Object of the Game of Crokinole
The object of the game of Crokinole is to shoot your biscuit toward the middle of the board, attempting to place it as close to the center as possible. The player who accumulates the most points over the course of the match wins.
Valid Shot
A valid shot depends on the state of play. Below is the complete list of valid shots.
- If your opponent has a biscuit or biscuits on the board, you must make contact with at least one of their biscuits to record a valid shot.
- If your opponent doesn’t have a biscuit on the board, you must shoot toward the middle, leaving a biscuit in the 15 circle or 20 hole.
- If a player is shooting toward the middle and makes contact with another one of its biscuits and the shot biscuit does not stay within the 15 circle, but any of the contacted biscuits do, then its a valid shot.
- If a biscuit is shot but does not make contact with an opponent’s biscuit, then any of the biscuits that were contacted must come off the board and placed into the ditch.
- If a biscuit crosses the outer line but does not leave the playing surface and then reenters play, it is a valid shot.
Game Play
- Each player selects their biscuits. It's important to keep your biscuits off the board or ditch so as not to interfere with game play.
- To determine who goes first, place a biscuit of each color in either hand and have the opposing team or player select a hand. If they select their color, they go first. If they select your color, you go first.
- Player 1 places their biscuit within their quadrant. The biscuit must be touching the outer ring. It can be played over the quadrant line - either in front or on the sides - as long as there is contact with the line and the biscuit.
- Player 1 shoots their biscuit toward the middle, aiming for the middle. If Player 1 fails to place their biscuit either within the 20 hole or the 15 circle, the biscuit is placed in the ditch. See Valid Shots section for more detail.
- Play continues clockwise around the board until all biscuits have been shot.
- Any biscuit that is knocked off the board and into the ditch stays in the ditch until the next round of play.
- A biscuit that is shot and is touching the outer line is deemed out of play.
Scoring
- Scoring begins after all biscuits have been shot
- A biscuit that is touching a line (not including the outer line) is demoted to the next circle.
- Sinking a biscuit in the center hole is worth 20. If a 20 is scored during a round of play, remove the biscuit from play and bank it in your 20s holder or reserved spot for 20s. The 20s are then counted at the end of the round.
- Any biscuit within the center circle is 15, the middle circle 10, and the outer circle 5. The easiest way to count the biscuits is to first eliminate biscuits on both sides within the same circle. Then take the difference between the remaining biscuits on the board and the 20s.
Traditional Scoring
Tally up the points, adding up all the point values of each side and then taking the difference. Points carry over and are summed after each round till a player reaches the determined point total. In this scoring style, we've seen score play to 100 or 50. The number is arbitrary and should be determined based upon how long you'd like to play.
NCA Scoring
Every round is worth 2 points. If you win, you get 2 points, if you lose you get zero points. If you tie, you get 1 point. A game consists of 4 rounds. The number of games in a match is determined by the tournament rules.
Race to 9
Race to 9 uses the NCA Scoring method. First player to 9 wins, preventing the possibility of a tie.
Other Rules
- Neither the board nor the chair of any player may be moved while the game is in progress. An important rule to remember is the “one cheek rule” which states that when a player is shooting, at least one portion of their buttocks must be in contact with their chair. While shooting, players aren’t allowed to contact the floor with any part of their body other than their feet.
- The damage stays rule states that a biscuit that leaves the board but reenters play (i.e., bounces off the rail and back onto the board) must be removed from play. That being the case, if the biscuit alters the location of any biscuits that are in play, the new positions of those biscuits are now counted and thus “the damage stays”.
- A biscuit cannot be placed on the board until it is your turn.
- A player can only contact the board with their shooting hand.