Now that you know the basics of the board and discs, let’s dive into how a game of crokinole actually unfolds. The structure of play is simple, but it brings a great mix of strategy, skill, and a little friendly rivalry.
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| 2018 World Crokinole Championship Photo |
NCA Rule 2: How to play
a) i) ii) iii) iv)
b)
c)
Rounds of Play
A game of crokinole is divided into rounds, and each round works like this:
Taking Turns
Players take turns, one shot at a time, moving clockwise around the board. Each shot must be a valid shot (don’t worry, we’ll cover exactly what that means in the rules section).
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| 20 holders |
Scoring the 20s
Any time a player sinks a disc into the center hole for a 20, that disc is immediately removed from the board and placed in a visible scoring pile. These 20s stay out of play for the rest of the round and will be added to the score at the end.
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| Keeping score |
Counting the Score
Once all discs have been played, the round ends. The score is tallied by combining the discs left on the board (based on which scoring zone they’re in) and any 20s scored during the round.
Only then are discs removed from the board.
In the example above, Red has 25 points on the board plus 20 points in the 20-holder. Blue has 15 points on the board plus 60 points in the 20-holder.
- Red = 45 points
- Blue = 75 points
The difference is 75 – 45 = 30 points in favour of Blue. Therefore, Blue wins the round.
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| WCC Score Card |
Awarding Points
The player or team with the higher score for that round earns 2 points. If the round ends in a tie, both sides receive 1 point. 0 points for a loss.
Games and Matches
A game is made up of 4 rounds.
A match consists of multiple games, with the number of games decided by the specific tournament or house rules being used.
This structure makes crokinole both easy to learn and flexible. You can enjoy a quick game at home or settle in for a full match at a tournament.
Wrapping Up
And that’s the flow of a crokinole game, rounds, scoring, and how matches are decided. Pretty simple, right? Once you’ve played through a round or two, it all clicks, and the real fun comes from trying to outshoot (and sometimes outwit!) your opponent.
Coming Up Next…
Now that you know how to play, the next step is knowing what counts as a valid shot. In Part 3, we’ll break down the shooting rules, so you’ll be ready to play with confidence and avoid those “oops, does that count?” moments at the table.
Source:
All rules in this article are taken from the NCA Rules (Feb 9, 2011). Download the full document at the
National Crokinole Association website
Join the Discussion: Have you played crokinole before? Share your experience in the comments below!
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