boardgames.zoneTablut
Viking tafl game of king escape
- 2 players
- 15–30 min
- DifficultyMedium
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How to play
- King starts in center, must escape to corner
- Attackers surround pieces to capture
- King is captured when surrounded on 4 sides
- Defenders help King escape
Questions
King's side: Move the King to any corner square. Attackers: Capture the King.
Played on a 9x9 board. The King starts in the center (throne). 8 defenders surround the King. 16 attackers are arranged on the four edges. Only the King can occupy the throne and corners.
Defenders win if the King reaches any corner. Attackers win by surrounding the King on all four sides. If the King is next to the throne, he must be surrounded on all three open sides plus the throne.
Attackers (dark pieces) move first. All pieces move like a Rook in chess - any number of squares orthogonally. Pieces cannot jump over other pieces or pass through the throne (center square).
Defenders: Create escape corridors for the King while keeping attackers at bay. Defenders: Don't let your guards get picked off one by one. Attackers: Block potential escape routes before moving in for the kill.
Hnefatafl games were played by Vikings and other Nordic peoples from around 400 CE until chess replaced them in the medieval period. Tablut was documented by Carl Linnaeus during his 1732 expedition to Lapland.