The little round balls may seem a bit outdated compared to some current games, but there’s a community of collectors, artists ...

The early marbles were made of clay, stone or glass. Ovid’s poem “Nux” (short for knuckles down, a condition of some games?) from Roman literature, which mentions playing the game with walnuts.

But judging by the number of spectators for the game's best-known event, the National Marbles Tournament, in Wildwood, N.J., interest in the United States has plummeted since its peak decades ago ...

So Long, Friends – The majority of Marbles Game showdowns simply saw good friends in the competition having to take the emotional hit of ending each other’s dreams of winning.