Since the beginning of this series I have purposely put off writing about one particular game, likely because I have never been quite sure how to address it without simply gushing.
It is a game which is without a doubt my favourite board game, the one I would eagerly play above all others.
Now in most things the favourite a person has may change on a whim. Some days I would chose the Lord of the Rings trilogy as my fav movies. At other times I’d go with the war classic ‘The Great Escape’ and other days it’s a near toss up in terms of the baseball flicks ‘Field of Dreams’ and ‘Bull Durham’.
Ditto my favourite sport to watch. It’s generally the Canadian Football League, or baseball when the Toronto Blue Jays are playing well. The Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames have pushed hockey back to the top of late though, and I have found fresh loves in world badminton, hurling and ultimate Frisbee that might have me pick one of those on a particular day if asked.
But in terms of a board game crokinole has long been my favourite, and will always be at the top of the list.
So why is that you ask?
I suppose to start it is that the game is Canadian.
Well at least it appears crokinole developed here.
“The game of crokinole appears to have developed in rural Canada in the 1860s,” noted www.crokinole.com.
“The earliest known crokinole board (with legitimate, dated provenance) was made in 1876 (not 1875 as previously reported) in Perth County, Ontario, Canada. Several other home-made boards of southwestern Ontario origin, and dating from the 1870s, have been discovered within the past 10 years, suggesting confirmation of this locale as the probable ‘cradle’ of crokinole’s birth. Earlier Canadian written sources detail the game from the mid-1860’s. Several years after that time, a registered American patent suggests 1880 as the time when commercial fabrication began - first in New York, then Pennsylvania. The games that no doubt contributed to the arrival of crokinole seem to be the 16th century British games of shovelboard-from which modern-day shuffleboard descends, the17th century pub game shove ha’penny, and the Victorian parlour game of squails that appeared in England during the second quarter of the 19th century. In addition, Burmese or East Indian carrom (developed during the 1820s) seems a logical ancestor of crokinole due alone to the very similar shooting or fillip technique involved. And while a German game known as ‘knipps-brat’ (various spellings in high and low Germanic dialect exist) may have had similar features, game historians agree the aforementioned British and Asian predecessors seem the most likely links to modern-day crokinole.”
The next reason I love the game is that it is one where skill wins out.
As a rule dice hate me, so the less I have to roll the cursed stones the better. It’s why I lean toward perfect information, abstract strategy games such as chess, and the aforementioned Arimaa and Dameo. That said abstract strategy games, while ideal to take your mind off other things, requires a lot of mental attention. You need to analyze what move is best for you, and then what the opponent is likely to do in response. The further ahead you can correctly map out play, the better. They are games of mental skill. Crokinole is simpler in that sense. It is not a game pushing you to out think an opponent. Rather it is a game of physical skill, the ability to shoot wooden discs with accuracy to score points. I like that - a lot.
“The object of the game is to position shooting discs on the playing surface in such manner that they remain within the highest scoring circles by the end of the round. A crokinole shot is accomplished by firmly holding the end of your index or middle finger against the thumb and then flicking or snapping it against the disc in order to propel the disc across the playing surface. Each player seeks to make a “20” (centre hole) score whenever possible. At the same time, each player - in turn - will attempt to make such scoring opportunities difficult for his opponent. The game is played to 50, 100, or more points, as determined by all players in advance,” details www.crokinole.com
So the game tops my list. Next week I’ll let another talk about the game, and its appeal as I offer Part II of my look at this great game.
