Crokinole can be played by 2-4 players, either solo or teams.
Rules for Solo Play
1. Objective: Be the player or team with the highest score at the end of the game.
2. Setup:
* Crokinole can be played with two or four players.
* For a two-player game, sit opposite your opponent, and each player receives eight discs of a different color.
* For a four-player game (teams of two), partners sit opposite each other, and each player gets six discs. Each team uses a different color.
* Players choose a quadrant of the board to shoot from.
3. Starting Play:
* Players take turns shooting one disc at a time, moving clockwise around the board.
* A shot begins with the disc touching the shooting line within the player’s quadrant.
* Discs are flicked towards the center hole, usually with a finger.
4. Valid Shots:
* If there are opponent’s discs on the board: You must hit at least one opponent’s disc with your shot, either directly or by hitting your own disc(s) into an opponent’s disc. If you fail to hit an opponent’s disc, your shot is invalid, and your disc (along with any of your discs it touched) is removed from play and placed in the ditch.
* If there are no opponent’s discs on the board: You must attempt to land your disc within or touching the 15-point circle. If you fail, your disc is removed.
5. Scoring During the Round:
* If a disc lands completely flat within the center hole (“20-hole”), it’s immediately removed and counts as 20 points at the end of the round.
* If a disc touches the outer boundary line at any point during its movement or when it comes to rest, it is considered out of bounds and removed from the board.
6. End of the Round & Scoring:
* The round ends when all discs have been shot.
* Players tally the points for the discs remaining on the board:
* 15 points: discs within the center circle (surrounded by pegs).
* 10 points: discs within the middle circle.
* 5 points: discs within the outer circle.
* Important Note: If a disc is touching a line, it scores the lower of the two point values. Discs in the ditch (the recessed ring outside the playing surface) are worth zero points.
* The player/team with the higher total score at the end of the round wins that round.
* The winner of the round receives two points; if there’s a tie, each player/team receives one point.
7. Winning the Game:
* Crokinole can be played to a set score (e.g., 100 points) over multiple rounds. In this case, the winning player/team is awarded points equal to the difference in scores for each round.
* Alternatively, you can play a set number of rounds (e.g., four rounds), and the winner is determined by the total points accumulated across all rounds. If there’s a tie, play continues until it’s broken.
Optional Rule (commonly used): If a disc leaves the playing surface, but re-enters without touching anything else, and ends up in a valid scoring position, it’s considered in play and scored normally. However, if it touches the backboard or out-of-play discs and then re-enters, the re-entering disc is out of play but any discs it moved stay in their new position (20s still count).
Team Setup and Scoring
4 Player w/Teams
A 4 player game is played with 2 players each making a team seated opposite each other with the remaining 2 players forming the other team.
Each player uses 6 discs (teams are recommended to user the same color).
Turns follow the method already listed above, clockwise from the starting player.
Discs from teammates do not count as an opponent’s disc.
Each team counts all their discs for scoring.
All other scoring rules apply.
3 Player w/Teams
A 3 player game can be played with 2 players making a team seated opposite each other and a single player as their own “team” playing all discs from a single quadrant.
For the 2 player team, each player uses 6 discs (preferably the same color), while the individual player uses 12 discs.
The turns alternate between the 2 player team and the individual. E.g. The players are seated at the board and are counted clockwise as 1, 2 and 3. 1 and 3 are a team. A complete turn order is 1,2,3,2 and repeat until round end.
Discs from a 2 player team do not count as an opponent’s disc.
All discs from a 2 player team are counted together for scoring.
All other scoring rules apply.
