Playground game - Poland

How to play KUBB

Kubb is a fun playground  game for 2-12 players. The game can take anywhere from twenty minutes to several hours to play.

Equipment

• 10 kubbs, which are 3″ x 3″ x 6″ wooden blocks
• 1 King, which is a 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 16″ wooden block
• 6 wooden throwing batons that measure 1.5″ x 14″
• 4 corner markers (rocks, stakes, shoes, etc.)

Goal

Be the first team to knock down all your kubbs and then the king, or be on the opposite team of the player that knocks down the king before knocking down all of their kubbs. Knocking down the king without knocking down the kubbs is like sinking the eight ball out of turn.

Setup

Mark off a 16 by 26 foot field by placing rocks or stakes in the corners. Stand the king in the center and evenly spread five kubbs along each baseline.

Game Play

1. Team 1 throws it’s batons at the kubbs on the opposite baseline. Batons must be thrown underhand and must travel straight or end over end. They cannot be thrown horizontally or sidearm.

2. When Team 1 is finished, Team 2 stands at their baseline and throws any knocked down kubbs back into the other half of the field. These become known as “field kubbs”. Team 2 has two chances to throw each kubb into the opposite half of the field. If they throw the kubb out of bounds twice in a row, the offending kubb is placed 6 inches behind the king.

3. Once all the field kubbs have been thrown, Team 1 stands them up. If a kubb was thrown into the field and it hit another field kubb, the kubbs are stacked on top of each other. There is no limit to how many kubbs can be stacked in this way.

4. Team 2 then must knock down all the field kubbs before throwing at the baseline kubbs. Any baseline kubbs that are knocked down before the field kubbs do not count and are stood back up.

5. When Team 2 is done throwing, Team 1 picks up any knocked down kubbs (both field and baseline) and throws them back into the opposite half of the field for Team 1 to stand up.

6. If Team 2 left any field kubbs standing, Team 1 may throw their batons from behind an imaginary line that runs parallel to the kubb that is closest to the king.

Play continues on this way until one team knocks over all their field and baseline kubbs. That team may then attempt to knock down the king. All attempts on the king must be taken from the baseline. Once the king is knocked down, the game is over.