Game Halma (Chinese Checker) is actually a simple game once you learn the rules. Two to six players each compete to find out who can fill the triangular area of the destination first with colored marbles or pawns. Continue reading if you want to learn more about how to play this fun game.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Settings
Step 1. Understand the board game
The shape of the game board is a hexagon star, with each face having ten holes in it.
- The inside of the hexagon game board also contains holes. Each side of the hexagon has five holes along its outer edge.
- On most Halma board games, each triangular area has a different color. Likewise, there are six sets of marbles or pawns, and each set corresponds to a dot of the same color.
Step 2. Choose the triangular area to be your starting place
The area of the triangle that you will use depends on the number of players participating. Play this game with two, three, four or six players.
- If playing with six players, use all areas of the triangle.
- If playing with two or four players, use pairs from opposite triangles. In other words, for a game with two players, the first player's triangle area should be directly opposite the second player's initial triangle area. As for the game with four players, it should use two sets of triangular areas facing each other.
- If playing with three players, then use the triangle area that is after the triangle area next to it. There will be an empty triangular area located between the initial triangular area of each player and the other players.
Step 3. Know how many pawns to use
In a typical game, you should use ten pawns that are the same color as the color of your initial triangular area.
- But not all Halma board games have triangular areas with six different colors. In this case, you can choose a set of pawns of any color you want.
- Although most games are generally played with ten pawns regardless of the number of players participating, if you wish, you can vary the number of pawns based on the number of players. Games with six players will use ten pawns, while in games with four players will use thirteen pawns, and for games with two players will use nineteen pawns.
Part 2 of 3: Playing the Game and Moving Pawns
Step 1. Toss a coin
The game usually starts by tossing a coin.
- Toss a coin in the air and guess whether it will land with the "heads" or "tails" facing up. Whichever player gets the most guesses correctly is selected as the player who starts the game early.
- You can also use other "lucky draw" methods to determine who starts the game early. For example, you can play a rock-paper-scissors game.
Step 2. Play in turns
After the first player has made his turn, the player to his left must make the next turn. Continue your turn in a circular fashion in this manner, switching turns to the player on the left until you reach the first player again. Then the turn cycle repeats itself from the beginning.
- Generally there is no reason for a player not to make his turn. But if all players agree, you can set a rule that allows players not to pass for one turn.
- You can also make other rules about passing a turn. A common rule "added" to the game is that the first player to move a pawn into the triangular area of his goal must miss the turn of the game on the next turn. Although commonly used, these rules are not part of the official Halma game rules.
Step 3. Move one pawn to a nearby hole on each turn
The most basic way to move one of your pawns is to move it to a nearby hole.
- When it's your turn, look for the empty hole next to the pawn you want to move. You can move one pawn into an empty hole this way on each turn, unless you choose to "jump" your pawn past the other pawns.
- The pawns can be moved in any direction, either sideways, forward or backward.
Step 4. Jump over the other pawns
Another way to move your pawn is to "jump" a nearby pawn to an empty hole on the other side.
- On your turn, you can move a pawn to an empty hole directly on the other side of a pawn. There can only be exactly one pawn blocking your pawn from the empty hole, and the empty hole must be right next to the other pawn and in line with the pawn itself and the pawn you are moving.
- You can only "jump over" another pawn on that turn if your pawn has not moved to the empty hole directly near your pawn during the same turn.
- You can jump over any pawn, including your own.
- You can jump over the pawns in any direction.
- In addition, you can jump over as many pawns as you want in a turn, as long as you only move one pawn. Each pawn you jump must be right near your current pawn position. This is the only way to move a pawn more than once in a turn, and it is theoretically possible to jump the entire board in one turn using this tactic.
Step 5. Don't get rid of the pawns
Unlike the traditional Chinese Checker game, you don't remove a pawn from the Halma game board after it has jumped or been jumped by another pawn.
Step 6. Navigate to the triangular area on the opposite side
You can move the pawn in any direction on the game board. You can even move your pawns to other areas of the triangle that are not being used. However, in the end you have to direct all your pawns towards the target triangle area which is directly opposite your initial triangle area.
Step 7. Do not move the pawn out of the target triangle area
After moving a pawn to the destination triangle area, you must not move it outside the destination triangle area for the rest of the game. But you can move it anywhere within the triangle area.
Pawns that are moved to another triangular area may still be removed from that triangular area
Part 3 of 3: Victory and Defeat
Step 1. Get a win by filling the triangular area of the goal
The winning player is the first player to successfully move all his pawns to the goal triangle area which is directly opposite the initial triangle area.
Once a player manages to become a winner, you can decide whether to stop the game or continue. Generally, the game ends when there is a winner, and the other player is the loser. But if you want to continue playing until all the players have filled the triangular area of the goal, that's fine too
Step 2. Create rules governing "blocked" holes
In Halma's game, it is legal to "block" a player from winning by occupying one of the holes in the area of that player's goal triangle, thus preventing the player from filling that area of the triangle first.
- A rule that you can apply is the rule that states that a player who is prevented from moving his pawn to the target triangle area can swap the position of his pawn with the opponent's pawn that is blocking him.
- Another rule you can use is, if one or more of the filled holes in the goal triangle area are filled with other players' pawns, then those pawns will count as pawns for the player that was blocked. If that player has filled all the unobstructed holes in the area of the goal triangle, then that player is the winner.
Step 3. Define the rules about situations that can lead to defeat
Although this is not an official rule, but many players choose to make a rule stating that a player must give up losing if he cannot move any pawns in a turn.
