Tidal Ball is a 4-player beach game that combines the best aspects of Bocce, Cornhole, and Horseshoes all in one.
Designed specifically for the beach, and super portable so it won’t take up much room in your beach bag.
It was created by some friends who were tired of carrying heavy beach games with them so made their own.
Once people saw them playing this it evolved from their own DIY version to making a real product and business out of it.
The Tidal Ball beach game is lightweight, portable, and comes with a waterproof bag. Let’s take you through the rules of the Tidal Ball Beach Game and we even added our own drinking game rules!
How to Setup Tidal Ball Beach Game
The first step in Tidal Ball is to set up your course. You will need to do your best to find a level and wide-open area that is parallel to the ocean.
Parallel to the ocean is optional, but might as well have a great view. The playing area must be on harder sand, so the balls will roll nicely.
Unfortunately, beaches with only fluffy sand will not work well. Like putting green in golf, this beach game works best by the ocean on firm sand only. Once you have found the ideal surface and spot, time to pull out your shovel and start digging.
The scoring area is designed to look a lot like horseshoes. Instead of a pole in the center, you dig a hole and instead of the pit (wooden box), you build a trench behind it to catch the balls.
The distance between the two holes is about 10 paces or 30 feet to be exact. With this, the holes are 4 inches in diameter.
The trench is designed to catch the balls but also actually gives you points if it lands in it so looks like a half circle.
You can make the trench as big as you want but we would suggest 3 feet in total or about 1.5 feet on either side of the hole. Refill your favorite drink and get ready for the Tidal Ball Beach Game!
Tidal Ball Rules
On the Tidal Ball website, their first and most important rule is to have fun! This is not meant to be a serious game, so feel free to make any variations you like to enjoy it more.
To score points, if you land in the hole then you get 3 points or 1 point if it lands in the trench.
The first person to reach 21 (or whatever you choose) wins. Play a random game of chance like rock, paper, scissors to decide who throws first.
• Tidal Ball is a 4-player beach game with 2 teams of 2 players each.
• Partners sit at opposite sides and alternate tossing after each round
• Each team has 3 Tidal Balls per round and alternates after each throw with the other team until all 6 Tidal Balls are thrown
• Score 3 Points for landing (and staying) direct in the hole. 1 Point for landing in the trench.
• Points cancel out (like in Cornhole) so if you get 4 and they get 3, that is 1 point for the round.
• Winning team decides who takes the first roll for the next game
Source: Tidalball
What is Included in Tidal Ball
Tidal Ball is designed to be a lightweight and portable beach game and only comes with the necessities. The game comes with 1 plastic scoop, 6 wooden balls (2 different colors), 1 mesh waterproof bag, and 4 beer koozies.
Yes, beer koozies are considered necessities. When playing on the beach you do not want your beers to get cold so the team at Tidal Ball thought of this to include the Koozies.
We give the Tidal Ball Team a Virtual HIGH FIVE for the design of the balls. When they were first playing they used golf balls, but they were too heavy and left divots.
To fix this, they came up with a lighter well-made wood design for the balls that float. This way they are heavy enough to roll and won’t leave marks and divots playing area.
Hopefully, you will see Tidal Ball rolling all around beaches near you!
Tidal Ball Drinking Game Rules
Tidal Ball is one of those beach games that is best played with a beer in hand. Therefore, they included 4 Beer Koozies with this game so all players can have one.
It is highly recommended that for each Tidal Ball drinking game, a punishment or bet is also placed.
The punishment can include finishing a drink, running into the water with all your clothes, a summersault competition, or doubling down.
Here are the few additional beach game drinking rules we play.
• After each round the losing player must have 1 drink per point they lost
• If you miss all the holes or trenches have 1 drink
• You must always have 1 drink in hand, if you are caught without, take a drink
• Losing team must have 3 drinks
• Losing Team must complete the punishment promptly
This drinking game can be played with a refreshing beverage in hand, making it a great choice for adults who are legally above the drinking age.
However, we want to emphasize that this game is about fun and camaraderie, not excessive or competitive drinking.
Always remember to drink responsibly and know your limits.
Final Thoughts
Tidal Ball is one of the best games we have ever played at the beach, mostly due to being so simple. There’s no huge equipment or bag of games to lug around, it’s very portable.
And it takes the beach game to a whole new level actually setting up the playing court in the sand.
You can find Tidal Ball on our 20+ Beach Games for Adults list. The important thing to note is that if you do not have a large area of hard sand to play or live near an ocean then it may not be right for you.
The game comes with a waterproof bag, the balls float, beer koozies, and everything you need. Get the latest price for your own Tidal Ball game and we will see you rolling around a beach near you!
