You play Red, at the bottom of the board; the computer plays the other seats. Choose the number of players and match length in the side panel, then press New Game. Red always moves first, and play passes counterclockwise around the table, the same direction the pawns travel. Your pawns begin in the round nest circles in your corner.
Classic uses the traditional four pawns per player. Quick uses two pawns, and Sprint uses one. Shorter formats retain the same track, entry, capture, blockade, bonus, and doubles rules; victory requires bringing every pawn in the chosen format HOME.
Use Human seats to assign one or more colors to local players. Any remaining seats are controlled by the computer. Human turns share the same mouse, touchscreen, or keyboard in pass-and-play fashion. Enter optional player names beneath the seat selector. A handoff screen announces the next human turn; pass the device, then press Ready to Play. Red remains the primary player for the persistent career record.
If an unfinished match is saved, the opening cover becomes a Resume Center. It lists the players and seat types, current turn, moves completed, difficulty, and start time. Choose Continue Game to resume exactly where you stopped, or Start New Match to discard it after a confirmation prompt.
The primary Red player can unlock five persistent achievements by capturing a pawn, forming a blockade, bringing a pawn home, winning a match, and defeating computer opponents on Expert difficulty. Unlocked achievements remain in the Career panel. At the end of every match, a summary identifies the winner and reports total moves, captures, and elapsed time. Choose New Game or View Board from the summary.
Everything is played with the mouse or a touch tap. Press Roll Dice to roll. Your available move values appear as chips under the dice; click a chip to choose it, then click one of the highlighted pawns on the board to move it. Green rings mark every pawn that can legally use the selected value, and a green circle on the board shows where the move would land. Suggest Move asks the Strategy Coach to identify the strongest available move. A gold ring marks the recommended pawn, the destination is previewed, and a short explanation describes the tactical benefit. Choose Play Suggested to accept it, or select any other legal move to ignore the recommendation. Sound mutes or restores the table sounds.
Quick Rules opens an in-game reference for entry, movement, captures, blockades, doubles, and winning. Export History downloads a text record containing the players, difficulty, move and capture totals, match status, and timestamped game events.
Keyboard players can press R to roll, H for a suggested move, F for fullscreen, or N for a new game. After rolling, use Tab to reach any legal move listed in the Play panel and press Enter to make it. These move buttons provide the same choices as clicking highlighted pawns on the board.
Use Board style to switch between the vintage Classic palette and a stronger High Contrast palette. Enable Show color and number on pawns to identify every piece with a short label such as R1 or B3, so play never depends on color alone. Both choices are saved in your browser and restored the next time you open the game.
The Dice Ledger records every two-die roll in the current match. It shows the total number of rolls, the number of doubles, and how often each face has appeared. Bar lengths compare the six face counts, while accessible labels also report each face’s percentage of all dice. The ledger is saved with the match and included when you use Export History.
Choose Casual, Standard, or Expert from the Computer menu. Casual opponents sometimes choose a less efficient legal move. Standard opponents balance progress, captures, blockades, and safety. Expert opponents place greater value on tactical captures, safe positions, home entry, and blockade control. Player cards show whose turn it is and how many pawns are home, active, or in the nest. Career totals record your completed matches, wins, and captures.
On your turn, roll both dice. Each die moves one pawn its full count — you may give both dice to one pawn (moving it twice) or split them between two pawns. A die may never be split between pawns. If you cannot use a value, it is forfeited and your turn ends when no legal move remains.
A pawn leaves the nest only on a five: either a die showing 5, or both dice together totalling 5 (1 + 4 or 2 + 3 — click the dashed 5 (pair) chip). The pawn enters on your tinted entry space. Entering captures a lone enemy pawn sitting there, even though the entry space is a safe space. If entry is legal, a five must bring a waiting pawn out before it can move a pawn already on the track.
Pawns race counterclockwise around the 68-space track. The twelve circled spaces are safe: a pawn there cannot be captured, and you may not land on a safe space held by an enemy pawn. Two pawns of one color on the same space form a blockade that no pawn — yours included — may land on or pass. No space ever holds more than two pawns.
Land by exact count on a space holding a single enemy pawn (off the safe spaces) and you capture it: it returns to its nest, and you immediately earn a bonus move of 20, given to any one of your pawns. Bringing a pawn home earns a bonus move of 10. Bonus moves cannot be used to enter a pawn, and are forfeited if no pawn can use them.
Rolling doubles earns another roll after your moves. While all of your pawns are out of the nest, doubles let you play the tops and bottoms of both dice — four values totalling 14 (a double 6 also plays two 1s). Beware: a third consecutive doubles cannot be played; it immediately ends your turn and sends your pawn nearest home (on the main track) back to its nest.
After circling the board, each pawn turns up its own colored home row. The home row is private and safe. A pawn needs an exact count to step into HOME at the center — a roll too large cannot be used on that pawn. The first player to bring every pawn in the selected format HOME wins the game; everyone else loses gracefully.
The game saves itself in your browser after every move. Reopen the game and your match resumes exactly where it stood. Press New Game at any time to abandon the current match and deal a fresh one.
Opening play: bring a second pawn out early and pair your pawns on a safe space to build a blockade on your side of the board — then hold it while your lead pawn runs.