Description
Nok Hockey for All
Skill, coordination and intensity combine to make this fast-action, two-player game a sure-fire winner whether you’re a hockey fan or not. Drop the puck, check your sticks three times and let the Nok Hockey fun begin. Whether you are three or thirty-three, everyone can have fun with Nok Hockey.
P.S. This a fantastic game for clubs, camps and after school programs. Celebrating over 75 years!
Game Details
PLAY SURFACE: 1/4″ thick Hardboard playing surface with two color screen printed graphics
MISCELLANEOUS: Solid 3/4″ thick frame with wood-reinforced corner banks & goal zone obstacles
IN THE BOX: Two hardwood pucks and two plastic hockey sticks
No assembly required – For ages 6 to adult
Click here to view the official rules.
Click here for a fun video on Champion Nok Hockey.
Nok Hockey – A History & Analysis
By Chuck Rothman of Great But Not Forgotten Blog:
Before computers, there were many attempts to turn sports into games. Some were ridiculous (e.g., Electric Football), some were successful (Strat-O-Matic Baseball), and some became standards in game playing in the schools – Nok Hockey.
Nok Hockey was introduced by Carrom, which was a maker of games played on wood boards. They started out in 1889 and by 1942, when Nok Hockey was introduced.
The game was successful because it simplified the sport. Whereas the usual table hockey sets had a full team of six players per side, all run by rods controlled by each participant, Nok Hockey didn’t bother with players and realism. It was just a puck, two game-sized hockey sticks, and a goal. It was played on a wooden playing surface divided into thirds. The sides had wooden walls to keep the puck from flying out of the playing area.
There was a face-off at the beginning, then the players would shoot the puck. You could not shoot a puck that was in the other team’s defensive area. The official rules let you fight for the puck in the “center ice” section of the board, but this rarely happened after you played for a while. Players quickly learned how to shoot so that the puck would be in their opponent’s zone, so it became a case of the two of you taking turns.*
There was a small cut-out about twice the size of the puck that was the goal. And there was one more thing to make it difficult: a square wooden block that acted as “goaltender,” making it very difficult to score a goal without banking it off one of the walls.
But there was also a trick – a shot that looked amazing to beginners, but was surprisingly easy to make. You see, in the four corners of the board, there was a piece of wood at 45-degree angle. And the “goalie” also was tilted at a 45-degree angle. Players quickly learned that if the puck was touching one of the walls, you could slap it down the side to the corner, where it would bounce, hit the “goalie” and slip into the goal.
Despite how impressive that shot looked, to win the game you had to master all angles to find the spot on the side that allowed the puck to slip into the goal. Indeed, a game between two good players would have each of them shooting with the puck in their goal area much of the time. The ability to shoot the puck even when it was guarded by the “goalie” block was essential to be successful.
I first encountered in at summer camp in the early 60s. It was a perfect game for rainy days: action, competition, easy to learn. I would guess that most sets were purchased by schools, camps, and other institutions where they had to give kids something to do.
