Games · Darts

Darts: free online darts game

A proper board, with the real number order, doubles, trebles and bull. Aim, flick the dart upwards and try to finish 501 on a double. Against the computer at three levels, with a friend on the same device, round the clock or in the daily game. Free, no account needed.

How to play

• Drag your finger (or the mouse) to move the aim. Your hand shakes a little, so pick your moment. Then make a quick, straight flick upwards and let go: a soft flick drops the dart low, a flick that is too hard sends it high, and a crooked one pulls it sideways. On a keyboard, move the aim with the arrows and throw with the space bar.
• Each number scores its value. The outer ring scores double and the middle ring scores treble. The green circle in the centre is worth 25 and the red bull is worth 50. The most you can score with three darts is 180: three treble 20s.
• In 501, each player starts on 501 and throws three darts per visit, which are subtracted. The winner is the first to reach exactly zero, and the last dart must be a double (the bull counts as a double). Go below zero, leave 1, or reach zero without a double and you bust: the visit ends and your score goes back to what it was at the start of it. On 170 or less, the game suggests a possible checkout.
• In round the clock, hit each number from 1 to 20 in order; any part of the number counts. In the daily game you get 9 darts and the hand shake is the same for everyone that day: score as much as you can. Only your first game of the day goes on the leaderboard.

Where this game comes from

Darts took the shape we know in English pubs between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where the board on the wall became a local pastime. Old boards were made of wood and had to be soaked so they would not split; today’s boards are made of compressed sisal fibres that close up again after the dart comes out.

The number order, with 20 at the top between 5 and 1, punishes misses: every high number has low numbers beside it. This order is often credited to one Brian Gamlin in 1896, but that is a legend: no record has ever been found to confirm it, and the true origin of the order remains unclear.

Free game, no betting and no prizes. Your game is saved on this device.