Belarus – Gorodki

The aim of the game is to knock the five cylindrical pins, or “villages,” out of the “city” (that’s what the square-shaped playing area is called) in as few throws as possible. The villages are arranged in one of 15 configurations: cannon (пушка, pushka), fork (вилка, vilka), star (звезда, zvezda), arrow (стрела, strela), well (колодец, kolodets), crankshaft (коленчатый вал, kolenchatyy val), artillery (артиллерия, artilleriya), raquet (ракетка, raketka), machine gun installation (пулемётное гнездо, pulemyotnoe gnezdo), lobster (рак, rak), watchmen (часовые, chasovye), sickle (серп, serp), shooting gallery (тир, tir), airplane (самолёт, samolet), and letter (письмо, pis’mo). The “villages” are 20 centimeters long and about 4.5–5 centimeters in diameter.

Gorodki is most often played in teams. Players stand 13 meters – a “con” – from the “city” and throw the stick. If they successfully knock one or more of the pins out of the “city,” then they continue to throw from a distance of 6.5 meters (“half a con”). A village is considered “banished” when all the shapes have been knocked out of the square-shaped playing area.

 

The player who uses the least amount of throws to knock out all 15 shapes over the course of three rounds wins. Players receive no points, have the villages re-set and are charged a turn if the bat touches the line or the ground in front of the line; if they step on or over the boundary line; and if they do not throw the bat within the designated 30-second time limit.