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Toss & Turf

Guide

Quoits rules

One version of this game has had published rules since April 1881 and a 5.5 pound iron ring thrown 11 yards into wet clay. The one in your garden has neither, and pretending otherwise is how house arguments start.

By Sawyer V.Published October 6, 2026Last updated October 6, 2026
Rope rings resting beside a wooden target on grass

We earn commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we pick — here is the method.

The short answer

Quick picks

Ranked on published specs, not on play we have not done. Tap any row to jump to the full write-up further down this page.

Ranked picks with what each is best for, our published-spec score and a live price link.
#ProductBest forScorePrice
1
Triumph Wood Quoit Target Outdoor Lawn Game Set

Triumph Wood Quoit Target Outdoor Lawn Game Set

Six 6.5-inch sisal rope rings and two stackable solid wood targets with 9-inch pins, scored 3 for a ringer and 1 for a ring on the platform, with a tournament distance published at 21 feet between pins.

Best quoits set7.4/10
$27.99 · View on Amazon

Price as of October 19, 2026. #ad How we make money

2
No photo

GoSports Premium Wooden Ring Toss Game

One solid pine target carrying five scoring towers of different values, four rope rings and a carrying case — the smallest real throwing game on this site and the only one a three-year-old can play properly.

Best overall6.7/10
Check price on Amazon

#ad How we make money

The short answer: the traditional game is governed and specific — hobs 11 yards apart, a three-foot square of moist clay at each end, a hob standing 3 to 4 inches proud, and a cast iron quoit about 5.5 inches across weighing about 5.5 lb. Everything sold as a garden quoits set is a different thing with no standard behind it.

Knowing which one you have decides whether you can look the rules up or have to write them. Both are below.

Northern quoits

The traditional game, as published

Published figures for the northern game, played under the 15 rules printed in The Field, April 1881.
ElementPublished figure
Distance between hobs11 yards (10 meters)
Clay bedA square of moist clay, three feet across
Hob height above the clay3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm)
Quoit diameterAbout 5.5 in (14 cm)
Quoit weightAbout 5.5 lb (2.5 kg)
Rules15 rules, first published April 1881 in The Field
Governing bodyNational Quoits Association, formed 1986

A quoit of that weight does not bounce. It lands in wet clay and stays, which is why the clay bed is part of the specification rather than a nicety — the game does not work on grass, and nobody has ever claimed it does.

The East Anglian version

A second governed-adjacent tradition sets the hobs 18 yards apart and uses quoits of reduced size and weight, with two points for a quoit that lands cleanly over the hob. If you have seen quoits played at a much longer distance, this is probably why.

What to agree first

Rules for a garden set

Start with whatever the box says — a published maker rule beats an invented one. Where the box is silent, these are the five decisions, and the order matters because each one changes the next.

  1. Distance. Pace it until the game is winnable but not easy. For rope rings on grass that is usually well under the traditional 11 yards; the traditional figure assumes 5.5 lb of iron, not 6.5 inches of rope.
  2. Ringers and leaners. A ring cleanly over the pin is the score everyone agrees on. Decide before you start whether a ring resting against the pin counts for anything — the East Anglian game gives a clean ringer two points, which is a reasonable template.
  3. Cancellation or not. Horseshoes cancels opposing ringers against each other, which keeps scores low and games long. Quoits sets rarely publish a rule; cancellation makes a garden game tighter, straight scoring makes it faster.
  4. Target game. 21 is the convention across almost every toss game on this site. Whether you must land on it exactly is the single biggest decider of how long an evening runs.
  5. Throwing order. All of one player's rings, then the other player's — not alternating. Alternating removes the chance to knock a ring off, which is most of the tactics.

Quoits and horseshoes

How it compares to the governed neighbour

Horseshoes is the game quoits is most often confused with, and it is the one that is governed in the United States: the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association publishes pit dimensions, stake height and a full scoring system. If you want a ring-at-a-pin game with rules you can simply look up and follow, horseshoes is the one. Our quoits vs horseshoes page sets the two against each other on noise, ground damage and who can play.

The picks in full

Every pick, with its published specs

1

Best quoits set

Triumph Wood Quoit Target Outdoor Lawn Game Set

Triumph

Triumph Wood Quoit Target Outdoor Lawn Game Set

Our spec score

7.4/10

Spec completeness
7/10
Footprint clarity
7/10
Durability
6/10
Pack-down
8/10

Scored on published specifications only. We have not played this set.

Six 6.5-inch sisal rope rings and two stackable solid wood targets with 9-inch pins, scored 3 for a ringer and 1 for a ring on the platform, with a tournament distance published at 21 feet between pins.

Skip this if

Skip this if you wanted metal quoits. These are rope rings on wooden targets — the lawn version of the game — and they suit a patio or a picnic, not a pitch dug into the ground.

