The Halma game board is suitable for 2 to 6 players. If there are 5 players, the game is played asymmetrically. The Halma board is a triangular grid with 82 playing spaces, which are arranged in the shape of a six-pointed star. Each space is adjacent to up to six other spaces. The spaces in the points of the star are the home areas and include 10 spaces for 2 or 3 players. As, unlike the square version of the “Halma” game, the spaces are not geometric areas but are rather points on a grid, there are 18 spaces that form the edge of each home area.

Starting formation and aim of the game

In the starting position, each of the player’s pieces are in a “home area”. When there are 2 or 3 players, each player places 10 game pieces on one of the coloured triangular areas.
The aim of the game is for the players to move all of their own pieces to the opposite “home area”. The winner is the first player to move all his pieces to the opposite home area.

Rules for moving

No pieces are captured during Halma. Everybody takes it in turn to move. A player may move one piece each time it is his turn. He can either move it to an adjacent vacant space or it can jump in the same direction over his own or his opponents’ pieces, provided that the space directly behind is vacant. If from this space the player is able to jump over other pieces, he can do so. This way, players can complete long jump sequences and it is even possible, depending on the position of the pieces, to cross the entire board in one single move.