A STEM Project: Making a Crokinole Game Using a TurtleStitch Created Board Frame

Crokinole is a game where disks are pushed across the game board at a recessed target with concentric circles around it. The target is surrounded by bumpers that deflect the disk.

Crokinole is a fun board game that originated in Canada. The game's name derives from the French word  croquignole which has two meanings, the first is a round pastry similar to a donut and the second meaning is a method of curling.  I believe this is a good name for the game because combining the two definitions explains the concept of the game. It is a round game where wooden pieces are pushed across the surface of the game. Curling is a sport where stones are pushed across the ice at a target with concentric circles around it. 

In this blog posting, I recreated a version of this game using TurtleStitch to create the game board frame.  A collared ball bearing glides across the surface of the board when pushed.   Play alternates between two players pushing their disks across the board to the target. Numbered sections represent the value which is tallied when all of the disks are played. The winner is the player with the most tallied points. Please check the National Crokinole's website for official rules http://nationalcrokinoleassociation.com/resources/rules.html

As I mentioned in a previous blog posting, https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-stem-project-making-shuffleboard-game.html , I believe coding a variable size board frame in TurtleStitch is a valuable tool for creating board games which require a ball rolling over a playing field. The possibilities of creating a board game are limitless and are only bounded by your imagination. I used the following TurtleStitch program and modified the side #1 and side #2 values to 8 and 10 inches respectively. to create my crokinole game board frame https://www.turtlestitch.org/run#cloud:Username=Elaine&ProjectName=Shuffleboard

Cut the Crokinole Model Pieces

Here is the PDF.  I used 65 lb. cardstock from Michaels. Six 9mm ball bearings for the shuffleboard weights.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OjTYCQ8WFaJMJD8gMaMC-EGK0GmKdao3/view?usp=sharing

Here is the .Studio file.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FfBs2-DLNkV0N9o6lkAvK3SFXXxMPpIG/view?usp=sharing

Here is the SVG. The entire design is present.  Zoom out to see the entire file.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G94woAJ5B2UZPVSUwBKcOK1s5zJoYSTf/view?usp=sharing

Note: My method of cutting the Crokinole frame is an alternate to scan and cut.

Cut out the outer circle using a waste piece of cardstock. Remove the inner circle. Do not remove the outer cardstock circle.

Print the Crokinole board on your printer. My Epson printer needed to be set to borderless mode to print out the game board. Center and align the outer circle to the underlying cardstock outer circle. Cut the red lines ( the inner circle and bumpers) only with your Silhouette.

Cut the outer rectangle with scissors.  I am sure the Silhouette can do it but I found it easier to cut it myself.

Glue the 20 to the back of the game board.  This creates a ridge for the disk to fall into when a disk slides over.

Make the Bumpers

Apply glue to the tab.

Roll the bumper around a toothpick.

Insert the toothpick into the hole in the game board. Splay the bottom tabs and apply glue to the tabs.  Adhere to the bottom of the game board by...

threading the bumper to the front of the game board and pushing down on the tabbed areas.

Make the Crokinole Frame

Use the directions from the shuffleboard frame blog posting, https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-stem-project-making-shuffleboard-game.html to make the frame and the disks (shuffleboard weights).