccer.