Crokinole Club
Crokinole rules
Crokinole players take turns flicking discs from their own quarter of a round board toward a 20-point hole in the centre. If an opponent disc is on the board, your shot must touch one or your disc is removed. With none on the board, the shot must end within the 15 ring. Discs score 20, 15, 10 or 5.
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Crokinole is a tabletop flicking game for two or four players, played on a round wooden board about 26 inches (660 mm) in diameter. Players flick discs across the board, aiming for the 20-point hole in the centre while avoiding the pegs. These are the rules as played in tournaments, followed by exactly where Crokinole Club matches them and where it relaxes them.
What is a crokinole board like?
A crokinole board is a round, flat wooden surface with a shallow gutter (the ditch) around the edge. Three scoring lines are drawn on it, a small hole sits in the exact centre, and eight pegs stand on the innermost line. The table compares a regulation board with the default board in Crokinole Club.
| Item | Regulation board | Crokinole Club default (Club board) |
|---|---|---|
| Playing surface | 26 in (about 660 mm) across | 600 mm (23 5/8 in) across |
| Scoring lines | 4, 8 and 12 in from the centre | Same proportions, scaled to the surface |
| Centre hole (the 20) | 1 3/8 in (about 35 mm) | 40 mm, slightly generous |
| Pegs | 8, on the innermost (15) line | 8, on the 15 line |
| Disc | About 1 1/4 in (32 mm) across | 32 mm across, 9 mm thick |
Crokinole Club also includes a Tournament board at the full regulation size with a true 1 3/8 in hole, and an Heirloom board where twelve antique posts guard the centre. You choose the board in Quick Play and Pass & Play; the career always uses the Club board.
How do turns work?
- Two players play head to head, or four play as two partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. Each side uses one colour of discs.
- Each player shoots from their own quarter of the board. The disc starts flat and still, touching the outer boundary line inside that quarter.
- Players alternate one disc at a time until every disc has been played. Who shoots first alternates from round to round; the player who shoots last in a round has a small advantage.
- Tournament singles use 12 discs per player. Crokinole Club uses 8 per player per round in a head-to-head game and 6 per player in 2v2, to keep matches short.
What is the hit-required (must-hit) rule?
If any opponent disc is on the board when you shoot, your shot must touch at least one opponent disc, either directly or by bumping one of your own discs into it. Touching only a peg, or only your own disc without it reaching an opponent, is a foul. After a valid hit your disc stays on the board wherever it rests inside the outer line.
In tournament rules a foul removes the shooting disc and every disc it struck, including any 20 made on that shot.
What is the no-hiding rule?
If there are no opponent discs on the board, you may not hide behind the pegs. The shooting disc, or at least one disc it struck, must finish touching or within the 15 line. A disc in the 20 hole counts as within the 15 line. It does not have to be completely inside the line; touching it is enough. If this fails, it is a foul with the same penalty as above.
How does a 20 work?
A disc that comes to rest completely in the centre hole scores 20. It is taken off the board and its 20 is kept for the end of the round. A disc that only touches the rim of the hole is not a 20; it counts as 15.
When is a disc out of play?
- A disc that ends in the ditch, leaves the board, or finishes outside the outer scoring line is out and scores nothing.
- A disc touching the outer line is out.
- A disc that leaves the surface and lands back on it is out.
How is a round scored?
When every disc has been shot, each side adds up its discs by region: 20 for the centre hole, 15 for the inner ring, 10 for the middle ring and 5 for the outer ring. A disc touching a line scores the lower of the two values. See crokinole scoring for the table, a worked example and how round points turn into a match result.
Rules as implemented in Crokinole Club. The game has two rule sets.
- Casual rules (Quick duels and the career Season): the hit-required rule applies, but a foul only removes the shooting disc and everything else goes back where it was. The no-hiding rule is not enforced. The round winner banks the point difference.
- Official-style rules (four-round Matches in Quick Play and Pass & Play, and Tournament challenges in Season 2): the no-hiding rule is enforced, a foul removes the shooter and every disc it struck, and the round winner scores 2 match points (1 each for a tie).
Hits that only graze a disc by a few millimetres count as contact, so a visible touch is never judged a miss. A disc touching a scoring line scores the lower value, and the painted lines have a small width: a disc must clear the line to score the higher ring.
Where do these rules come from?
This page paraphrases the National Crokinole Association (NCA) rules and public references on the sport and checks them against how the game behaves. Read the originals: NCA official rules and Crokinole on Wikipedia. Crokinole Club is an independent project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Crokinole Association (NCA) or the World Crokinole Championship (WCC). If you spot a difference between this page and the official rules, the official rules win.