If you’ve never been hatchet throwing, you may be wondering if it’s a worthwhile activity for you and your friends and family. At first glance, it can appear just to be an exercise of throwing hatchets across the room and seeing if it hits something. However, there’s a lot more to it, and there are plenty of hatchet-throwing games that you can play to make it more fun. Hatchet throwing is a fun addition to any game night and gets the energy flowing for everyone with how unique and hands-on the activity is!
Target Setup
Before reviewing different games that you can play, it’s important to know the basics of the target setup. All hatchet-throwing targets will be similar but may have small differences, like only having three rings instead of four. Our targets have four rings, a bullseye, and the clutch (two separate circles on the target’s upper right and upper left sections).
Scoring Basics
Here’s a breakdown of how scoring and points work with the target:
- Ring 1 = 1 point
- Ring 2 = 2 points
- Ring 3 = 3 points
- Ring 4 = 4 points
- Bullseye = 6 points
- Clutch = 10 points
1. Around the World
Around the World can be played as either a two-player game or with teams and is one of the most popular games to play while axe throwing. The game’s purpose is to try and hit each section of the board in a certain order. You start from the outside of the target, work your way to the bullseye, and then go back to the first outside ring again. Another way of thinking about it is following this sequence of points: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 (bullseye), 4, 3, 2, 1. The first person or team to complete the sequence wins!
Depending on what skill level you are, there are some other variations of rules to make this game more challenging:
- If you mess up the sequence or order, you have to start from the beginning.
- You can include the clutch in the series. (This is typically added to the very end of the standard order.)
2. Cornhole
Forget the bean bags—grab an axe! Cornhole can be both a two-player and a multiplayer game with teams. The goal is to be the first one to reach 21 points. The tricky part is that scoring works differently; only one person or group will score each round, and they will only score the difference of points from each individual throw. For example, if your opponent scores 4 points and you score 6, you win 2 points for that round. Those 2 points will then go toward that goal of 21 points.
3. Humans vs. Zombies
This game is often played with teams, making it great for people with a group package. One team is human, while the others are zombies. Each team’s points are negative, while the humans have positive points. Ultimately, both teams’ points are working against each other and battling to stay in either the negatives or positives.
A team wins when they reach either 15 points (for the humans) or negative 15 points (for the zombies). For example, if a human player scores 10 points and a zombie player scores 4, the total score at the time is 6. Since the number is positive, the human team is in the lead and 9 points away from winning.
4. Horse
Two players will compete in each round for the highest scoring throw in Horse. Whoever has the lower scoring throw will then receive a letter from the word “HORSE” that round. The first person or team to spell out “HORSE” completely loses. This game does go by quicker than the others, so it’s better to play one-on-one instead of in teams.
If there’s a tie in a round, the players will throw another tie-breaker throw. If you’re playing with a team and that round remains a tie, move on to the next players.
5. Landmines
In Landmines, the first person or team to reach 50 points wins. However, there are “landmines” if your total score is ever 10, 20, 30, or 40. When your total score adds up to a “landmine amount,” you automatically lose 10 points.
Landmines are only dangerous once, so if your opponent sets a landmine off at the 10 point marker, you’re safe if your total score ever hits 10 again. You can also switch this game up by changing the landmines to different amounts.
Where to Play
There are plenty of fun axe throwing games out there, so if you’re ready to make hatchet-throwing your new game night obsession, Heber Hatchets has locations in Idaho, Utah, and Washington. Our team is happy to help walk you through some of these games and teach you best safety practices. Call Heber Hatchets today to book a time that works best for you!