These are the pages we would want before buying anything: what the rules actually say, what the regulation dimensions are, what the materials do over five seasons, and how much lawn each game needs.
Nothing here is from memory. Where a sport has a governing body, that body's published rules are the source and are named inline. Where it does not, the manufacturer's own listing is. Where neither publishes a figure, the page says so rather than filling the gap.
The signature guide
Start here if you have not bought anything
How much space do yard games need is the most useful page on this site. It puts every game we cover into one table with its published footprint, its longest run and its player count. No competitor publishes this, and it settles most shortlists in about thirty seconds.
How to play
Rules and scoring
| Guide | Source | What it settles |
|---|---|---|
| Cornhole rules | American Cornhole League | Cancellation scoring, and what happens past 21 |
| Bocce ball rules | United States Bocce Federation | Scoring, and how to play without a court |
| How to play kubb | Kubb World Championship | The king rule that loses games |
| Kan Jam rules | Manufacturer published rules | Deflection scoring and the exact-21 finish |
| Ladder toss rules | Commonly published rules | Rung values and the exact-21 finish |
| Giant Jenga rules | Manufacturer published specifications | Safety, house variants and when a tower has fallen |
| Spikeball rules | International Roundnet Federation | Three touches, the shoulder-height serve and no boundary |
| Molkky rules | International Molkky Organisation | The exact-50 rule and the three-miss elimination |
| Croquet rules | United States Croquet Association | Bonus strokes and deadness — the two rules nobody plays |
| Horseshoe rules | National Horseshoe Pitchers Association | Ringers, cancellation scoring and the two foul lines |
| Badminton rules for a backyard | Badminton World Federation | Net height, the service limit and rally scoring to 21 |
| Yard game scoring systems compared | Every governing body we cite | Which published system keeps a game close |
| Flag football rules for a backyard | None — and the page says so | The six things to agree before kickoff |
| Disc golf basics for a backyard | Professional Disc Golf Association | Why a backyard supports the short game and nothing else |
| Yard game etiquette and house rules | Every rulebook we cite | The five things to say out loud before you start |
| Outdoor bowling rules | World Bowls, and nobody for yard skittles | Which of the two games you actually bought |
| Quoits rules | National Quoits Association, 1881 | 11 yards, a clay bed, and why a garden set has no standard |
| Kubb strategy | Kubb World Championship | Why the opponent placing your field kubbs decides the end |
| Yard dice rules | None — the page says so | Yardzee, Yard Farkle and Left Right Center scoring in one place |
| Giant connect four rules | Hasbro published instructions | 42 coins, the draw, and the two published variant modes |
| Giant dominoes rules | The standard double-six games | Block against Draw, and how to count the pips |
What to buy
Dimensions and materials
| Guide | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Regulation cornhole dimensions | Every ACL figure with its tolerance, and the two most misread measurements |
| Cornhole board materials | Plywood against MDF, bag fill, and what the price difference buys |
| Bocce court dimensions | The USBF court, the backyard version, and how small it can go |
| Weatherproof yard games | Which materials survive outdoors, ranked, across every game we cover |
| Wood vs plastic yard games | Pine, hardwood, resin, plywood and MDF, and what each does over a season |
| Levelling ground for yard games | Which games genuinely need level ground, and the fixes that avoid digging |
| Cornhole bag speed numbers explained | What 95/64 and 94/74 mean, and which spread suits which player |
| Yard games and your lawn | Which games wear turf, where the damage appears, and the fix that works |
| How to build a horseshoe pit | Every published NHPA dimension, in build order |
| Cornhole board finishes compared | Substrate is durability; finish is slide, and most listings publish neither |
| Setting up a permanent games area | Level once for the three shapes the whole category uses |
| Ladder toss dimensions | The 15 ft line everyone agrees on, and the ladder figures makers leave blank |
| Gaga ball pit dimensions | Published diameter against player count, wall heights, and the clearance to allow |
| Disc golf flight numbers explained | Innova's published ranges, and the rule that stops you misreading a chart |
| Disc golf plastic types | Thirteen published grades, grouped into the three decisions that matter |
| Disc golf disc weight | What each weight band does, the PDGA limits, and the published windows worth buying |
After you buy
Care, storage and buying decisions
| Guide | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Giant game storage | Where 56 wooden blocks actually live between parties |
| Giant games, wind and weather | Why tall wooden games fail, and the two conditions that do it |
| Rent or buy yard games | The honest arithmetic, including when the answer is do not buy |
| Best yard games under $100 | What a budget genuinely buys, and where cutting cost costs you nothing |
| How to look after cornhole bags | Cleaning, drying and storing resin-filled bags, and when a set is finished |
| Yard game safety and age floors | Which makers publish an age floor, and how to judge the ones that publish nothing |
| Buying yard games as gifts | Choosing for a yard you have not measured, and the games that fit almost anywhere |
| Best yard games for beginners | The first purchase, and why partial-credit scoring decides whether it gets used |
| Winterizing yard games | End-of-season storage by material, and the two mistakes that ruin most sets |
| Playing yard games after dark | Which games survive losing the light, and why you light the target not the yard |
| Travel weight of yard games | Every published set weight, and how to judge the many that publish none |
| Replacing lost yard game parts | Which single missing component kills a whole set, and what to keep spare |
| Buying used yard games | The three kinds of damage that are permanent, and what is usually missing |
| Yard game accessories worth buying | Ropes, scoreboards, markers and cases — the published extras that matter |
| Yard games for renters | Nothing dug, nothing left behind, and no wear you will be charged for |
| Yard games in hot weather | What to play at 95 degrees, and what the sun does to the equipment |
| Yard games and noise | Which games carry to a neighbour's garden, and which are effectively silent |
| Yard games and pets | What a dog will treat as a toy, and the three things that are unsafe for it |
| Slip and slide safety | The published 5 to 12 age range, and the run-off distance nobody publishes |
For the host
Hosting and running a party
| Guide | What it covers |
|---|---|
| How many yard games you need for a party | Turning a guest count into an actual number of games, and why three is often worse than two |
| How to run a backyard tournament | Bracket sizes, time budgets and the games with a published rulebook to point at |
| How to run a backyard olympics | Five stations, scoring on placings, and finishing before people leave |
Newly added
Is it worth it?
