Time to throw some wood with your friends, lumberjack style

By Christy Wolyniak

A curious little lumberjack carrying an ax is the mascot for the Seattle-made game that keeps smiling passersby asking, “What are you playing here?” The game is Palikka, which means ‘block’ in Finnish, as is fitting for this wooden outdoor tossing game. Modeled after a Finnish tossing game called Mölkky (mul-kuh), this simple but fun game is perfect for the outdoors and easy for anyone to play.

Wallingfordians Santtu and Amy Winter.

Looking for a way to change up the pace, Wallingford residents Amy and Santtu Winter have been manufacturing Palikka out of their home since last year. Engineer by day, Palikka advocate when weather permits, Santtu wanted to share a bit of his own Finnish heritage with the rest of the Seattle community, even if it meant starting his own business on the side.

The object of Palikka is to get exactly 50 points by lobbing the tossing log at the tossing line, which is about three lumberjack steps away from the numbered pins. If a player knocks just one pin down, they get the value of that pin’s number. If they knock over multiple pins, they only count the number of pins that are completely knocked over. Pins that are leaning do not count. (See photos below).

“My parents introduced me to Mölkky seven or eight years ago,” said Winter, “I played with a couple of friends and decided to change it up a bit.”

Winter added a thirteenth pin: the wild pin, making the game more versatile with other games. In Palikka Classic, the wild pin takes on the score of whoever tossed before. For example: if the player scored four and then the next player knocked over the wild pin, he would get four points. If a player scores over 50 points, they are reduced to 25. Strategically planning where one aims is key when his score begins crawling closer to 50.

“[This game is great because] you don’t need to be strong or athletic, and you can hang out while you play,” said Winter.

Winter and his wife like to play at Gas Works Park, and will invite anyone interested and willing to come try their hand at Palikka. They started taking their Palikka set to parties to play with friends. The game caught on and shifted through their networks as more and more people became jazzed about playing.

“[It’s a great way] to be part of the fabric and culture of Seattle,” said Winter.

Winter answers an on-looker’s question with, “It’s a lot like bocce ball and lawn bowling.” Their friends have been trying to come up with new ways to play it. Currently there are about four different styles that can be played, according to Winter.

Palikka sells for $35 online here, where there are funny testimonials, directions how to play, and a lumberjack blog.