There are plenty of kubb variations out there—Cutthroat, Viking Chess, Mortal Kubb, and Towers to name a few. One variation that has been getting rave reviews the past year is Mega Kubb. A few tournaments played it during Saturday night friendlies, including the Great Lakes 1v1 Championship in April and Kubbapalooza in September. It’s the brainchild of Kalamazoo Kubb club members and is generously spread by club president, Jesse Fraim, whenever he meets up with kubb friends. The game was designed in 2014 at “Back to College Night,” an annual event when old friends get together to tip favorite drinks and play games like they used to do in college.
How is Mega Kubb played? First, you need two regulation size pitches next to each other about four to six feet apart. These are easy to find at tournaments! Five kubbs are arranged on each baseline for a total of 20 kubbs being used in the game. In the space between the opposing sidelines, two kings are placed at midfield, one on top of the other. The bottom king is upside down and the top king is upright thereby giving the top king a flat platform to rest on. Any number of players can play on a team, but six versus six is ideal. The game is played the same as a normal kubb game, except players can throw batons and inkast kubbs from anywhere along their two baselines, including the space between the two pitches. Batons can be thrown simultaneously by any number of players, making for some great blasting action! Field kubbs need to stay within the boundaries of the pitch, but blasting angles are drastically increased due to the extended baseline. The long throwing angle at 8 meters from one pitch to the opposite pitch might score a baseline double due to the trajectory of the baton throw. Punishment kubbs can be placed anywhere on either pitch. When a team has cleared its field and base kubbs, both kings have to fall at the same time from one throw for the team to win. If the player misses the king or only one king falls, the kings get reset, remaining batons are forfeited, and the game continues.
A few variations that have been known to spontaneously arise in this game:
- The uppermost king must fall, not both, to win the game.
- The team automatically loses if both kings are not slayed in one toss.
- A punishment kubb gets placed on the uppermost king and must be knocked off without a king falling. If the king(s) falls in an attempt to knock a field kubb off his head, the king(s) are reset, the punishment kubb is placed back on top of the king, and the team forfeits any remaining batons. The game continues.
- A variation of number three above: if a king falls when attempting to get the punishment kubb off the head of the king, the team loses the game.
These are the basic rules as designed. There are sure to be variations of the variations, and it’s not unheard of to have the rules change on the spot by rambunctious players who may be emboldened by the toddies they are tipping! If you want to try a high energy, kubb-on-steroids, fun game, you need to try Mega Kubb!
