How to score Mölkky without losing track
After each throw, you tap the fallen pins: Teamzy counts a single pin or several, sends you back to 25 when you go past 50, eliminates on the third miss and ends the match at exactly 50.
Mölkky in 30 seconds
Players take turns throwing the mölkky, a wooden stick, at twelve numbered pins. A pin that falls alone scores its number; if several fall, you score how many fell. The pins are stood up again where they landed. The first to reach exactly 50 wins: go past it and you drop back to 25. Three throws in a row without knocking a pin down, and you are out.
What each throw is worth
In Mölkky, everything comes down to one question: one pin or several? Alone, a pin scores its number; with others, each pin scores one point. That is exactly what Teamzy works out when you tap the fallen pins.
The points of a throw
| What counts | Points |
|---|---|
| A single fallen pin | its number |
| Several pins | how many fell |
| Going past 50 | back to 25 |
| Three misses in a row | eliminated |
The end of a match, throw by throw
Léa, Lucas and Emma play free-for-all. After five throws, Léa has 37 points and Lucas 42. Emma, stuck on 12, has just missed for the third time in a row: she is eliminated.
- 1Throw 6: Léa knocks down pin 6 on its own: 37 + 6 = 43.
- 2Lucas knocks down the 12 on its own: 42 + 12 = 54. That is more than 50: he drops back to 25.
- 3Throw 7: Léa knocks down three pins at once, so 3 points, and reaches 46. Lucas knocks down the 10 alone: 35.
- 4Throw 8: Léa needs 4 points. She aims at pin 4 and knocks it down alone: exactly 50.
Léa wins with exactly 50, in eight throws. Lucas finishes on 35, Emma on 12.
In Teamzy, you tap the fallen pins for each player: the app works out the points, sends players back to 25, counts the misses and ends the match at exactly 50, just like here.
The questions that always come up during a match
If a single pin falls, you score its number: the 9 alone is worth 9 points. If several fall, you score how many fell: three pins, 3 points, whatever their numbers. If none falls, it is a miss and you score nothing.
You drop back to 25, and the match goes on. You have to land on exactly 50 to win: near the end, players often aim at one specific pin rather than knock down as many as possible.
Three throws in a row without knocking down a pin, and you are eliminated: that is the federations' rule. A throw that knocks down at least one pin resets the count. Teamzy keeps track of the misses for you.
No. A pin only counts once it has fallen all the way to the ground. If it is still resting on another pin, on the mölkky or on a tree root, it has not fallen. Leaning against a bench or a curb, however, it counts under most rules.
Where they landed: you stand them up on the spot, number facing the players. That is why the pins spread out as the match goes on. A pin knocked out of the playing area is put back inside, one mölkky length from the edge.
The pins start about 3.5 meters (11.5 ft) from the throwing area, which the mölkkaari marks off. Any throwing style is allowed, but always from behind that line, without touching it.
The last player still in the match wins, even without reaching 50. Teamzy spots it on its own and ends the match.
Between two teams, it is often best of three rounds. At one round each, the team that scored the most points over the first two starts the last one; if that is a tie too, a mölkkout decides, a series of throws at five pins in a line. In Teamzy, each round is saved as its own match, with every throw.
Your next Mölkky match, without pen and paper
Tap the fallen pins after each throw, let the app handle the drop back to 25 and the misses, and find your matches in the history. Free to start, Premium as a one-time purchase, no account and no ads.