What works

  • A published tournament distance and a published scoring rule
  • Rope rings — safe indoors, on a deck, around children
  • Targets stack with the rings stored on the pins
  • Solid wood targets, published

What does not

  • No published target dimensions
  • No carry bag published
  • Rope rings are the lawn game, not the traditional metal one

Published specifications

Rings
6 (3 red, 3 blue), 6.5 in, sisal rope

Source: Triumph published specification (Escalade Sports)

Targets
2 stackable solid wood targets, 9 in pins

Source: Triumph published specification (Escalade Sports)

Scoring
Ringer 3 points; ring on the target platform 1 point

Source: Triumph published specification (Escalade Sports)

Distance
21 ft between pins stated for tournament play; any distance for fun

Source: Triumph published specification (Escalade Sports)

Players
1 v 1 or teams of two

Source: Triumph published specification (Escalade Sports)

Storage
Targets stack with the rings wrapped around the pins

Source: Triumph published specification (Escalade Sports)

Target dimensions
—

Not published by the manufacturer.

Carry bag
—

Not published by the manufacturer.

Manufacturer listing: Triumph published specification (Escalade Sports)

$27.99 · View on Amazon

Price as of October 19, 2026. #ad How we make money

2

Best overall

GoSports Premium Wooden Ring Toss Game

GoSports

No product photo

Our spec score

6.7/10

Spec completeness
4/10
Footprint clarity
2/10
Durability
6/10
Pack-down
10/10

Scored on published specifications only. We have not played this set.

One solid pine target carrying five scoring towers of different values, four rope rings and a carrying case — the smallest real throwing game on this site and the only one a three-year-old can play properly.

Skip this if

Skip this if you want a game adults will keep choosing. Five towers at close range is a genuine skill test for a child and a warm-up for an adult; nobody plays ring toss for two hours.

What works

  • Five towers with different values turns a toy into a game with an actual risk-reward decision
  • Solid pine is published as the material, not 'wood'
  • Published for 1 to 4 players, and it is genuinely playable solo, which almost nothing else here is
  • Case included, assembles in seconds, and the whole thing is one small object

What does not

  • GoSports publishes no dimension at all — not the target, not the towers, not the rings
  • No published throwing distance, so the footprint is whatever you decide it is
  • No published age floor on a game whose main audience is small children

Published specifications

Target
1, with 5 scoring towers

Source: GoSports product listing

Rings
4 throwing rings

Source: GoSports product listing

Target material
Solid pine wood

Source: GoSports product listing

Ring material
Robust rope

Source: GoSports product listing

Scoring
5 scoring towers with varying point scores

Source: GoSports product listing

Players
1 to 4

Source: GoSports product listing

Carry
Carrying case included

Source: GoSports product listing

Assembly
Stated to assemble in seconds

Source: GoSports product listing

Target dimensions
—

Not published by the manufacturer.

Tower heights
—

Not published by the manufacturer.

Ring diameter
—

Not published by the manufacturer.

Throwing distance
—

Not published by the manufacturer.

Set weight
—

Not published by the manufacturer.

Age floor
—

Not published by the manufacturer.

Manufacturer listing: GoSports product listing

Check price on Amazon

#ad How we make money

FAQ

Questions people actually ask

How far apart are quoits pitched?
In the traditional northern game, the hobs are 11 yards — about 10 meters — apart. The East Anglian version doubles the gap to 18 yards and uses a smaller, lighter quoit. Garden and deck quoits have no agreed distance at all, so the maker sets one: Triumph publishes its own throwing distance with its wooden set.
Does quoits have official rules?
The northern game does. Fifteen rules were published in The Field in April 1881 by an association of clubs in the north of England, and play is now run by the National Quoits Association under essentially that same set. No governing body exists for garden quoits or deck quoits, which the sources are explicit about.
How heavy is a real quoit?
About 5.5 pounds — roughly 2.5 kg — and about 5.5 inches across in the traditional northern game. That is a cast iron ring, thrown into a bed of wet clay, and it is why the traditional game needs a purpose-built pitch rather than a lawn. A garden set's rope or rubber rings weigh a fraction of that.
Is quoits the same as ring toss?
Not quite. Quoits throws a ring at a pin set in a bed, traditionally flat and heavy enough to stay where it lands; ring toss drops lighter rings over a tower or peg board and usually scores by which peg you hit. The two overlap so much in the shops that the words are used interchangeably — we split them in quoits vs ring toss.

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

Triumph Wood Quoit Target Outdoor Lawn Game Set

Picks

Best quoits set

Ring toss for adults: rope rings, a 21 ft pitch and 3 points for a ringer.

Triumph Wood Quoit Target Outdoor Lawn Game Set

Comparison

Quoits vs horseshoes

Steel, 40 ft and a pit — or rope, 21 ft and nothing to dig. The two pitching games compared.

Triumph Wood Quoit Target Outdoor Lawn Game Set

Comparison

Quoits vs ring toss

Two targets and sisal rings against one target with five scoring towers — and which ages each fits.

A wooden target with pegs and rope rings on a lawn

Picks

Best ring toss game

Five scoring towers, four rope rings, and the only game here with no minimum footprint.

A steel horseshoe encircling a stake in a clay pit

Guide

Horseshoe rules

Ringers, leaners, cancellation scoring to 40, and the 27 and 37 foot foul lines.

GoSports 4 ft x 2 ft Solid Wood Premium Cornhole Set

Picks

Yard game guides

Rules, regulation dimensions, materials and storage — sourced from governing bodies and makers.

Sources

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.