Have you heard about Molkky?

No neither had I until a week or so ago.   But as a member of Blog-Match I got asked to do an advertising feature on this product in return for being sent out two games from Tactic, that I have a go with, play the games and enjoy!  Have a fun family games night in, and then write about my evening.  Now that didn't sound like to difficult a task for a gran who loves playing games every week with her grandchildren. 



 
is

comes in a handy storage crate that has a handle

Molkky – the best selling outdoor family game from Finland!

the skittles with their numbers on the top

Tactic Games is backing family fresh air fun this year with the launch of Molkky.  Already a craze in Finland, Molkky is made from wood from replenishable forests.  Molkky is an eco-friendly toy with both minimal packaging and minimal air miles to the UK.

Outdoor fun for all the family is what has made Molkky an instant hit.  The rules are simple with the first player to knock down 50 points worth of skittles using the wooden throwing pin becoming the winner.  The secret of Molkky’s success is the fact it can be played on many levels with a variety of skills and strategy, ensuring mum and dad can happily play along with the teenagers, in fact, even the youngest member of the family can master Molkky!

That was the press release I got to go with  my request to tell the world about the brilliant new game. So I popped over to www.Molkky.com to have a look for myself what all the fuss was about.

Over there the instructions for the game are as follows

Mölkky rules

The Mölkky game is suitable for the whole family. Scoring of the game is recorded on the scorecard.

Contents:
12 pins (numbered from 1 to 12), Mölkky throwing skittle, rules.

Setup:
The pins are placed in a formation . For the first game, the throwing order is drawn. In following games, the throwing order is formed according to the previous game results from lowest to highest score. A throwing line is drawn about 3-4 metres away from the pin formation (see picture 2). Players take turns in scorekeeping (see “Ending the game”).

How to play?

Beginning the game:
First player throws at the grouping and tries to knock over pins. Mölkky is always thrown underhand.

Fallen pin:
A pin is not considered fallen if it is leaning on another pin or on the Mölkky throwing skittle. After a throw, fallen pins are put upright at the place where they fell.

Scoring:
If one pin falls, the score = the number on the pin. When more than one fall, the score = the number of fallen pins.

Ending the game:
If a player misses (has no score) three times in a row, he/she is out of game and acts as the scorekeeper.

Mölkky is a fun combination of chance and skill that’s quick to learn and exciting to play. Take turns to throw the Mölkky skittle to try and knock over various numbered pins. The aim of the game is to score exactly 50 points. But watch out, if you get more than 50, your score will be knocked back down to 25!

The site tells me the game is suitable from 3 years upwards, and at that age I think I would tend to adapt the game just to skittles rather than scoring, whereas with older children it is improving their maths without them even realising. The game comes complete with a score pad so if your memory is as bad as mine then you don't need to worry about remembering your score.They need to be able to work out what score they still need to get to 50 rather than going over, and then use good hand/eye co-ordination to achieve that score. 

I feel this would be a great multi-generational game from toddlers to great-grandparents joining in, could be used in the garden, at a family barbecue, taken down the beach or off to the woods for a picnic, and looking at it used carefully I'm sure it could even be suitable for using indoors.



If the manufacturers of Molkky are interested I would love to play with a game and blog on my findings and/or run a competition for a set on my blog, cos I must admit I had picked up wrongly on this and was waiting on my set to come out to play with and talk about!!