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Welcome to the site of the GB Mölkky Federation, the governing body of Mölkky in Great Britain and organiser of the annual UK Mölkky Championships. The Federation was officially founded in January 2023 and joined the International Mölkky Organisation later that year.

What is Mölkky?

Mölkky (pronounced “murl-kuh”) is a simple game that any number of people can play. It uses twelve numbered skittles and a throwing skittle and the aim is to be the first player or team to reach exactly 50 points. If you exceed 50 points, then your score is reset to 25.

The game starts with the numbered skittles arranged in a tightly packed formation (shown above), at a distance of 3.5 metres from the throwing area. The first player throws the throwing skittle, also known as the Mölkky, at the pack.

If the player manages to knock over multiple skittles, then they score the number of points equal to the amount of skittles knocked over, however, if only one skittle is knocked down, then they score the number of points written on that skittle (e.g. knocking over the 7 skittle = 7 points). Once the points have been calculated for each throw, then the skittles are stood back up wherever they came to rest following the last throw. This means that the skittles gradually become more and more spread out, and it becomes more difficult to knock over multiple skittles, but in turn, easier to pick out a single one.

The players continue taking turns until one player reaches exactly 50 points, without going over and resetting to 25. A game may finish early, however, if one player manages to score 0 on three consecutive shots. If a player does this, they are immediately eliminated from the game, and if only one player remains, they automatically win.

That’s enough to give you a basic grasp and get you started, but if you want the full rules, click the button below.

If you don’t yet own a Mölkky set, we recommend the official Tactic Games set. For tournament play, this must be the set packaged in the wooden crate or the tournament bag set, not the set in the cardboard box. There is a significant size difference between the Mölkky and skittles in the cardboard box set, which makes it unsuitable for competitive play. Even if you’re not looking to take part in serious competition, it’s still worth getting the larger set, as the smaller skittles fundamentally change the game. The tournament bag set is the same size as the wooden crate set, but it includes a Mölkkaari (the throwing line marker) and the skittles have the numbers also printed on the back so you can still see them after they’ve been knocked over.

UK Mölkky Federation committee

The committee consists of a pool of volunteers who help with the day to day running of the Federation, as well as having the task of making our events happen as smoothly as possible. We are always looking for additional help, so please feel free to contact us if you would like to be involved.

or email gbmolkky@gmail.com