"One of the all-time hardest games to spell"
August 19, 2018 12:14 PM Subscribe
"The beginner's guide to the greatest pastimes: Crokinole," written by D. Mark for the CBC. "From Start to Finish," a short documentary by Brittney Ince about Crokinole and the "renowned board maker" mentioned in the article, Willard Martin. Brief time-lapse video of "Crokicurl" also mentioned in the article. Crokinole previously on Metafilter. Relevant entries at BoardGameGeek: Crokinole, Carrom games, and finger flicking games. Other beginner's guides to the greatest pastimes by D. Mark: Cribbage, Euchre, Knitting, Mahjong, Singalongs, Skateboarding, Soccer, and Softball.
I am unspeakably bad at this game.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 12:28 PM on August 19, 2018
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 12:28 PM on August 19, 2018
My brother's "stag" happened in Elmira, where Willard Martin builds boards, and we played crokinole (knipsbrat - we Mennonites pronounce it "chnip-shpraat") in his future brother-in-law's barn near Dorking, ON in a machine shed. The boards were made by Martin and we used small-sized cue sticks (like a miniature pool cue), though out here in southern Manitoba it's finger-flicking all the way. Good times! It's not as easy as it looks.
posted by kneecapped at 12:35 PM on August 19, 2018
posted by kneecapped at 12:35 PM on August 19, 2018
A known favorite of the Princess of Monaco.
posted by slkinsey at 12:49 PM on August 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by slkinsey at 12:49 PM on August 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
Played it often as a kid - and had no idea it originated so close to my home. I once played a game for $20.00 and lost.
posted by davebush at 12:58 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by davebush at 12:58 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
From the Euchre guide Do's and Don'ts: "DO sow discord in the opposing team: partnerships without trust don't win. If one of your opponents messes up, be sure their partner notices."
That reads a little like the CIA field book for toppling organizations. And may be why my SO no longer plays Euchre.
posted by hwyengr at 1:08 PM on August 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
That reads a little like the CIA field book for toppling organizations. And may be why my SO no longer plays Euchre.
posted by hwyengr at 1:08 PM on August 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
Victory will overcome the pain of bruised fingernails.
posted by srboisvert at 1:09 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 1:09 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
That crokinole commercial in the beginners guide is ridiculous.
posted by rodlymight at 1:20 PM on August 19, 2018
posted by rodlymight at 1:20 PM on August 19, 2018
A friend of mine once misspelled it as 'croqueno' which i find much more aesthetically pleasing. Maybe I can slightly alter the rules and launch a competing game with that spelling.
posted by Space Coyote at 1:41 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Space Coyote at 1:41 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
My dad found us a crokinole game at a garage sale and I love it for parties! For the longest time, though, I didn't know the rule about hitting another piece on your shot. So much harder to play when you have that rule!
On Euchre and Crib, I have observed that the BCers in my life play Crib while the Ontario peeps play Euchre. My husband and I grew up with different family card games as a result. I don't know where the dividing line is in Canada, is there a place where people play both???
I once tested my theory when meeting a guy from Ontario who had just moved to BC. I asked, "So ... from Ontario? I guess you play Euchre?"
His face brightened and he said "You play? I have my deck right here!" And he really did have his Euchre deck right in his pocket!!
posted by chapps at 5:39 PM on August 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
On Euchre and Crib, I have observed that the BCers in my life play Crib while the Ontario peeps play Euchre. My husband and I grew up with different family card games as a result. I don't know where the dividing line is in Canada, is there a place where people play both???
I once tested my theory when meeting a guy from Ontario who had just moved to BC. I asked, "So ... from Ontario? I guess you play Euchre?"
