Crokin

Crokin was a strategy game that was played on the farming moon of Raada. The game was played in two teams. Each team took turns flicking small discs on a hexagonal board which had pegs on it. If a disc did not hit an opposing team's disc that already on the board, it was removed. Points were scored by knocking the opponent's discs off the board, and also by landing discs in the center of the board. In 18 BBY, the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano learned the game from the locals on Raada after moving to a settlement there.

Description

Crokin was a strategic board game played between two teams of players. A pair of individuals could play against each other, or larger groups could be used to form two teams. The game involved flicking small discs into positions across an enormous, hexagon-shaped board, with the goals of the game being twofold: to score your own pieces on the board and to knock opposing pieces off of it. The board included pegs that protruded from it. Players would move around the board to perform various shots. The discs were designated by color. Players would aim their discs at certain locations on the board, including the center of the board, as well as at other discs that had already been shot by players from the opposing team.^[1]

Teams alternated turns taking shots. In the event of a player aiming for an opponent's piece and failing to hit it, that player's piece would be removed from the board. Players could position their discs adjacent to or behind the protruding pegs on the board so as to defend them. Discs that were shot accurately into the middle of the board resulted in points, which were automatically displayed on the scoreboard. The automatic scoring system was capable of recognizing when all the discs were played, meaning the game was over. The board also included wiring that allowed for music to be played when players scored.^[1]

History

A popular pastime

After arriving at a settlement on the moon Raada^[1] in 18 BBY,^[2] a farming moon located in the Outer Rim Territories, the Jedi-turned-Force-Sensitive Outcast Ahsoka Tano played crokin for the first time at Selda's cantina with her new acquaintances, including the farmers Vartan, Malat, the sisters Kaeden and Miara Larte, and the twin siblings Neera and Hoban shortly after the Galactic Empire arrived on the farming moon. Although she had never played the game before, the others insisted that crokin was very popular. After witnessing several shots, Tano mused that it would be very easy for her to cheat and use the Force to guide her shots. After playing, Tano decided that she liked the game, finding it oddly comforting. She felt that her former companion, the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, would also find the game interesting. Although her play improved over time, she still found the game difficult.^[1]

As the Empire placed a curfew on the citizens, Selda's cantina became less and less busy, although Vartan's team of farmers would still assemble there to play crokin and use the opportunity to discuss how to resist the occupation. One evening, Tano arrived to see Hoban using crokin discs to make a map of the new Imperial installation on Raada. When Tano noticed, she quickly knocked the discs across the table so no one would spot their plans. As their efforts continued, Tano attempted to plan a course of action by suggesting they subtlety manipulate the Empire's goals for the harvest, making the analogy of shooting at an opponent's piece on a crokin board instead of a player only focusing on positioning their own pieces.^[1]

Strategic gameplay

Throughout what would become the Raada Uprising, Tano continually used crokin as a way to explain tactics to the farmers, noting that although she was capable of visualizing strategies in more simple terms, the farmers needed a medium to connect to military strategy, unlike the clone troopers she had worked with during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Multiple weeks after the initial tactical conversation, Tano played Vartan in a two-player crokin game as the human explained what he had learned from paying attention to stormtrooper patrols and Imperial movement. Vartan, a much stronger player, won the game with ease as he told Tano about how he had recruited eight total teams of farmers, totaling forty individuals.^[1]

After Kaeden was imprisoned by the Galactic Empire, her dominant arm was broken during interrogation. After she was rescued by Tano, she hid in the caves outside of the town for several weeks with her sister Miara, practicing crokin with her other arm as a way to learn how to use her weaker hand. Following an attack on the Imperial base that saw Hoban killed at the hands of the Empire, Neera also stayed with them in the caves. Neera, who seldom spoke following her twin's death, would routinely play crokin against Kaeden, simply sitting down and organizing the discs as an invitation to play instead of verbally asking. Neera was a much stronger player then Kaeden.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Crokin first appeared in the 2016 novel Ahsoka, written by E. K. Johnston.^[1] Its description corresponds to the real-life Canadian board game crokinole, a regional board game^[3] that originated in Ontario, Canada,^[4] Johnston's home country. In October 2016, Johnston appeared on The Star Wars Show, where co-host Peter Townley asked about her favorite things she has been able to add to the Star Wars universe, to which she responded with crokin. Johnston was allowed to adapt the game into Star Wars as an easter egg and treat for Canadian fans, some of which would email Johnston and ask if the connection was intentional, to which Johnston replied that it was. Crokin was one of three Canadian easter eggs the author included in the novel.^[3] The author expressed that she was pleasantly surprised how much freedom she had to be creative when making the story and adding in elements like crokin.^[4]

Appearances

• Ahsoka (and audiobook) (First appearance)

Sources

• The Star Wars Show: Donald Glover is Lando Calrissian, New Rogue One IMAX Standees, & E.K. Johnston on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)

Notes and references