Halma Rules - How to Play
Halma is a race across a 16×16 grid. Red moves first in this version, and each side must move all 19 pieces from its corner camp into the opponent’s 19-point camp.
The board, camps, and objective
The board contains 256 points arranged in sixteen rows and sixteen columns. Red begins in the north-west camp and Blue in the south-east camp; each camp contains 19 points in a 5, 5, 4, 3, 2 shape. This is a race rather than a battle. Pieces remain on the board throughout play, so progress means constructing routes through an increasingly occupied grid. You win only when every one of your 19 pieces occupies the opposing camp. A piece merely reaching the far corner does not settle the game.
A turn uses one piece
On your turn, choose one piece of your color. You may make a single step to an empty neighboring point, or make hops with that same piece. Neighbors include horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions, so there are up to eight step directions. A step ends the turn immediately. You cannot move two pieces, combine a step with a hop, or move again after choosing a landing point. Looking for every empty neighbor is useful early, but later a modest step can be valuable because it prepares a bridge for a longer future route.
How one hop works
A hop goes in one straight direction across exactly one adjacent occupied point and lands on the immediately following empty point. The piece in the middle may be Red or Blue; ownership does not matter. The landing point must be on the board and empty. Nothing is removed after the hop, which is why a crowded position can offer more routes instead of fewer. The game treats the board as an eight-direction grid, so diagonal hops are legal just as horizontal and vertical hops are.
Chains may turn and may stop
After a legal hop, the same piece may hop again if another bridge and empty landing point exist. Every individual hop is straight and two squares long, yet the chain may change direction after any landing: a diagonal hop can lead into a horizontal or vertical hop. You may stop at any legal landing rather than taking every available continuation. During one chain the moving piece cannot revisit a previous landing point, and a step may not be inserted between hops. Plan the final landing, not just the first jump.
Finishing the target camp
The far camp has limited space, so winning requires a complete fill rather than a count of pieces that have crossed the board. The engine checks for victory after a move: Red wins when all 19 south-east camp points contain Red, and Blue wins when all 19 north-west points contain Blue. No captures, check, or forced jump rule changes that goal. Near the end, leave access to deeper target-camp points and make sure a late piece is not stranded behind a blocked entrance.
Rules FAQ
- Can I jump my own pieces?
- Yes. Any adjacent occupied piece can serve as the middle of a hop, regardless of color, provided the point directly beyond it is empty.
- Must I continue a possible jump chain?
- No. Once your piece reaches any legal landing in a chain, you may end the turn there even if another hop is available.
- Can a chain turn a corner?
- Yes. Each hop must be straight, but the next hop may use a different one of the eight directions.
- Can I step after I have jumped?
- No. A turn is either one single-square step or a sequence of hops made by the same piece.
- Do pieces get captured?
- No. Jumped pieces stay where they are. They may become useful bridges for either player on a later turn.
Open Halma
Open a live board and first identify every empty landing around a compact group. Practice a turning chain, then replay the position and stop one hop earlier to compare the resulting bridge.