GG Darts — Official Rules

GG stands for Good Game and Grouping Game. Playtest build, v1. Created by Zachariah & Isaiah Turner.

Overview

A precision darts game where you compete on the tightness of your dart grouping, not the points you hit. Each round you throw six darts and your grouping is measured. Tighter is better. Scores add up across rounds, and the moment your total reaches the elimination wall you are out. The last player standing wins.

Behind you sit the catch-up tools. The further back you fall, the more help you get, so one bad round is rarely fatal and the field stays bunched. The game is built for amateurs and rewards consistency under pressure.

What you need

A standard dartboard and six darts per thrower (or three darts thrown twice).
A length of string and a ruler or tape marked in inches.
This scorekeeper app, or pen and paper.

The grouping score

Throw all six darts.
Wrap the string snugly around the outermost darts so it forms the smallest loop that contains them all. That loop is the perimeter of your group.
Measure the string in inches.
Round up to the nearest half inch. That is your round score.

Lower is better. A 6.0 beats a 9.5. Only the outermost darts touch the string, so a single stray dart costs you far more than a tight cluster saves. Control your worst dart and the rest takes care of itself.

Rounds and throw order

Positions are recalculated at the start of every round from cumulative score.

First place is the lowest total. Throws first.
Last place is the highest total. Throws last.
In contention is everyone in between.

You throw from best position to worst. Throwing later lets you watch how the field did before deciding whether to spend a power-up.

Ties share a tier. When an order has to be settled between tied players, the better most-recent round throws first; if still tied, flip for it.

Elimination and winning

Your darts accumulate a running total. The instant your total reaches or passes 301, you are eliminated and leave the game. The remaining players are re-ranked and play continues. The last surviving player wins.

(301 is the default wall and is adjustable before the game.)

Off-board darts

A dart that misses the board entirely (wall, floor, bounce-out) may be re-thrown for free, at no power-up cost, so you can still complete a six-dart group. If any dart is still off the board when you measure, the round takes a single flat 30 penalty, applied once for the round no matter how many darts went off. The 30 is tunable.

Power-ups

General rules:

Activate power-ups only after all six darts are thrown, on your turn, before your score is locked in.
A power-up earned this turn can be used now or saved.
You may hold only one charge of each power-up. Duplicates do not stack; an extra earned charge is lost.
One power-up per turn. Times Two is the only exception.

Two power-ups are earned by the throw itself and must be declared by the thrower and confirmed by the table. The other three are tracked automatically from scores and standings.

Round ½ — declared

Halves your current round score. Earned: all six darts land within the same numbered segment. Positions: all.

Total ½ — declared, once per game

Halves your cumulative total. Earned: all six darts land in the bullseye. Positions: all. Earned and used at most once per game. The throw is its own gate; six in the bull is rare enough that no further restriction is needed.

Re-Throw — tracked

Pick one dart you threw, pull it, and throw it again. The new dart replaces the old one, better or worse. You are committed to the result. Earned: each time your total passes 60, 120, 180, 240, or 300. Each milestone pays once per game. Positions: in contention and last. First place does not earn Re-Throw. Special: last place always has a Re-Throw available each round, even with no stored charge.

Remove — tracked

Take one dart off the board entirely and measure the remaining five. Pulling your worst dart always shrinks the group. Earned: while in last place and trailing first place by 30 or more. Positions: last place only. (Deficit basis and amount are tunable; this build measures the gap to first place.)

Times Two — tracked

Lets you use two other power-ups on the same turn. Earned: each time your total passes 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, or 300. Each milestone pays once per game. Positions: all. Times Two cannot trigger another Times Two.

Order of operations on a turn

When more than one effect applies, resolve in this order:

Off-board: re-throw missed darts for free; if any is still off the board, add the flat 30 once for the round.
Re-Throw / Remove: change the darts, then re-measure the group.
Round ½: halve the measured round score, then round up to the nearest half inch.
Add the round score to your total.
Total ½: halve your new total, then round up to the nearest half inch.
Check the wall. If your total reached 301, you are out.

Milestone rewards (Re-Throw, Times Two) are granted on the total you reach before any Total ½, and each milestone pays once per game. Halving your total and climbing back through a milestone does not pay it again.

Scaling the player count

2 players. Only a first and a last exist each round, with no in-contention tier, so the trailing player always holds the last-place Re-Throw. Expect a tight tug of war. Watch whether the constant free Re-Throw makes the lead too sticky, and shorten the wall for a faster duel.

3 to 4 players. The intended sweet spot. Positions move often and the catch-up tools matter without taking over.

5 to 8 players. Rounds get long once you add physical measuring. Lower the wall so the game still resolves in a sane number of rounds, and measure on deck (the next thrower strings up while the current total is recorded).

8+ players. Run heats and advance the survivors, or share one elimination wall and accept a longer night.

Tunable dials (set before the game)

Elimination wall — default 301
Off-board penalty — default 30
Remove deficit — default 30, measured against first place
Re-Throw milestones — default 60 / 120 / 180 / 240 / 300
Times Two milestones — default 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300

Open for playtest

Whether last place’s automatic Re-Throw needs a minimum deficit to discourage soft tanking.
Whether the wall should scale with player count.
The exact off-board penalty and milestone spacing.