How to Play Around the World

AKA: Around the Clock, Once Round the Island, Round the Board

Around the World Dart Game Rules

Around the World is a simple game that is great for both new and veteran dart players.

Number of Players

One or more people can play this game.

This is a good solo practice or warm-up game for hitting every spot on the board, but it also works great for groups of two or more.

How to Play

Around the World, also known by other names such as Around the Clock and Round the Board, has a simple objective of hitting the segments 1 through 20 in order, followed by the bull. Each number only has to be hit once. Players take turns throwing three darts.

Each number has to be hit in numerical order, so if on a player's first turn they hit the 20 instead of the 1, they will still need to hit the 20 after they hit the 19. In a standard game of Around the World, doubles and trebles don't count as anything extra. The goal is to simply hit anywhere on each segment.

There is no score in Around the World. Each player simply needs to keep track of the number they are on. The first player to go around the board and hit the bull wins!

Optional Rules

There is an advantage to going first in this game. That being said, it is possible to play so that everyone has the same number of turns. For example, if the player who went first wins, then every remaining player would have one turn to try and tie the game. But if the player who went last wins, then the game is over and they win. This is just an optional rule to level the playing field. 

Another optional rule to implement is make it so doubles and trebles skip numbers. For example, if a player hits a double 4 when they are on the 4 segment, they would skip 5 and go straight to 6. Trebles could even skip two numbers if you wanted. This could also work as a handicap. If one player is much better at darts, they could be required to hit doubles or trebles to advance, while the other players follow the standard rules.

Around the World Variations

A variation of standard Around the Clock is 180 Around the Clock. The rules are almost the same as the standard version but instead of only needing to hit each spot once, each player needs to hit each spot three times and each hit carries a point value from 1-3.

A single is one point, double is two, and triple is three. The bull also isn't used in this version, so a perfect game would be a score of 180. Compared to standard Around the Clock, this is a test of accuracy instead of speed.

If you want to prevent the game from going on too long feel free to introduce a turn limit, such as each player only has three attempts at each number before moving on. This way players have to decide whether they want to try and maximize their score on each number, or just make sure they actually hit it.