Cricket is the most popular darts game after 501. It's not about counting down but about specific numbers: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and the bull. You have to hit each of them three times to "close" it.
- Close 15 to 20 and the bull: every number needs three marks, a double counts two, a treble three.
- Hitting a number you have closed and an opponent has not scores points.
- The winner has closed everything and has no fewer points than the others.
- Cut-throat: your points go to the opponents who still have the number open. The lowest score wins.
- The numbers that count, from 20 to the bull.
- Your marks: a slash, a cross, a circled cross. With the third mark the number is closed.
- Points you've scored on closed numbers.
- Every segment has its own key: trebles at the top, doubles in the middle, singles at the bottom. "Rest missed" enters the remaining darts as misses.
Marks and points
A single is one mark, a double two, a treble three. So with a treble you close a number in one go. If you hit a number that you have closed and an opponent hasn't, you score its points. Once everyone has closed a number, it's "dead" and counts for nobody.
Emma has closed the 20, Jack hasn't. Emma hits treble 20: that's 60 points for her. Jack has to close the 20 quickly, otherwise Emma keeps scoring there.
Winning
The winner is whoever has closed all numbers and has at least as many points as every opponent. So closing alone isn't enough when you're behind. Then you have to score points first.
The variants
| Variant | How it works |
|---|---|
| Standard | You score the points on your closed numbers yourself. The highest score wins. |
| Cut-Throat | Your points go to the opponents who still have the number open. The lowest score wins. Ideal for three or more players. |
| No Score | No points: whoever closes everything first wins. Good for beginners. |
| Tactics | The numbers 10 to 20 and the bull. Longer legs, more tactics. |
| Random | Six random numbers, new in every leg. |
| Hidden | Six random numbers that are only revealed with the first hit. |
Without the bull you play like on many soft-tip machines, for example. As with X01, you can play several legs and sets, as first to or best of, and add bots in six skill levels.
The statistics
After the game you see your MPR, marks per round. In Cricket it's what the average is in X01. On top come the first 9 MPR, rounds with 5 to 9 marks, white horses and your hits per number.
Tactics in one sentence: first close the numbers your opponent is scoring on, and score yourself where they're still open.