The game from the book
Mallotimo Seven
Grandfather Timo's backyard game: a little like croquet, a little like golf, and built around one rule that changes everything. Nobody owns a ball.
The name blends mallio, the Italian root of mallet, with Philotimo, the Greek word for love and honor: the Mallet of Honor.
How to play
The rules
Seven links, like the holes of a golf course. Each link has a starting stone, three hoops and a pole.
- Start each link at its stone.
- Hit a ball through all three hoops, in order (from either direction), then hit the pole to finish the link. That ball is then out of play.
- Nobody owns a ball. They're all identical, and after the first hit any player may hit any ball in play.
- Lowest total score after seven links wins.
- The worst total score goes first on the next link; the leader goes last. The youngest player starts the first link.
Rules written from the game in the book. Draft
Why it matters
Philotimo you can play
When nobody owns a ball, you can't just look after your own. Every shot can help or hurt someone else, so the best players think a shot ahead and play for the whole field. In the book, Willa plays the ball that sets up the shot after next, and she wins every time. Draft
Build your own: no croquet set needed. Two bricks, two sticks, a chair leg and a rock make your hoops, and any old balls and mallets will do.
Read the whole adventure free
The complete book is free in the Free Library: read it online, download the e-book or PDF, or listen to the audiobook. No email, no password, no cost.