What this tool does
A paper cribbage board for when the real one is in a drawer somewhere else. Two or three tracks in different colours, holes in groups of five with the count printed under each group, a start hole and a bold game hole, and a scoring reference along the bottom so nobody argues about nobs.
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Feedback
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Pegging on paper
A cribbage board is a counting device: 121 holes and two pegs per player, the back peg leapfrogging the front so a score can be checked. On paper the pegs are pencil ticks, or matchsticks laid in the holes, or the little cut-out tabs the sheet prints if you want something to move. The count is the same. The holes are drawn in groups of five with a small gap between groups and the running total printed under each, so reading a score of 73 means finding the 75 group and counting back two.
Layout
A real board is long and thin, so on a sheet of paper the track is folded: six rows of twenty holes for the standard game, turning at the end of each row like a serpentine board, with the start hole before the first row and a larger game hole after the last. That fold is what lets the holes sit about 6 mm apart rather than 4, which is the difference between a pencil tick landing in a hole and landing between two. Two tracks are drawn in red and blue, a third in green. The short-game layout for 61 has half the holes, so it folds into four rows of fifteen and the holes grow a little more.
The scoring reference
Fifteen for two, pair for two, three of a kind six, four of a kind twelve, runs of three, four and five, a four-card flush in hand for four and five with the starter, nobs one, his heels two, thirty-one in play two, go one. And a line for muggins, because the sheet is neutral about whether you play it. It prints under the board and can be turned off.
Who prints one
Campers, holiday cottages, a pub that owns one board and has three tables who want to play, and grandparents teaching the game who would rather the grandchildren pencilled on paper than lost the pegs. It is also a way to learn the board before buying one: the paper version makes the row-turns and the group counting obvious.
Related
The game score sheet page has a card-game-by-hand layout if you would rather keep a written tally, and the classic game boards page prints the other boards a cottage games drawer is missing.
FAQs
Quick answers
How many holes are there?
120 per track plus a start hole and a game hole, for the standard game to 121. Choose the short game for a 61-point board.
What do I use as pegs?
Pencil ticks, matchsticks, or the cut-out tabs printed under the board. Two per player: one for the current score, one for the previous.
Can three people play?
Yes. Pick 3 tracks and a green track is added.
Is the scoring guide right?
It lists the standard values: fifteens, pairs, runs, flushes, nobs, heels, thirty-one and go. Muggins is listed without a value because not everyone plays it.
How big are the holes?
About 3.5 mm across on A4, spaced roughly 6.5 mm apart. Fine for a pencil; use card if you want to push a matchstick through.
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