Best outdoor bowling set

A published weight and a published age floor in the same listing is genuinely rare across everything we cover — most makers publish neither. Seven and three-quarter pounds means a child can carry the bag, and an age floor of three makes this the youngest-friendly game on the site by a clear margin.

What is missing is the geometry: no lane length and no pin spacing. That is the same situation as ring toss and washer toss — games with no governing body where the setup is genuinely a house rule rather than a spec you failed to find.

The same ten pins support two quite different games, and the set does not come with rules for either.

Classic ten-pin

Set the pins in a triangle, roll two balls a turn, score strikes and spares as you would in a bowling alley. Familiar to everybody, and the reason this sells — but it is the less interesting of the two.

European skittles

Pins set in a different formation, and scoring by how many you fell rather than by frame. It plays faster, it suits more players, and it is closer in spirit to Molkky — which is the same idea with a published rulebook and the best endgame rule in yard games.

If the appeal here is knocking numbered pins down with a thrown or rolled object, read the Molkky page before you buy. Molkky has a governing body, a published throwing distance of three to four meters, and the exactly-50 scoring rule that keeps a losing player live. Lawn bowling's advantage over it is the age floor and the familiarity.

This is the most inclusive game we cover, and that is the reason to buy it rather than a consolation prize.

• Households with under-fives. A published age floor of three, a light ball and a target that falls over visibly. See games for toddlers and preschoolers.
• Gatherings with grandparents. Rolling underarm from a standing position, or from a chair, is a real game rather than an adaptation — games for seniors and low mobility makes the full case.
• Mixed-age parties where the line can move. Because the throwing distance is a house rule, a four-year-old and a forty-year-old can compete honestly by standing in different places. Very little else here allows that — games for mixed ages.

And who should skip it:

• Anyone who wants a game with depth. There is very little strategy here. Bocce and Molkky both reward thinking; this rewards a straight roll.
• Anyone with long grass and no mower. Covered above, and it is fatal.
• Anyone leaving it outdoors. Painted softwood on wet grass is a short-lived finish. This comes indoors — see winterizing yard games.