Molkky- the very best skittles game.
The weather is... mainly nice. So here's something I wrote for the Zatu website (board-game.co.uk) about the fun and fiendish outdoor game, Molkky
When the weather gets warm, most 'normal' people gravitate outside. Of course, as dedicated gamers we see no problem with remaining indoors, undercoating some orcs on the sunniest, most pleasant day of the year.
One excuse we could plausibly offer for our mole-like aversion to the sun is that outdoor games are usually just… bad. Pure contests of dexterity or agility, which can only be described as a 'great leveler' by someone who has never been picked last for football. And we gamers all have.
Thank heavens therefore, for Mollky.
Mollky is a form of skittles, with its origins in Finland. Twelve numbered skittles, valued from 1 to 12, are packed in a tight formation, and either individuals or teams take it in turns to hurl a baton at the skittles. A score is calculated, the skittles are placed upright where they fell, and someone else has a go. The flow of the game really couldn't be simpler.
So what's the hook? There are two things really.
Firstly, the progression. From a tight ball of skittles, the game progresses over time so they become more spread out and, sadly, further away. So after a while a decision needs to be made as to which particular ones to target.
This decision is determined by a deviously clever scoring system. If you knock over one skittle, you score the value of that skittle. If you knock over several, you score the number of skittles you knock over. This has two effects. One is that isolated high value skittles get targeted, and frequently pushed progressively further away. The second is that even if you're not great at throwing, whacking it into the main group is a safe (but unspectacular) bet until quite late in the game.
(This is how not to play Molkky, by the way)
The endgame conceals a further twist. The winning score is exactly 50. Any higher and your score gets reset to 25. This means that a clear winning margin can be instantly overturned by an overambitious toss. So what starts as a breezy chucking session becomes tense and exciting, before a final moment of triumph when someone manages just the right throw.
It’s so much fun, you will forget you are engaged in a contest of physical skill. So put down that orc and join in!