It is fair to say that some people love inventing new and interesting ways to entertain others. Boules is a game that has been around for thousands of years, with the earlier recording of a game similar to it coming during the time of the Ancient Greeks.
You might think that modernising it for the kind of audience that likes to play games whilst out having a few drinks would be all but impossible, but that is precisely what the people behind Crazy Boules have looked to do. This is not the old-fashioned game you might have seen some old people playing on neatly cut grass at your local park.
What Is Boules?
Let’s be honest, it is entirely possible that you have got no idea whatsoever what boules even is as a game, let alone have any sense of what Crazy Boules might entail. The Ancient Greeks began tossing coins around before moving on to flat stones and then eventually stone balls, looking to get them to travel as far as possible. The Romans then tweaked this pastime, adding in a target that needed to be reached as closely as possible. The stone balls were eventually replaced with wooden ones, the game becoming known as globurum and then eventually boules, or jeu de boules.
There are different variations of the game, some of which ask players to roll the ball, such as bocce, and others that allow it to be thrown, as in pétanque. Equally, some games allow for a run-up before the ball is released whilst others do not. In the game that will be most familiar to English audiences, there is a small target, known as a jack, which heavy balls are then thrown towards. The idea is for your ball to get as close to the jack as possible, with the player that gets the closest winning the point. In most boules-type games, the objective is to get to 15 points in order to win.
How Crazy Boules Works
As you might have imagined, things are slightly different when it comes to Crazy Boules. Rather than throwing your ball on a grass surface or some sand, as you might have done if you’ve played the game on holiday or in your local park, you are instead greeted by a course that is not dissimilar in nature to a crazy golf course. Here, though, you are not knocking a small golf ball around using a putter. Instead, you are asked to roll a boules ball around a circuit in order to get as close to a jack as possible. The jack is fixed in place here and boasts a lightbulb on the top.
The glowing jack ball isn’t easy to get to, of course. Instead, you will find it hidden behind any number of weird and whacky obstacles, presenting you with a real challenge in terms of getting to the end of each track. You will also find that there are rulers available each time, allowing you to find out exactly who has won and who has come second and third. This is important, given the fact that there are different numbers of points available for each of the positions in which people finish, so you will want to ensure that you’re the player as close to the jack as possible to pick up the points.
Each player gets three boules to throw, taking it in turns. This can allow for some tactical play, knocking your opponent’s boules away from the jack in order to ensure that one of yours is the closest. You will need to have a good sense of how physics works on each of the seven tracks available, so as to be able to navigate not only the curvature of the track itself but also avoiding the obstacles that are placed there in order to make reaching the jack as tricky as possible. Whoever masters that will find themselves running away at the top of the leaderboard, chased down by the others.
The scoring for a game of Crazy Boules works as follows:
- Closest Boule – 4 Points
- Second Closest Boule – 2 Points
- Third Closest Boule – 1 Point
- Fourth Closest Boule etc – 0 Points
You can decide with your playing party whether you want to play who wins each track and the most tracks in total, or the total number of points you get at the end of all of the available tracks.
The Venue
If this sounds like something you think you’d enjoy having a go at, you can get yourself along to the Mercato Metropolitano in Elephant & Castle in London. It is reachable by heading to either Elephant & Castle or Borough tube station, with those of you that use What 3 Words wanting to look out for ///invest.intervals.renew. If you are looking to make something of a trip of it then the good news is that Mercato Metropolitano has more than 40 independent traders on site who will be looking to sell you everything from food to drinks and desserts during your time at the venue.
It is a family-friendly location, albeit with those under the age of 18 having to be off-site by 9pm. Whilst it’s family-friendly, that isn’t the same as saying that it’s for kids, so any children have to be accompanied by an adult at all times. It is a wheelchair-accessible location, as well as being somewhere that is 100% dog-friendly. Although there isn’t a set amount of time that your ticket is valid for, you should be mindful of the other people on the course also looking to play. You can’t take food onto the course, but are absolutely encouraged to take your drinks around with you if you want to.