Make a DIY Kubb Yard Game Set

How to make a Kubb yard game set. Kubb is a popular lawn game. It is sometimes described as a Viking chess game. The name Kubb is pronounced similar to koob. Kubb lawn game is played with wood blocks and wood batons. While Kubb’s origins are obscured by the passing of years — a lot of years— it seems most likely it was invented in Scandinavia more than a thousand years ago. The Kubb game spread throughout much of northern Europe. Originally the playing pieces were likely firewood. As with many such folk traditions, the rules varied with the region and the period of time. It can be played with anywhere from one to six on a team.

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Sometimes referred to as the Viking chess game, a Kubb yard game set includes 10 Kubb blocks, 1 King block, and 6 casting pins, and four boundary stakes. This plan also includes a wood mallet for driving the stakes.

people playing a Kubb game in a grass yard

Kubb is played by two teams standing on opposite sides of the designated Kubb game area.

How to Play Kubb Yard Game

How to Set Up a Kubb Yard Game

Rules of a Kubb Yard Game

1. Define your playing field by placing the corner pins, king and kubbs, as shown at left. You can have from one to six players on a side. The more players there are on each side, the more time there is to drink beer while playing.

2. Play starts with players standing at their base line and the first team tossing their six casting pins, attempting to topple all five of the other team’s kubbs (underhand tosses only, with vertical, end-over-end rotation). Once that occurs, the king can be attacked and a winner declared.

3. Unless all five kubbs and the king are toppled during the first team’s first turn (an indication that they are not taking the beer drinking aspect of the game seriously enough), the opposing team takes their turn. Play alternates until one team has knocked down all the kubbs and the king. If the king is toppled prematurely, the game is over and the opposing team wins.

4. There are many variations on the game (just Google “Kubb”), featuring increasingly involved and interesting rules. For example, in one variation, when a team has success-fully toppled all of the other team’s kubbs but fails to topple the king, the opposing team can bypass attacking the kubbs and go directly for the king, winning the game if they’re successful. When playing this variation, a team with only one casting pin left can choose to forfeit their toss rather than risk toppling the last kubb, which would leave the king vulnerable to their opponent’s attack.