Bagatelle

The original game of Bagatelle is a pub game of skill that is closely related to the game of Billiards.

Equipment, Rules

History, Pubs, Clubs, Leagues, Links

Modern derivatives include Parlour Bagatelle, Bar Billiards, Western Pinball and Japanese Pachinko.

Parlour Bagatelle

Rules

Objective: Players try to strike the balls in such a way that they score the maximum number of points.

Figure 1

The Board is made of varnished or painted wood or of plastic. It is rectangular in shape, approximately 2 feet by 1 foot (610 mm x 305 mm), and one of its ends is curved to form a semicircle. The board has a raised rim - rather like a tray - and slopes very slightly, so that the far (curved) end is higher than the end nearer the player. A number of small nails are set into the board as shown. (The arrangement of the nails may vary from board to board.) Some of the nails form semicircles (called cups); other nails are free standing. There are also a number of shallow depressions or holes, just big enough to hold a ball, and with nails next to them. The cups and holes are marked with a scoring value, usually ranging from 5 to 150 points. The free-standing nails act as deflectors, and have no score. The board should be placed on a table or other suitable surface for play.

Other equipment: Bagatelle is played with small steel or plastic balls. When not in play, they are ranged behind a special partition running along the near end of the board. A stick about the size and weight of a drum stick is used to strike the balls.

Play: The participants, of whom there may be any number, each play in turn. In his turn, the player takes a ball, and places it at the head of the guidance channel that runs part-way along the right side of the board. Holding the striking stick with one or both hands, the player then strikes the ball so that it runs along the channel, and into the main area of the board. (In the follow-through, the tip of the stick may not extend beyond the end of the channel.

If the player strikes the ball with insufficient force, so that it rolls back to the start instead of into the main area of the board, he may strike the ball again.

If, however, the ball is hit so forcefully that it shoots off the board, the player may not take the ball again, and his score for that ball is zero.

The number of balls each player may strike in a turn may be determined by the players before the start of the game. The players may also choose whether to remove each ball from the board as soon as it has been played, or to leave all the balls in position until the end of a round.

Scoring: A player's score must be noted after each turn. A ball cannot be judged until it has come to an absolute standstill. If it comes to a halt inside a cup or hole, it scores the corresponding number of points.

There is no score, if the ball:
- enters a cup or hole, but then rolls out again;
- becomes lodged against the nails outside a cup or hole;
- comes to a halt in any non-scoring area of the board, including the near end of the board.

If balls are left in position until the end of a round, points may also be scored by a player managing to dislodge an opponent's ball that has already scored. For example, if the opponent's ball scored 50 points, the player may add 50 points to his own score - whether or not his ball comes to a halt in a scoring area.

End Play: The players may decide to continue a game until:
- a set time limit has been reached (in which case the winner is the player with the highest score at that point);
- one player's score has reached a predetermined number of points; or
- each player has had a predetermined number of turns, the player with the highest score then being the winner.

Alternative boards come in many different shapes and sizes, sometimes small enough to fit in the hand. On many of these boards, the balls are fed automatically to the front of a spring-loaded trigger. By pulling and then releasing the trigger, the balls are propelled around the board.

Some of the boards are illustrated with a particular theme. Examples:

Wild West	Playing Card	Lindstrom's Gold Star	Lindstrom's Jungle Africa
Big 5	Maple Leaf	Diamond Board	Handmade Board

Images from the Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Bagatelle has also been adapted for play in fairgrounds and amusement arcades on special machines popularly known as "pinball" machines.

From 'The Official World Encyclopedia of Sports and Games'
© Diagram Visual Information Ltd 1979

Pinball

Derived from the game of Parlour Bagatelle, Pinball is a pub and arcade game, combining luck with skill. There are two basic forms of Pinball:
a) The vertical mechanical machines, similar to Parlour Bagatelle boards. These are immensely popular in Japan, where they are called Pachinko.
b) The horizontal electronic machines that incorporate flippers for keeping the ball in play.

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Pachinko

Derived from the game of Parlour Bagatelle, Pachinko is Japanese Pinball, and has a huge following in Japan.

Japan's National Pastime
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