Table Top Games, as the name suggest, are played on a large, flat,  table with or without pockets. Various indoor games, including billiards, snooker and pool, fall under this category. The players of the games like pool, billiards, etc have the main objective to pot the balls into the pockets by striking them with a cue-ball with the tip of a stick called a cue.

In billiards, there are just three balls: a white cue-ball for each player and one red ball. Points are scored by potting the balls, by sending the cue-ball into a pocket ‘in off’ one of the other balls, or by getting the cue-ball to hit both the other balls (a cannon). The winner is the player who reaches an agreed score first, or who has the highest score after a certain time.

In snooker there are 22 balls: 1 cue-ball, 15 reds and 6 colours. A player must first pot one of the red balls (1 point) and then one of the colours, which are worth between 2 points (yellow) and 7 (black). The colour ball is put back on the table, and the player tries to put another red. The turn or break continues until the player fails to score or plays a foul shot. When all the reds have gone, the colours are potted in sequence from yellow to black, which marks the end of the game or frame. The winner of the frame is the player with the most points.

Table Tennis is similar to the outdoor tennis just converted indoor. It can be played by two players (singles) or by four (doubles). The game has its own rules. The service must be done in a way so the ball dips in the opponent’s half. In doubles, the service is done diagonally between opposite sections of the board. Owing to the sound of the ball being hit to-and-fro between the racquets, this game is also known as ping-pong. The first ever table tennis World Championships was hosted by London in 1926. Jan-Ove Waldner is considered as one of the finest players of  Table Tennis winning 2 World Championships and a World Cup.

Carrom is a tabletop game of Indian origin. The game is very popular in South Asia and the Middle East. The aim of the game is to pot your color coins faster than the other and also the red coin, popularly known as Queen.

At HobbyLancer, share with us your memories and experiences of Table Top games. We also promote local competitions and you can participate in them all.