Games / Marble Rush
Play Marble Rush online with friends
Play cards to race your marbles round the track and into safe before the other team gets there.
- 2 to 4 players
- 30 to 45 minutes
- Two teams of two
- Bots fill empty seats
Marble Rush is a team race game played with cards instead of a die. Four players sit in two partnerships, and each has four marbles to bring out of home, round a 72 square track and into four safe holes. The card you play decides the move, so you hold a small hand and plan a turn or two ahead. It is the marble and card game played across the Gulf, here in your browser with friends or bots.
An Ace or King brings a marble out, a Jack swaps two marbles, a 7 can be split between two of yours and a 4 moves backwards. Landing on a marble sends it home. The host can switch the common house rules on or off: a 5 that moves any marble, a 10 that makes the next player burn a card, and deals of 5 then 4. Two or three people can play too, with one player running a whole team.
Why play Marble Rush here
- Tap a card and the marbles it can move light up
- A slider sets how a 7 is split between two marbles
- The 5 and 10 house rules are table options
- A card list beside the board shows what every card does
- Two players can run a whole team each
- Easy, normal and hard bots
How to play Marble Rush
Sit in two teams
Partners sit opposite each other. Each player has four marbles at home and is dealt 4 cards.
Bring a marble out
Play an Ace or a King to put a marble on your base square. While it stays there, nobody can pass it or knock it out.
Play a card, move a marble
Most cards move one marble their number of squares, clockwise. A Queen moves 12, a King 13 and an Ace 1 or 11.
Use the special cards
A Jack swaps one of your marbles with another on the track. A 7 can be split between two marbles. A 4 moves back 4.
Knock rivals home
Finish a move on another marble and it goes back to its home. If none of your cards can move, you burn one and miss the move.
Turn into safe
After a lap, a marble turns in at your safe entrance. It needs a count that ends in one of your four safe holes.
Get all eight safe
When your four are safe, your cards move your partner's marbles. The first team with all eight safe wins.
Tips
- Keep an Ace or a King while you still have marbles at home.
- Save a 4 for a marble on your base. Moving back 4 puts it right before your safe entrance.
- Count before you stop in front of a rival. A marble up to 13 squares behind you may be able to land on you.
- Fill the deepest safe holes first, so the marbles behind have room to come in.
Screenshots
Marble Rush questions
How do you play Marble Rush?
Each player has four marbles and a hand of four cards. On your turn you play one card and move a marble the way the card says. An Ace or King brings a marble out, number cards move that many squares, and landing on a marble sends it home. You and your partner win by getting all eight marbles round the track and into your safe holes.
What do the special cards do?
An Ace brings a marble out or moves 1 or 11. A King brings one out or moves 13, and a Queen moves 12. A Jack swaps one of your marbles with another player's. A 7 can be split between two of your marbles. A 4 moves back 4. With the house rules on, a 5 can move any marble and a 10 can make the next player burn a card.
What happens if I cannot move?
If none of the cards in your hand can make a legal move, you burn one: you pick a card, it is discarded, and your turn ends. If any card can move, you have to play one. This happens most at the start, before anyone has a marble out, so an Ace or King is worth holding on to.
Can two people play Marble Rush?
Yes. With two players, each of you runs both colours of a team and holds a separate hand for each colour, so the game plays the same way as with four. With three, the player sitting alone runs both colours of their team. Bots can also fill the empty seats.
How do marbles get into the safe holes?
Your safe entrance is two squares before your base. After a lap, a marble turns in there and counts on into your four safe holes. It needs a count that ends in a hole, so a card that would go past the fourth hole cannot move it. Marbles in safe cannot be knocked out, and they cannot jump over each other.
Why can a marble on its base not be knocked out?
A marble standing on its own base square is protected. No marble can pass it, land on it or swap with it, and that includes marbles of the same colour. It makes a good blocker, but it also stops you bringing another marble out until it moves on.
Is Marble Rush free, and does it work on a phone?
It is free, with no download and no account needed. It runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers, and players on different devices can share one table. Open a table, send the invite link, and add bots for any seats left over.