Aggravation

Overview

Aggravation is a classic marble race board game for 2 to 6 players. Each player races four marbles around the board from their base to their home, attempting to be the first to get all four marbles safely home. Players can “aggravate” opponents by landing on their marbles and sending them back to their base. The game combines dice-rolling luck with tactical decisions about which marble to move and when to use shortcuts.

Components

Game board with colored paths, star spaces, center space, and home/base areas
4 marbles per player (6 colors available)
1 six-sided die

Setup

Each player selects a color and places their four marbles in the matching colored base area. Players roll the die to determine turn order; the highest roll goes first. Play proceeds clockwise.

Turn Structure

On each turn, a player:

Rolls the die: Roll one six-sided die.
Moves a marble: Move one marble the number of spaces shown on the die, or bring a marble out of base if a 1 or 6 is rolled.
Bonus roll: If a 6 is rolled, the player takes an additional turn after completing their move.

Actions

Getting Marbles Out of Base

A marble can only leave the base and enter the board when the player rolls a 1 or a 6.
The marble is placed on the player’s starting space (the colored space adjacent to their base).
Rolling a 6 grants an extra roll after placing the marble.

Movement

Marbles move clockwise around the board following the path arrows.
Count every space, whether empty or occupied by opponents.
A player may jump over opponent marbles (each jumped space still counts).
A player cannot land on or jump over their own marbles.

Aggravating Opponents

If a marble lands on a space occupied by an opponent’s marble (by exact count), the opponent’s marble is “aggravated” and sent back to that opponent’s base.
Marbles in a player’s own base or home area are safe and cannot be aggravated.

Star Spaces (Shortcuts)

If a marble lands on a star space by exact count, on the player’s next turn it may move clockwise through the ring of star spaces as a shortcut.
A marble can also move to the center space of the board by landing on the adjacent star space and rolling a 1. Entering the center space acts as a super shortcut.
To exit the center space, the player must roll a 1, then place the marble on any star space on the board.

Entering Home

To enter the home row, a marble must travel around the entire board and approach from the correct direction.
Marbles must enter home spaces by exact count; overshooting is not allowed.
A player cannot jump over their own marbles in the home row.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The first player to move all four of their marbles from their base into their four home spaces wins the game. Each marble must enter home by exact die roll.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

If a player cannot make a legal move (e.g., all marbles are blocked by their own pieces and no marble can leave base), their turn is forfeited.
Rolling a 6 always grants a bonus roll, whether or not the player was able to move.
The center space shortcut is powerful but risky, as the player must roll exactly a 1 to exit.
Marbles on star spaces or the center space can still be aggravated by opponents landing on them.
In the 2-player variant, some rules suggest each player controls two sets of marbles.

Player Reference

Key Rolls

| Die Roll | Effect | |———-|——–| | 1 | Move a marble out of base OR move 1 space | | 2-5 | Move a marble that many spaces | | 6 | Move a marble out of base OR move 6 spaces, then roll again |

Board Zones