Variations and similar games:
Bocce (gioco delle bocce) – Italian
- Bocce alla libera, or Bocce al libero (cross-country, uneven surface, without the use of a marked court)
- Open-rules – Played in USA and Canada. Side wall banking is allowed, and shots do not need to be called.
- Raffa – Also known as punto-raffa-volo. Balls are marked. Rules differ slightly between the CBI, Italian league, Swiss league, etc.
- Volo – played on clay with small brass hollow balls, there are no sidewalls or backwalls. Shooting is only on the fly, balls are marked. Traditionally played in the Italian regions of Piemonte, and Liguria.
- Beach bocce
- Striscio – played in parts of Tuscany – concave court, back wall is missing
- Bocce con il peso
(also known as Bocce matte “crazy balls”, played in Arezzo, Tuscany) concave court with no backwall, weighted balls) - Bocce alla romagnola (Emilia-Romagna) – pointing off the sidewall is allowed, shooting only on the fly from half court, heavier balls
- Bocce alla milanese (Lombardy) – played diagonally across four volo lanes
Boules (jeu de boules) – French
- Lyonnaisse (Boules de longue) – similar to Italian Volo
- Jeu Provençal
- Pétanque – played in open spaces and does not require marked terrain, hollow metal balls
- Boule Brettone
- Boule Parisienne
- Boule de Fort – concave court, non-spherical weighted balls. Anjou region.
- Coinchon – A type of pétanque, played in the Savoy region.
- Boule nantaise
- Bourle (similar to Feather Bowling)
- Boule ar mestr
- Boule bernerienne
- Boule cancelloise
- Boule de sable
- Boule oudonnaise
- Boule du vignoble nartais
- Boule tharonnaise
- Boules plombee du pays de morlaix
- Boultenn
Bowls (Lawn Bowls or Lawn Bowling) – British / Commonwealth
Non-spherical weighted balls
- Flat Green (played on grass courts, balls have thumb holes)
- Crown Green Bowls (outdoor, convex court, any direction of play, balls don’t have thumb holes)
- Indoor Bowling – International Indoor Bowls Council (IIBC)
- Short Mat (indoor)
- Carpet (indoor, casual)
- New Zealand Indoor Bowls
Zerbín – South America.
Similar to Italian Volo, and French Boule Lyonnaise. Zerbín comes from the Italian word Zerbino. Italian emigrants from Liguria brought the discipline to their new homes of Argentina, Brazil, Chile …
Bolas Criollas – Venezuela
Bola Canaria – Canary Islands
Bocci – Malta
played with balls and cylinders
Feather Bowling (Trabollen) – Belgium
A wooden cheese-wheel is rolled on a concave court towards a feather.
Rolle Bolle – Belgium
A curved cheese-wheel is rolled on a flat court towards a stake.
Boule de Bois – Belgium
Ball used to knock-down pins
- Brilli – Gharb, island of Gozo, Malta
- Birilli – Italy
- Basque Bowls (Bola Jokoa)
- Bolo Andaluz – Spain
- Skittles
- Bowling
- Ten-pin
- Nine-pin / Kegel
- Candlepin
- Duckpin
- Five-pin – Played in Canada.
Ball rolled for distance
International Bowlplaying Association
Irish Road Bowling
NKB Nederlandse Klootschietbond – Netherlands
veld -field
straat – street
zetten – standing
VSHB German Lofting
FKV Friesicher Klootschieiber Verband
Boccia alla lunga – Italy
also known as:
- boccetta su strada
- boccia su strada
- bocciaforte
Finnish Skittles
wooden bats used to knock down cylinders
Kubb – Scandinavia
batons used to knock down wooden blocks
Curling– originated in Scotland.
Winter sport played on ice with stones.
Icestock (Bavarian Curling)
Distance competition, and target competition.
Bocce Quadre – Cuneo, Italy
Boules Carrées – France
Boccette – Italy
billiards-type game without the use of cue sticks
Marbles Target games.
Biglie da spiaggia / Cheecoting Very popular in the 1980s on Italian beaches. Played with plastic marbles. Players carved-out their own racing circuits in the sand. The winner was the player that completed the circuit with the least amount of flicks.
