Fire Station Marble Game Instructions

Rules for playing Fire Station Marbles: adapted from Wikipedia Wahoo rules (board game)

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Goal: To be the first player to move all of their own marbles out of the starting area, around the board, and into home.

Set Up: Each player places their marbles in the starting area. After setting up, each player rolls the die. The highest number goes first, then play proceeds to the left. For a tie, just roll off to see who is the ‘winner winner chicken dinner’!

Play: To move a marble out of the Starting Area to the Starting Position, a player must roll a 1 or a 6. The Starting Position is the space just outside, and to the left of, the Home Area. Fire Station rules allow each player to roll 2 dice instead of the typical Wahoo rule of 1 die. This allows the game to go at a faster pace in case you get a call mid game.

If a player rolls doubles, they move their marble and then get to roll again. A player may never land on or pass one of his own marbles. If the number rolled on a player’s turn puts him on or ahead of his own marble he must move the one in front.

If a marble lands on a space already occupied by an opponent’s marble, the opponent’s marble goes back to that player’s Starting Area. If you send another player back to their Starting space, that player gets to roll again. If at any time, a player rolls a number that does not allow a marble to be moved, that turn is completed and goes to the next player in the sequence

If you are at your home space and roll a 6, you can go to the gut (center). If an opponent`s marble occupies the center space, the opponent`s marble is removed and placed back in its Starting Area. To exit the center space, the player must roll a one or a six and resume play on the side diagonal to your home space. It’s a shortcut and sometimes worth the risk of saving yourself going around half of your board.

Winning: The game is won when the first person has all his marbles safely home. You must roll exact # of spaces on die to move your marbles into home. If correct # is not rolled then cannot move it is the next players turn. The game may be continued to see who gets second place, and so on.

Another Fire Station Variation: This variation speeds up the game slightly faster. It includes the rule that whenever a 4 is rolled, the person can either choose to move their marble forward or backward. I love this rule, but sometimes forget that it is in play. It’s a tricky one but definitely great if you roll a 1 and a 4 from your home space. Simply come out on the 1 and move back 4 spaces. You are literally 3 spaces from having that marble in the safe zone of your home space!

With 4: You can play as individuals competing against each other or as partners. When playing partners, players opposite each other are partners. When one partner gets all his marbles “home,” he then uses his turn(s) to help his partner get his marbles home. The partners assist each other ONLY when one partner is finished. The first pair to get all their marbles “home” wins (regular rules apply). The other method is every man for himself, or “cut-throat.” By playing cut-throat, there are no partners.