Along the banks of Paris' Basin de la Villette, when the weather is warm, Parisians amass to picnic, drink, make music, and play games. Amongst these, the most popular is probably Pétanque, in which metal balls are tossed towards a small wooden ball (called a cochonnet, or piglet). This game dates back to 1910. In recent years, the Finnish game Mölkky (invented in 1996) has caught on as well. This one involves twelve wooden pins, numbered 1-12. Players throw a larger wooden pin at the numbered ones. If they knock a single one down, they get the score on that pin. Knocking down multiple gives them the score of the number of pins they knocked down. The goal is to reach 50 points, but if a player accidentally surpasses 50 his score is reduced to 25. This game was nearly lost to history. Mölkky was based on a centuries-old game called Kyykkä. This older variant almost died out in the 1800s, at which point it was only played in small villages in White Karelia (present day Russia). Thankfully, author and traveller Into Inha chronicled the game before its disappearance, and Kyykkä began to see a revitalisation in the 1950s. All this to say, mirthful Parisians enjoying a match of Mölkky along the waterfront have a 19th century Finnish author to thank.
Bonus:
Going back to Pétanque, the name is derived from the Occitan language. Explicitly, pès tancats means 'feet fixed', as they must be when one throws the ball.
-E
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