Crokinole Board Game

Crokinole Board Game Set-Up

The game requires a crokinole board and different-colored discs.

Crokinole boards are commonly made of wood, although they can also be created from any smooth surface. They are circular, generally with a circumference of 26 inches, although there may be some small variations in size. The game board is printed with a series of rings. The outer ring is the shooting line. The inner rings designate different levels of points, leading to a ring of small bumpers guarding the highest-scoring zone and a small hole in the middle of the board.

Crokinole discs are made of metal, plastic, or wood, and they may be solid discs or rings. The discs are traditionally flicked with the finger, but small cues are available to improve accuracy or to assist players with decreased mobility. Whether a particular game will use fingers or cues is entirely up to the players involved.

Rules of Play

The crokinole board game is similar to shuffleboard in its basic game play and objective. It is designed for two players or four players in teams of two.

• Each player starts with 12 discs. In pairs play, the team will split the discs to receive six each.
• A common way to decide which player will go first is to hide a disc in each hand and the player whose color is chosen goes first.
• The board is divided into four quadrants, and each player is assigned a quadrant for shooting.
• The first player attempts to flick a disc into the center hole.
• If it lands in the hole, the disc is taken out of play. If it doesn't, the next player must try to knock the disc off the board.
• If the disc is knocked off the board, it is taken out of play. If the next player does not succeed in at least touching the other disc, his or her disc is taken out of play.
• Play continues until all discs have been played.
• At the end of one round, players should calculate their points. Getting the disc into the hole in the middle earns 20 points. The region between the hole and the bumpers is worth 15 points. The next circle is worth 10 points, and the outside ring is worth 5 points. If a disc is touching the line between scoring circles, it earns the lower point value.
• At the end of a round, the number of points the winning team earns is determined by finding the difference between the scores of both teams.
• Play until you reach 100, or another previously determined number of points.

Strategy

A large part of crokinole strategy is perfecting your aim and regulating the force with which you push the discs. Getting a feel for the game board can also help your efforts. How much friction does the surface provide? Are there any rough spots or other irregularities? Small variations from board to board can throw you off your game if you're not careful, but they can just as easily be used to your advantage.

Since the score for each round is determined by the difference between the players' scores, even if you're not having your best game, it's to your advantage to score as many points as possible. If another player pulls ahead with some great shots into the center hole, don't give up. You can still win the game if you lose the round, and your goal should be to close the gap as much as possible so his or her total score goes up as little as possible at the end of the round.

Additional Resources

• For a more thorough look at the rules of crokinole, Hilinski.net is a gaming site with an extensive page on crokinole.
• AaronGooding.com is a personal site from Canada, the home of crokinole, with another take on the rules of the game.