Are you looking for an electronic dart board for your man cave or the home? Do you know what to look for when purchasing one of these items?
If not, the following information will be very helpful. Here we have reviewed several of the hottest-selling best electronic dart board games on the market today, and highlighted some of the pros and cons associated with each model.
We have also put together an Electronic Dartboard Reviews Buying Guide, in which we will cover in detail some of the factors, features and characteristics you should consider when shopping for one of these truly fun items.
Best Electronic Dart Board Games
1. Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 Electronic Dartboard
- Easy to operate. With its rolling LED display and brightly-lit buttons, the Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 Electronic Dartboard is very easy to use and operate.
- Fewer bounce-outs. The micro-thin nylon dividers on this dartboard dramatically reduce the number and frequency of frustrating bounce outs.
- Lots of variety. With 39 games and up to 179 variations, the Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 Electronic Dartboard offers the kind of variety that dart players love.
- May require wall protection. With the Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 Electronic Dartboard, the sharp points on the darts, may mark your walls if you miss the board.
Sporting the scientific word for “spider,” the Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 Electronic Dartboard is a tournament-quality machine with lots of bells and whistles that all dart players covet and adore.
The board features a regulation-sized 15.5-inch diameter circle with forgiving nylon-based dividers that not only reduce the frequency of bounce-outs and provide just the right amount of surface area, but greatly improve the durability of the target area.
When it comes to variety and selection, it’s hard to beat the Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 Electronic Dartboard, which comes with 39 individual games and over 150 variations, including 7 cricket games with which to challenge your friends and teammates.
The dartboard can accommodate up to 8 players at a time, making it perfect for large parties and celebrations; and the enormous LED display panel is not only easy to see in all lighting conditions, it also keeps track of many of the metrics and rubrics that help players improve their game and focus their accuracy.
2. Viper 800 Electronic Dartboard
- Complete package. The Viper 800 Electronic Dartboard comes with all the equipment, accessories and hardware you need to quickly install the game and get started.
- Even more variety. Although the “Arachnid” offered a wide variety of games, this Viper dartboard eclipses that with 57 different games and 304 variations.
- Shipping. A few customers who have purchased the Viper 800 Electronic Dartboard have complained about shipping problems, including late shipments and missing accessories – although these are cleared-up by the company.
If you are looking for durability, it’s hard to beat the Viper 800 Electronic Dartboard. Not only does this game come with a regulation, 15.5 inch target area, but each individual segment on the board is constructed using a competition-quality thermal resin that can really take a pounding.
Each of the dividers on the game, collectively known as the “spider,” are made from a super thin nylon material, which greatly reduces the chance of bounce outs and provides more than adequate room for very close dart groupings, despite the number/segment you are shooting at.
The Viper 800 Electronic Dartboard offer players a whopping choice between 57 games and over 300 variations—the best and widest variety of any dartboard. The ultra-bright LCD display is incredibly easy to see and read and it calculates all of the scoring and statistics as the game progresses, eliminating the need for manual scoring.
3. Fat Cat Electronx Electronic Dartboard
- Sturdy. The well-made cabinet on the Fat Cat Electronx Electronic Dartboard is not only built to last, it will also look great in any man cave.
- Comes with darts. Built into the purchase price of this electronic dartboard is four sets of plastic darts with extra tips.
- Heavy. Because of the wall-mounted cabinet that comes with the Fat Cat Electronx Electronic Dartboard, installation is at least a two-person job.
The Fat Cat Electronx Electronic Dartboard will provide hours of fun and is the perfect addition to any man cave or rec room. Featuring 38 games and over 167 scoring variations, nobody will ever get bored playing this game.
It is equipped with concave segments that seemingly funnel darts to the target area; along with a razor-thin spider to minimize those annoying bounce outs.
Very sturdy and durable, the Fat Cat Electronx Electronic Dartboard comes with a strong ABS cabinet, integrated door slots and all the mounting hardware needed to set the board.
Purchasers of this machine will also get four sets of darts and a bag of extra plastic tips, a game manual explaining each of the 38 games, and an AC power adaptor to operate the brightly-lit LCD front display.
4. Gran Board Dash
- Online Play. Pit your skills against other players online from around the world with Gran Boards starter model.
- Games. Large variety of game options to keep everyone happy – Play against the computer, your friends or in competitions online.
- Noise. Not as quiet as it’s more expensive brother, the Gran Board 3.
The Gran Board Dash is the entry level electronic dart board from the Gran Board company. And like the more expensive versions, the Gran Board Dash comes with the ability to play live against players around the world thanks to the Gran Board App.
