Cornhole is the essential backyard game—mandatory in the list of BBQ games and Labor Day ones too. I will admit that I hadn’t played until two years ago. And now I’m hooked! In this post I’ll cover the Cornhole rules (in case you’re like me and are late to the party), some creative ways to play and two games that use the Cornhole boards but are different games—Lawn-die and Pitfall.
Let’s get into all the fun that Cornhole has to offer!
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Why Play Cornhole?
Cornhole has been around a really long time and is having a big moment right now. It’s a simple game where players toss beanbags at boards that have holes in them, trying to get their beanbag into the hole. It’s the perfect mix of skill and luck. Player of all ages can play. It’s a sport without requiring you to get all hot and sweaty.
You can make your own board—there are plenty of plans out there. Or you can buy your board. They come in so many different designs it’s hard to choose just one—from the elaborate to the simple. I prefer the classic wooden ones. If you’re looking for a set, I recommend looking for one where the legs fold down and the boards store the bean bags and connect together for easy storage. A board that has a score counter on it is also great. Shop for Cornhole boards here; Canadians can shop here.
How do I Play Cornhole?
There are a few rules of the game—part of its charm. To start, the boards are set up 27 feet apart. Players are one teams of two and one member of each team stands at each board.
To play, you throw your beanbags at the board in alternating turns with the other player at your end. A beanbag that sits on the board but not in the hole, is called a woody and scores 1 point.
A Cornhole is a beanbag that goes in the hole and is worth 3 points.
A beanbag that is touching the ground and the board is worth no points.
When all the beanbags from one end have been thrown, it is time to score the round.
Scoring
Cornhole is scored with cancellation scoring. That is if team one has 5 points and team two has 4 points, then team one scores 1 point for the round.
Round Two
The second round of Cornhole is played the same as the first, except for the players at the opposite end are the ones to throw. The team who scored in the previous round is the first to throw.
Play continues like this until one team reaches 21 points.
How do I Win Cornhole?
To win a game of Cornhole you need to be on the team that first reaches 21 points.
How Do I Make Cornhole Easier to Play for Kids?
To start, you can move the boards closer together to make it easier to play. The second way is to change from cancellation scoring to basic scoring. To do this, each team scores the amount of points that they earned in the round, no matter what the other team threw. For example, if team one throws 5 points and team two throws 4 points, team one score the full 5 points and team two scores their 4 points.
What Are Some Fun Cornhole Variations?
The first Cornhole Variation that we found is to start throwing from the front of the board and then on your next throw take a step back from there. Each turn from there on you will take a step backwards—increasing the difficulty with each turn!
The next fun Cornhole variation is HORSE. This game is played in the basketball world but can be easily played with Cornhole. To start, one player announces a special shot, can be a trick shot or from a distance. If that player gets the beanbag in the hole, then all other players get to try to sink the beanbag in the same way. Any player who doesn’t make a shot, gets a letter in horse. A new player now gets to call out a shot and everyone tries to make the same shot. Again, any players who don’t make it gets another letter. When a player gets all the letters in HORSE, they are out. The winner is the last player still in the game.
What Are Different Games to Play With My Cornhole Boards?
Now I want to tell you about two games that I found that are games all on their own but I adapted to use with your Cornhole boards.
Cornhole Golf
The first fun Cornhole variation game is Cornhole Golf. In this game, players try a variety of different shots and keep track of how many throws it takes to takes them to sink the beanbag. The player with the lowest score after all the holes have been played is the winner.
The holes can be anything you’d like—say blindfolded, extra distance, with your non dominate hand.
To make this more fun (and less work for you) we have created a Cornhole Golf Game set here. This will take your Cornhole game up to a different level.
Lawn-Die
The first game is called Lawn-Die. This game has a unique board that is an arch and has a hole in the middle at the top. It also coms with bounce cubes. Players score points by either sinking the cubes into the hole or bouncing them off the board. But there’s a twist! If the other team catches the cube, then there is no point. It looked like so much fun, but sadly, it’s not available here in Canada. So, I adapted it!
To play my variation of Lawn-Die you will need your Cornhole boards and two supper bounce balls (it’s a good idea to have extra bounce balls as they can go missing). Teams are made of two players and unlike in Cornhole, each team will stand at one board.
To play, team A will take turns tossing the bounce balls at the board. If the ball goes in the hole, it counts as 3 points. You get 1 point if it hits the board and lands on the ground. If the ball hits the board and the other team catches it, it counts as no points. The balls have to be caught with just one hand but can be caught with one hand and pinned against your body.
The balls that were either caught or landed in the hole are returned to the first team to be thrown again. Also, if a ball was tossed but didn’t hit the board, it is returned for another try.
When the first team has all their balls caught, it is team two’s turn. They play the same.
The game is over when one team reaches 11 points.
Extra Rule
The last rule is that if your team sinks two balls in the original tosses, then your teams automatically wins.
There is one extra optional rule. It’s called the Fifa Rule. When a team hits the board and it bounces, if the other team can defected the ball using any body part but their hands and the their teammate then catches it, they score one point.
You can check out the original Lawn-Di game here. If you don’t want to invest in the full game, I would recommend getting the cubes if you can. We played with bouncy balls and foam dice. The balls had predictable bounces making it easier to catch while our dice were too small to get a good bounce although the unpredictability was fun.
Pipfall
The second game I found is called Pipfall. This game uses some large, oversized dice. The ones in the game look like they are weighted like beanbags but I couldn’t be sure.
For this game, you will need your Cornhole boards and three large foam dice in two different colours like these (Canadians). We played with small foam dice that we already have but they were too small so I recommend a large set. We also found them quite bouncy so expect a low scoring game.
Play is the same as Cornhole except for the scoring.
To start, you will need teams of two where one member of each tame stands each board. To play, you toss the dice at the board as you would in Cornhole. Any dice that falls on the board scores the amount of points that are showing on the top of the dice. Any dice that hit the ground count against you, that is they are negative points. When a dice goes in the hole, it counts as minus 3. If there is a dice that lands on the board and can’t be determined which face is up, it counts as 3 points.
Scores don’t go below 0.
The game is over when one team reaches 21 points, but they must win by 2 points.
There were a lot of rule variations that I found but we like the basic. First, there you can play to 100 instead of 21 points.
Next, if you roll three 1s then your score is cut in half. But if you roll three of any other kind, you get double the points for the round. There is also a bonus 10 points if you roll 1-2-3.
You can check out Pipfall here; Canadians here.
Fun in the Hole
Who knew there were so many ways to play Cornhole? With all of these ways to play, you’re sure to have a summer full of fun. Don’t’ for get to get your copy of our Cornhole Golf here. Get ready for some sore sides though, as we laughed and laughed while playing.
For more summer fun check out these posts:
Hot Summer Dice Games
Wet and Wild Minute to Win it Games
Water Balloon Games
Swimming Pools Games
Luau Party games – dice games included
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