The players use a throwing pin (the Mölkky) to try to knock over wooden pins, which are marked with numbers from 1 to 12. Knocking over one pin scores the amount of points that is marked on the respective pin. Knocking over two or more pins scores the number of pins that were knocked over. After each throw, the pins are stood up again in the exact location where they landed.
The first one to reach exactly 50 points wins the game. If a player scores more than 50 points, the player's score is set back to 25 points. A player that misses all of the target pins three times in a row is eliminated from the game.