Not only can you play other players, the APP saves your scores so you can monitor how well you have played over time.
Quick to set-up, you could be playing online in no time. It is worth noting that some purchasers have said the darts are very light and would be worth upgrading and that initially darts can stick in the segments, but this eases over time as the board beds in with use.
5. Dartslive 200s Electronic Dartboard
- Games. The Dartslive 200s has a good number of games to choose from.
- Quiet. The 200s is one of the quietest electronic dart boards you will play.
- Challenge. Comes with a challenge mode to help you improve your game.
- No Online Games. Unlike the Gran Board, there is no online games function to play other people around the world
The Dartslive 200s is great for the occasional player and those of us who take darts a little more seriously. It is packed full of features providing lots of different game options as well as the really cool challenge / improvement function.
This is where you play the ‘board’ in a series of improvement challenges to get better at scoring bullseyes and treble 20s.
The Dartslive 200s is very quiet when comparing to other electronic dartboards, however unlike the professional version in pubs or the Gran Board range above, it doesn’t provide the ability to play against players online.
Electronic Dartboard Buying Guide
If you have decided to purchase an electronic dartboard for your garage or man cave, there are many things you must first consider. To help you make the most educated purchasing decision possible, below we have covered, in detail, a few of those considerations.
Size
As you may have noticed from your browsing or even from the reviews listed above, electronic dartboards come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Full-size electronic dartboards are some of the best in the industry, however they also tend to be some of the most expensive varieties.
If you elect to go with a full-size electronic dartboard—the type that rests on the floor and rises to the proper board height for regulation darts—you will need to make sure you have adequate space in your man cave to accommodate the board.
Another option is to purchase the wall-mounted variety of the electronic dartboard. These models are usually much lighter in weight than the floor models and are designed to be fastened on the wall at the proper board height.
Keep in mind, however, that you will need to make a few measurements with this type of board in order to place it at just the right height—something you do not have to do with the full-sized variety.
If purchasing either a full-size or wall-mounted electronic dartboard, you will also need to make sure that the dart ring is the appropriate diameter for tournament play—15.5 inches in diameter. If size is not important to you, there are many smaller versions of the electronic dartboard, too.
Many people elect to go with a smaller size as it forces them to greatly improve their accuracy. Then, when they transfer to a regulation-size board their aim is usually much better.
Display Panel
The display panel—either an LCD or LED display—is very important in an electronic dartboard. It is here where the machine keeps track of the score, shows you how many darts you have thrown, etc.
Some display panels are very basic in nature, showing only the score and a few other key details relating to the game in question. Others are much more elaborate, showing thing like your hit percentage and other more detailed information.
The type of display you ultimately opt for should depend on your purpose. For instance, if you are merely a recreational player looking for some fun, a very basic display panel will probably do the trick.
Conversely, those who are very serious about their game should probably elect to go with a display that calculates a number of metrics related to the game. Finally, make sure the display you choose to go with is large enough and bright enough for you to see from a distance.
Nothing is more frustrating than having to squint and walk forward just to make out the score.
How Many Players?
Depending on the type of electronic dartboard you opt to purchase it can probably accommodate from 2-8 players at a time. Because of this, it is crucial you decide how many players will typically be shooting a game at one time.
If you plan to simply play one-on-one competitions with a close friend or relative, you can save some money and purchase a game that can merely accommodate two players. However, if you plan to light up the dartboard during parties and celebrations, dig a little deeper and purchase one that can accommodate many guests/players at once.
Number and Variety of Games
Within the game of darts there are many, many different games you can play. Most dartboards will only allow you to play a small variety of games, such as those that only feature the games 301, 501, 701 and cricket, like you would play on a traditional dart board.
More elaborate electronic dartboards will feature all of the games mentioned above, plus a slew of other games (up to 25 or more), such as cutthroat and those games that force players to “double in” or “double out” as part of the overall strategy.
We recommend you look for an electronic dartboard with a lot of variety. Not only will these games help improve your play and tune in your accuracy, they also offer a lot of fun and a welcomed break from the same-old games.
Installation and Operation
Finally, if you are like most people you want a game that is fairly easy to install and operate. As we mentioned briefly above, full-sized electronic dartboards are very easy to install.
If you opt to purchase a wall-mounted dartboard, just make sure it comes with all the installation instructions, along with the mounting hardware you will need to properly affix it to the wall.
You may also want to protect the wall around the dart board so that the plastic tips do not mark the walls. A dart board cabinet, backboard or surround can help with this.
Summary
The above information will provide you with things you should consider and our electronic dart board reviews will give you a great idea of what’s out there when choosing the best electronic dart board for the money. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.