Two purchases on this site are loved by the right household and regretted by the wrong one, and the difference is almost never the product. The questions that sort it out are in is Spikeball worth it and is a gaga ball pit worth it.
Newly added
Worth it, or not?
Giant Jenga is photographed at every party and stored in every garage. Which of those it becomes at your house comes down to four practical questions, starting with the ground you would play on — is giant Jenga worth it.
Newly added
Kubb court dimensions
Kubb now has the same pair of pages as bocce and cornhole: the rules in how to play kubb, and the published 5 by 8 meter pitch — corner stakes, baselines, the king's spot and every throwing distance — in kubb court dimensions.
Newly added
Four more guides
Net heights, storage and two sets of rules nobody governs. Every published net height on the site — FIVB, BWF and USA Pickleball — is now in one table in backyard net heights. What fits in a 30 gallon box against a 150 gallon one, and the games no box will take, is in yard game storage boxes. The two self-refereeing games children run themselves now have their rules written down: gaga ball rules and tetherball rules. And the game with a federal ban in its history is covered in lawn dart rules and safety.
Newly added
Disc golf basket dimensions
The one category where the governing body publishes the answer. The PDGA fixes a basket at 82 cm to the rim, a 66 cm opening and a 51 cm target zone, and then publishes the measured figures for every target it has approved — so a basket is the most checkable purchase on this site. What the numbers mean, why every portable basket is a Basic target, and how the ones you can buy compare are in disc golf basket dimensions.
Newly added
Two more guides
Five of the games here have a governing body with published equipment rules. What the ACL, USBF, NHPA, the IRF and the Kubb World Championship actually fix, and which sets you can check against them, is in tournament legal yard game sets. And when the season turns, what still works in gloves, frozen ground and 5 pm darkness is in yard games for cold weather.
Newly added
How to play petanque
The boules game with a federation behind it. Games to 13, boules of 650 to 800 g thrown from a fixed circle, a jack sent 6 to 10 meters — and one turn-order rule that makes it a sport rather than a picnic activity: the team that is not closest keeps throwing. The sequence, the scoring and the two shots are in how to play petanque.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
Where do the numbers in these guides come from?
Which guide should I read first?
What do you do when a manufacturer does not publish a figure?
Why you can check our work
We have not played these. Every figure above is copied from a manufacturer's published listing or a governing body's published rules, and named so you can verify it. Where a maker publishes nothing, the field is blank rather than filled in. How we pick explains the whole method, including what would change a recommendation.
Read next
Related pages
Guide
Kubb court dimensions
5 m by 8 m, four corner stakes, the king in the middle — every published dimension and distance, and how to mark it out.
Guide
Is giant Jenga worth it?
Photographed at every party, stored in every garage — the four questions that decide which it will be.
Guide
Is Spikeball worth it?
Brilliant for some households, a garage ornament in others — the four questions that decide it.
Guide
Is a gaga ball pit worth it?
Brilliant for six children, pointless for one — the honest math on players and space.
Guide
How much space do yard games need?
Every game's published footprint, longest run and player count in one sourced table.
Guide
Cornhole rules
ACL scoring, cancellation explained, and what happens past 21 — with the published source.
Sources
- American Cornhole League — rules and regulations
- United States Bocce Federation — open rules
- Kubb World Championship — rules (English)
- NHPA — official rules and specifications
- International Molkky Organisation — game rules
Every figure on this page is copied from one of these sources. If you find one that is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it.