Regina board game designer puts new spin on crokinole

A Regina board game designer has put a fresh spin on a classic, creating new ways for families and friends to gather around the crokinole board.

Colter Hahn designed two games, Crokinole Cards and Crokinole Imperium, that build on the traditional tabletop game while adding new rules, new challenges and more ways to play.

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Hahn said one of the biggest goals was to make crokinole more enjoyable for players of different skill levels, especially when experienced players are matched up against newcomers.

“Sometimes when you’re playing against someone that you know is really good and has a higher skill level, it can be challenging to play against someone who’s new, and that’s not as fun,” Hahn said.

“So what Crokinole Cards introduces is a way to play with everyone, beginners and experts alike, as well as it brings in a cooperative way to play and a solo way to play.”

That shift matters because crokinole, while simple to learn, can quickly become intimidating when one player is far more skilled than the others. Hahn said his additions are meant to open the game up, not change what people already love about it.

Crokinole has been around since the 1800s, and Hahn said he saw an opportunity to add a little more variety to the long-standing game.

“So I’ve created two games, one’s called Crokinole Cards, and one’s called Crokinole Imperium,” he said.

“And both games are used on a crokinole board, so you need to have a crokinole board first to be able to play them.”

He described Crokinole Cards as a way to make the game more flexible, with solo and cooperative play that lets people test their skills, practise, or play with a wider mix of people.

Crokinole Imperium, meanwhile, adds secret objectives, perks, bonuses and different scoring systems for players who want a more layered experience.

“If you want a little bit more with that, these just give you a little bit more value for it,” Hahn said.

The idea started when Steven Brown, owner of BrownCastle Games, posted in a board game designers group, looking for someone to create a game for his crokinole boards.

“I came up with a few different concepts and pitched them to him,” Hahn said. “There was about 27 different people, I think he said, that applied for that, and he ended up picking my games, which is really cool.”

From there, the project grew. Hahn said Crokinole Imperium was published by BrownCastle Games, while he initially published Crokinole Cards himself through his own company, Hahn Games, before later handing that over as well.

For Hahn, the project blends a personal passion with a game many Canadians already know well.

And during a long weekend like Easter, when many households pull out board games and spend more time together, he said that extra flexibility could help bring even more people to the table.

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