Antique Bagatelle Board Games

Bagatelle means 'a mere trifle' or 'little thing' in French and is the 19th century forerunner to modern pinball. This beautifully crafted board features brass pins, steel balls and a plunger mechanism for ease of play.

200-300 years ago Bagatelle was played on large slate-bed tables of a similar size to Snooker or Billiards. Bagatelle became hugely popular and during the 1880s, a parlor version of the game, pin bagatelle evolved which is still enjoyed today. Masters Traditional Games offers several quality versions of this engrossing and entertaining game.

Rules of Bagatelle

Place the board on a table or other level surface. To play Bagatelle, a ball is taken from the storage channel and placed in the shooting channel. Using the spring leaded striker, the balls are shot into the main area of the board. By launching the ball with varying degrees of force you can land the ball in different areas of the board. The object is to shoot the ball in a way to score the maximum number of points.

A player may shoot ten balls each turn. If a ball leaves the board it is forfeited. If one rolls back into the shooting channel it may be played again.. A ball which comes to rest in the unmarked cup at the bottom left of the board may also be played again. A player's score is noted at the end of each turn.

A ball lodged inside a cup or hole scores the indicated number of points. After the scoring at the end of each turn, all the balls are removed from the board. Play continues until one player's score has reached the predetermined number of points, or when each player has had a predetermined number of turns. The person with the highest score is the winner.