What is the Game Where You Throw Wood?

The game is kubb. You throw wooden batons at wooden pins, and the objective is to knock down everything on the other side of the field, then the king in the middle.

It is often called Viking chess, which is a marketing name rather than a historical one. The game is Swedish, it is played on a five by eight metre field, and it takes about two minutes to learn and a full game to understand.

What Kubb Is

The equipment is a king, ten kubbs and six batons. The king stands in the centre. Five kubbs are set on each baseline, at the ends of the field. Each team throws six batons per turn, underhand, at the other team’s kubbs.

How It Is Actually Played

The rule that surprises people is what happens to a kubb once it is knocked over.

1. Knock down the baseline kubbs. The five kubbs on the opponent’s baseline are the first target. Six batons per turn, thrown underhand from behind your own baseline.
2. Knocked kubbs become field kubbs. The defending team picks up the kubbs that were knocked down and throws them into the attacking half. They stand where they land, on end. These are now field kubbs, and they belong to the defending team.
3. Field kubbs must be cleared first. On your next turn you must knock down all field kubbs before you can attack the baseline again. A field kubb that is not knocked down in that turn is stood back up, and it is now closer to you than it was.
4. Then the king. Once all of a team’s baseline kubbs are down and no field kubbs remain, the king can be attacked. Knock it down and the game ends.
5. Knocking the king early loses. If you hit the king before you are entitled to, you lose the game. That single rule is what makes the endgame tense, because an overthrown baton can end your own game.

A game takes 20 to 30 minutes between two players and rather longer with teams.

Dimensions and Materials

Batons take the most punishment, so the species matters more there than anywhere else. Ash is the traditional choice because its ring structure resists shock. Beech works and is cheaper. A baton turned from a piece with diagonal grain will snap at the first hard contact, which is why straight grain is a specification and not a preference.

Kubbs fail differently. They crack at the base, because that is where the impact is transmitted into the ground. A chamfer at the bottom edge, and a finish that seals the end grain, adds years to a set.

The History, Honestly

Kubb is presented as a Viking game, and that claim is not supported by any evidence anyone has produced. There is no Viking-era artefact, no saga reference and no contemporary account.

What is documented is that the game was played on Gotland in the Baltic in the early twentieth century, and that it spread through Sweden and then internationally from the 1980s onwards. The Viking association appears to have been attached as a marketing story around the same time. It is a good story, and it is a story.

This matters commercially for one reason: if you are writing product copy, “Viking chess” is a positioning line, not a historical claim. Describing it as a Swedish lawn game that was played on Gotland is both accurate and more interesting.

Variations Worth Knowing

• Two to six a side. Team play works because batons are shared, not owned. The team decides who throws which baton.
• Field size. Five by eight metres is standard. Smaller fields favour the attacking team, because field kubbs land closer and are easier to clear.
• Tournament rules. Competitive play adds a time limit and specific rules about how field kubbs must be thrown. For retail, the basic rules are enough.

What Fails, and When

• Batons splitting. Almost always a grain problem, not an impact problem. Straight grain, no knots along the length.
• Kubb bases cracking. Water into the end grain, then freeze-thaw. Seal the bottom face.
• Paint and numbers wearing. Kubbs are usually marked with a number or a colour. Printed marks wear off in a season; engraved or branded marks do not.
• The king breaking. It is the largest piece and the one people hit hardest. A 90 mm beech king is fine; a 90 mm pine king is not.

Buying Notes

What to put on an order for a kubb set:

• Dimensions of the king, kubbs and batons in millimetres.
• Species for each part, separately. Buyers often specify one species for the whole set and get whatever the factory has.
• Grain requirement on the batons.
• How the kubbs are marked: printed, engraved, branded or colour-coded.
• Whether the set includes a carry bag, and what it is made of. A cotton bag is the usual answer and it needs its own care labelling.
• Carton dimensions and gross weight. A ten-kubb set is a dense, heavy parcel.

Minimum order 500 sets, samples 5 to 10 days, bulk production 30 to 45 days, quotation within 24 hours.

FAQs

What is the game where you throw wooden blocks?
Kubb. You throw wooden batons at wooden pins, clear the field, and then knock down the king in the centre.

Is kubb the same as Viking chess?
Viking chess is a marketing name for kubb. There is no evidence of a Viking origin; the game is documented in Sweden from the early twentieth century.

How many people can play?
Two to twelve, in teams of up to six a side. Batons are shared within a team, which is what makes team play work.

How big a space does it need?
Five by eight metres of short grass or sand, plus a metre of clearance at each end for the throwers.

What is the minimum order?
500 sets, with volume pricing at 500, 1,000 and 5,000 units.