Tournament kubb in the United States is usually played with the U.S. National Kubb Championship rules (or slight variations on them). These rules themselves are based on the Kubb World Championship held in Sweden. While they’ve become a great standard for the game, there are of course other ways to play the game. The following are some of the more popular “backyard” rule variations of kubb.
Sure Shot King
The sure shot is an upside-down throw at the king. You throw the baton with your back facing the king, between your legs. This was made popular in Switzerland, where it became mandatory in many of their tournaments. In the backyard, this can be a fun way to add a little drama to your friendly match. It can also be a huge hurdle for Americans in Europe.
Helicopters
The U.S. Championship mandates strict underhand, end-over-end throws within a certain range of degrees. Some house rules allow any angle or even an overhand throw with the baton. Relaxing this rule is extremely common in casual play, especially for beginners or kids who may not be able to judge a 30 or 45 degree angle.
Stacking
Some variations allow inkasted kubbs (those thrown back into play) that hit each other to be stacked on top of one another, creating an easier target to hit. This rule can be implemented for more approachable drilling and blasting while also speeding up the game.
Mortal Kubbs
Another common way to speed up a game of kubb is to remove kubbs from gameplay. After a field kubb is knocked down, it leaves the game. This means each kubb is hit only once by each team (baseline by team A, in the field by team B). This is a way to keep games short and accessible to newer and younger players.
Smaller Pitches
The standard pitch size is 8 by 5 meters. Throwing a baton 8 meters can be a tough ask for some, so making the pitch a bit smaller might be the answer. It’s also possible the space you have to play kubb is a little short or narrow and adjusting the dimensions is necessary. Even on a shorter pitch, the core strategy of kubb comes through.
