The game is always played in teams. In competitions there are three different configurations:

three players per team (two boules per player), called triples

two players per team (three boules per player), called doubles

one player per team (three boules per player), called singles

The boules are made of metal and weigh between 650 g and 800 g, with a diameter of between 71 mm and 80 mm. The jack is made of wood or synthetic material and has a diameter of between 25 mm and 35 mm.

The playing area should be at least 15 meters (49 ft) long, by 4 meters (13 ft) wide.

A player from the team that wins the toss starts the game by drawing a circle on the playing field (35 to 50 cm in diameter). Both feet must be inside this circle, touching the ground, when playing. The player then throws the jack to a distance of between 6 and 10 metres from the starting circle. The jack must be visible and at least 1 metre from any obstacle or boundary, otherwise it must be thrown again.

A player from the team that wins the toss then plays the first boule, trying to place it as close to the jack as possible. Then the opposing team must get closer to the jack and keeps playing until they succeed. When they do, it is back to the first team to do better, and so forth. When one team runs out of boules the other team plays their remaining boules.

A player may choose to 'place' a boule (get it as near as possible to the jack) or 'shoot' it (attempt to displace another boule). A point is scored for each boule that is nearer to the jack than the opposing team's nearest boule. The team that wins a round starts the next one and a new circle is drawn where the jack was in the previous round.

One game is usually played up to 13 points.