Board Games
This is where you will find details of how to play board games and other games from the 9th-11th century.
Hnefatafl
Also known as King's Table, this game is a board game which has many variations. The aim of the game is for the white King to escape and get to one of the corners of the board or for the black pieces to capture the white king and prevent him from getting to the edge.
The world championships are held in Shetland and the rules that follow are those played at the world championships.
Black starts. Pieces move backwards and forwards or from side to side. They cannot move diagonally and they cannot jump. Only one piece can be on any one square. No piece other than the king can stop on the corner squares or the central square.
You can capture an opponents piece by trapping it between two of your pieces. Alternatively you can pin an opponents piece between one of your pieces and one of the kings squares. The king has to be surrounded on all 4 sides to be captured. Once a piece is captured it is removed from the board and plays no further part in the game.
Halatafl
The usually wooden gaming board for Halatafl is a 7x7 board. Each of two players, black and white, has 22 gaming pieces. At the beginning of the game the figures are placed as shown right. The four corner squares and the field in the centre remain empty.
Pieces can move forward, diagonally forward or sideways one square. They cannot move backwards in this way. Pieces can also move by jumping over another piece either the players own piece or an opponents piece to a vacant square. When jumping over an opponents piece that piece is removed from the game. Jumping can happen in any direction. If a piece is moved into a corner square, it must move from there the next turn. The game continues until one player is left with less than 5 pieces.
12 Mens Morris
The aim of the game is to get your opponent down to two pieces.
Pieces can be placed anywhere on the board where lines meet. The game starts by players taking it in turn to place pieces on the board. If a player gets three pieces in a row along any line (a mill) they can remove an opponent's piece permanently from the game. Once each player has put all 12 pieces onto the board, the game continues by sliding pieces along the lines trying to form mills. Each time a mill is formed then a piece can be removed. A player cannot slide a piece from a mill and then straight back into that mill the next go. The game continues until one player is reduced to two pieces.
9 and 6 Mens Morris
These two variations have the same principles and rules as 12 Mens Morris only played with 9 and 6 pieces respectively.
The boards are shown to the right.
9 Mens Morris 6 Mens morris
3 Mens Morris
The aim of the game is to get three pieces in a row.
Pieces can be placed anywhere on the board where lines meet. The game starts by players taking it in turn to place pieces on the board. Once each player has put all 3 pieces onto the board, the game continues by sliding pieces along the lines trying to form a row of 3. The game continues until one player has 3 pieces in a row .
Board Games
This is where you will find details of how to play board games from the 9th-11th century. These rules may not be the exact rules played back in the 9th-11th century, but all of these boards have been found and the rules work to provide competitive games.
Hnefatafl
Also known as King's Table, this game is a board game which has many variations. The aim of the game is for the white King to escape and get to one of the corners of the board or for the black pieces to capture the white king and prevent him from getting to the edge.
The world championships are held in Shetland and the rules that follow are those played at the world championships.
Black starts. Pieces move backwards and forwards or from side to side. They cannot move diagonally and they cannot jump. Only one piece can be on any one square. No piece other than the king can stop on the corner squares or the central square.
You can capture an opponents piece by trapping it between two of your pieces. Alternatively you can pin an opponents piece between one of your pieces and one of the kings squares. The king has to be surrounded on all 4 sides to be captured. Once a piece is captured it is removed from the board and plays no further part in the game.
Halatafl
The usually wooden gaming board for Halatafl is a 7x7 board. Each of two players, black and white, has 22 gaming pieces. At the beginning of the game the figures are placed as shown right. The four corner squares and the field in the centre remain empty.
Pieces can move forward, diagonally forward or sideways one square. They cannot move backwards in this way. Pieces can also move by jumping over another piece either the players own piece or an opponents piece to a vacant square. When jumping over an opponents piece that piece is removed from the game. Jumping can happen in any direction. If a piece is moved into a corner square, it must move from there the next turn. The game continues until one player is left with less than 5 pieces.
12 Mens Morris
The aim of the game is to get your opponent down to two pieces.
Pieces can be placed anywhere on the board where lines meet. The game starts by players taking it in turn to place pieces on the board. If a player gets three pieces in a row along any line (a mill) they can remove an opponent's piece permanently from the game. Once each player has put all 12 pieces onto the board, the game continues by sliding pieces along the lines trying to form mills. Each time a mill is formed then a piece can be removed. A player cannot slide a piece from a mill and then straight back into that mill the next go. The game continues until one player is reduced to two pieces.
9 and 6 Mens Morris
These two variations have the same principles and rules as 12 Mens Morris only played with 9 and 6 pieces respectively.
The boards are shown to the right.
9 Mens Morris 6 Mens morris
3 Mens Morris
The aim of the game is to get three pieces in a row.
Pieces can be placed anywhere on the board where lines meet. The game starts by players taking it in turn to place pieces on the board. Once each player has put all 3 pieces onto the board, the game continues by sliding pieces along the lines trying to form a row of 3. The game continues until one player has 3 pieces in a row .
2 Mens Morris
The aim of the game is to block your opponent so that they cannot move.
Pieces can be placed anywhere on the board where lines meet. The game starts by players taking it in turn to place pieces on the board. Once each player has put both pieces onto the board, the game continues by sliding pieces along the lines trying to block the opponent. The game continues until one player can no longer move.
