Table and game for marbles

A method for playing a marbles game for a plurality of players, comprising the steps of:

• providing a marbles playing ring, said marbles playing ring comprising:
• a horizontal top ring supported concentrically above a playing board with a playing surface to create a circumferential gap between the top ring and the playing surface;
• a plurality of marble guide tracks positioned along the perimeter of the playing board, said marble guide tracks sloping downwards from a high point at a first end to a low point at a second end;
• and
• a plurality of marble collection mechanisms positioned at or beneath one or more of said seconds ends;
• providing a set of marbles with four separately marked types of marbles comprising:
• four taw marbles, each taw marble assigned to a different player;
• eighteen moon marbles;
• six planet marbles;
• and
• one star marble;
• initially grouping the non-taw marbles in the center of the playing ring in a diamond pattern;
• breaking the initial diamond pattern by a first player shooting his or her taw marble towards one of the long points of the diamond;
• each player, for as long as his or her turn lasts, sequentially shooting his or her taw marble towards one or more valid target marbles in the playing ring to attempt to drive the one or more valid target marbles from the playing ring, wherein a player's turn continues as long as least one of the valid target marbles is driven from the playing ring, no target marbles that are not valid target marbles are driven from the playing ring, and the player's taw marble remains inside the ring after the shot is completed, and further wherein the player collects target marbles he or she has driven from the playing ring during their turn;
• if a player shoots his or her taw marble or a target marble other than the star marble that is not a valid target marble outside of the playing ring, then the turn is ended and all target marbles collected by that player during that turn are returned to the playing ring;
• ending the game when the last non-taw marble is driven from the playing ring;
• and
• determining the total number of points for each player based on marbles collected by that player, wherein different types of marbles are worth different point values, and the player with the highest point total is the winner;
• further wherein valid target marbles are determined as follows:
• moon marbles are always valid target marbles;
• planet marbles are valid target marbles only after 9 moon marbles are initially driven from the playing ring;
• the star marble is a valid target marble only if all moon marbles and planet marbles are no longer in the playing ring;