His face brightened and he said "You play? I have my deck right here!" And he really did have his Euchre deck right in his pocket!!
posted by chapps at 5:39 PM on August 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
When I was a teenager I looked with contempt at Crokinole because it seemed so simple. But a friend convinced me to try it. I was astonished at how exciting and engrossing it was. There is a lot of skill and strategy involved which I did not realize until I actually played it.
posted by Nyrath at 6:08 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Nyrath at 6:08 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
See, the really important thing here is to establish that people who pronounce the L are wrong, evil, blasphemers.
posted by Canageek at 7:22 PM on August 19, 2018
posted by Canageek at 7:22 PM on August 19, 2018
And may be why my SO no longer plays Euchre.
'Tis true for any board game.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:58 PM on August 19, 2018
'Tis true for any board game.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:58 PM on August 19, 2018
ctrl-F nok hockey
what!!!
Nok Hockey fuckin owns. It goes with Carrom in my mind because the same company makes it, but more so because I played lots of both as a kid at summer rec. Crokinole is on the other side of the Carrom board but nobody knew how to play that one. Eventually we got Carrom and Nok Hockey at home and I remember them being pretty good to play against adults.
posted by clavicle at 8:39 PM on August 19, 2018
what!!!
Nok Hockey fuckin owns. It goes with Carrom in my mind because the same company makes it, but more so because I played lots of both as a kid at summer rec. Crokinole is on the other side of the Carrom board but nobody knew how to play that one. Eventually we got Carrom and Nok Hockey at home and I remember them being pretty good to play against adults.
posted by clavicle at 8:39 PM on August 19, 2018
A childhood friend's parents were North Dak-sourced Lutherans and they had Carrom. It was fun to play checkers-poolhockey.
I randomly discovered Crokinole in some Wikipedia dive, and the year I was going to get it for my neice and nephew it turned out that a, y'know, real one was going to be mailorder and too far away (and dang, nice ones ain't cheap). A slight downside to not having kids of my own to foist these things upon.
posted by rhizome at 10:52 PM on August 19, 2018
I randomly discovered Crokinole in some Wikipedia dive, and the year I was going to get it for my neice and nephew it turned out that a, y'know, real one was going to be mailorder and too far away (and dang, nice ones ain't cheap). A slight downside to not having kids of my own to foist these things upon.
posted by rhizome at 10:52 PM on August 19, 2018
Renowned board maker? He's making them out of plyboard! Mine's solid birch. I wouldn't even thinking of selling cheapass laminate boards in my shop. Ptui.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 1:48 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 1:48 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you can track it down (it was self-published), the 2006 film Crokinole by the Steckley Brothers is a lot of fun.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:36 AM on August 20, 2018
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:36 AM on August 20, 2018
I have observed that the BCers in my life play Crib while the Ontario peeps play Euchre
Ah but where in Ontario? In Northern Ontario, it's been more my experience, that Cribbage is the game and Euchre is more Southern and Eastern Ontario thing.
Oh if you want actual nice Crokinole boards not made of plywood - try Michaud Toys out of Jarvis Ontario.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:41 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Ah but where in Ontario? In Northern Ontario, it's been more my experience, that Cribbage is the game and Euchre is more Southern and Eastern Ontario thing.
Oh if you want actual nice Crokinole boards not made of plywood - try Michaud Toys out of Jarvis Ontario.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:41 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Came for the Moxy Fruvous reference and was not disappointed.
posted by Thistledown at 5:45 AM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Thistledown at 5:45 AM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Seeing that Carrom board brought back some memories, I think there was a set in a hotel bar in Malaysia when I was very young. I can vividly imagine a glass full of ice and coke, soaking a paper coaster with condensation, a bowl full of peanuts and that distinctive arrangement of the pieces at the start of a game.
posted by lucidium at 3:28 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by lucidium at 3:28 PM on August 20, 2018
"Victory will overcome the pain of bruised fingernails."
You want your finger to be touching the piece (or as close to that as possible) before flicking. Then it doesn't hurt.
posted by bfields at 6:15 AM on August 21, 2018
You want your finger to be touching the piece (or as close to that as possible) before flicking. Then it doesn't hurt.
posted by bfields at 6:15 AM on August 21, 2018
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