Two, three, or four can play, without partnerships. At the beginning of
the game, each player's four tokens are out of play and staged in the
player's yard (one of the large corner areas of the board in the
player's colour). When able to, the players enter their tokens one per
turn on their respective starting squares and proceed to race them
clockwise around the board along the game track (the path of squares
not part of any player's home column). When reaching the square below
their home column, a player continues by moving tokens up the column to
the finishing square. The rolls of a single die control the swiftness of
the tokens, and entry to the finishing square requires a precise roll
from the player. The first to bring all their tokens to the finish wins the
game. The others often continue to play to determine second-, third-,
and fourth-place finishers.
Each player rolls a die; the highest roller begins the game. Players
alternate turns in a clockwise direction. To enter a token into play from
its yard to its starting square, a player must roll a six. Players can
draw a token from home every time they get a six unless home is empty
or move a piece six times. The start box has two own tokens (is doubled).
If the player has no tokens yet in play and rolls other than a six, the
turn passes to the next player.
Players must always move a token according to the die value rolled. Once
players have one or more tokens in play, they select a token and move it
forwards along the track the number of squares indicated by the die.
If you roll a certain number and that forces your token to land on a
spot occupied by another person's token then you capture that token
and force the person to return that token back to their home point.
This forces them to roll another 6 to take it out of their home and move
it again. While doing your turn, if 2 of your tokens land on the same spot
then they create something that is called a block. A block means that if
an opposing token lands on the same spot as the block, the player is
forced to return the token back to their home base.[9]
If the player cannot draw a token from home, rolling a six earns the
player an additional or "bonus" roll in that turn. If the bonus roll
results in a six again, the player earns again an additional bonus roll. If
the third roll is also a six, the player may not move and the turn
immediately passes to the next player.
If the advance of a token ends on a square occupied by an opponent's
token, the opponent token is returned to its owner's yard. The
returned token can be re-entered into play only when the owner rolls a
six. If a piece lands on the same space as another piece of the same
colour, the pieces are doubled and form a "block". If the advance of a
block ends on an opponent’s block, the latter is captured and returned
to its owner’s yard, collectively.
A player's home column squares are always safe, since no opponent may
enter them. In the home column, a player cannot jump over; after one
rotation is completed, the player must enter the home and roll the
exact number needed to get each token onto the home triangle.
Once you have gotten all your tokens into the home triangle, if you are
the first person to do so, you have won the game and in house rules you
can wait for the others to finish and get 2nd, 3rd or 4th.