Halma
Hop across. Fill the camp.
The classic race across the board: two armies packed into opposite corners, and one hopping, leaping dash to swap places. Link your pieces into a ladder and one of them can cross the board in a single turn. Here is everything you need to know before you sit down.
- Free practice
- No sign-up
- Play in your browser
Join a Game Room
HalmaGot a room code?
- Players
- 2
- You need
- A board, 38 pieces
- Style
- Race
- Goal
- Fill the far camp
What is Halma?
Two camps. One crossing.
Halma is played on a square board, with each player’s pieces packed into a camp in one corner. The aim is to move all of them into the camp in the opposite corner before your opponent does.
A piece can step one square, or hop over a neighbouring piece. Hops can chain, so a well-built ladder of pieces lets one piece leap across half the board in a turn. Nothing is ever captured, which makes the other player’s pieces useful stepping stones.
The practice table
Try itLearn it with the pieces in your hand.
Play against a bot with our Classic rules. Tap one of your pieces to see where it can go, tap a dotted square to move it, and the coach shows the move it would make and why.
- Easy, Normal, or Sharp bots. Sharp bots build ladders and bring up their stragglers.
- Quick game is 8 by 8 with 10 pieces each. Full game is 16 by 16 with 19.
- No account, no host, nothing saved.
- You0 of 10 in the far camp
- Bot0 of 10 in the far camp
You are gold, heading to the dashed camp. The bot is blue.
Your move. Tap one of your gold pieces.
This is your furthest-behind piece. The last piece home decides the race, so keep the stragglers moving.
Quick rules
- Two players, each starting with their pieces packed in one corner camp. Get all of yours into the camp in the opposite corner.
- On your turn move one piece: a single step to any empty neighbouring square, or a hop over an adjacent piece onto the empty square just beyond.
- After a hop you may keep hopping with the same piece, in any direction. Pieces you hop over, yours or theirs, stay where they are.
- You win by getting every piece into the far camp. If one player never leaves their own camp the other cannot fill it, and the game is a draw at the turn limit.
- You move first. The Quick game uses an 8 by 8 board with 10 pieces each; the Full game is 16 by 16 with 19 each.
Found a bug, or a rule that feels off?Tell us in our Discord →
A little history
From Boston to Chinese Checkers.
Halma was invented in the 1880s by an American surgeon, George Howard Monks, who named it after the Greek word for “jump”. It was inspired by the English game Hoppity.
It is the ancestor of Chinese Checkers, which kept the hopping and moved it to a star-shaped board. The 16 by 16 board with 19 pieces each is the classic two-player game. These are our Classic rules.
Fun facts
- A piece can step one square or hop over a neighbor, and hops can chain.
- Nothing is ever captured, so the other player’s pieces are useful stepping stones.
- A practice game that runs past the turn limit is called a draw.
Why people love it
Simple moves. Long chains.
Two moves to learn.
Step, or hop. That is the whole rulebook, and a child can play it.
The ladder is the game.
Spacing your pieces one gap apart sets up chains that cross the board in a turn.
Nothing is captured.
Your opponent’s pieces are as useful to you as your own. Watch what you leave for them, too.
The last piece counts.
A race is only won when every piece is home, so a straggler can lose the game.
How to play
Step. Hop. Cross the board.
Setup
- Players: two: you and a bot. You are gold, in the bottom left corner.
- Pieces: nineteen each on the full 16 by 16 board, or ten each on the 8 by 8 Quick board.
- Goal: move every piece into the camp in the opposite corner.
- First move: you move first.
Winning
Move every one of your pieces into the far camp. The first player to do it wins.
- 1
Step
Move one piece to any empty neighbouring square, in any of the eight directions.
- 2
Hop
Jump over an adjacent piece, yours or theirs, onto the empty square just beyond it.
- 3
Chain the hops
After a hop you may hop again with the same piece, in any direction, all in one turn.
- 4
No captures
Pieces that are hopped over stay exactly where they are.
- 5
Fill the camp
Every one of your pieces must be in the far camp to win.
- 6
Don’t build them a ladder
A line of your pieces with single gaps is a highway for the other player’s hops too.
These are our Classic rules, and they'll be shown in every room before the game starts. Printable rules card →
Lessons
Learn it in a few minutes.
4 quick lessons, one idea each. Make the call, see why it works, and move on. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Step or hop
On your turn you move one piece. Which of these is a legal move?
Scoring
First to fill the camp.
There are no points in Halma. The first player to fill the far camp wins, and a practice game that runs past the turn limit is called a draw.
| In a game of Halma | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Every piece of yours in the far camp | Win | |
| A piece left behind | Not yet | |
| Turn limit reached | Draw |
Our Classic rules: every piece has to reach the far camp. A player who never leaves their own camp keeps the other from filling it, so a game that runs out of turns is a draw. Some tables make you leave your camp within a set number of turns; that is a house rule.
Strategy
Play it smart. Then play it feral.
Tip 1
Build ladders.
Spread your pieces along the diagonal with one empty square between each, and one piece can cross in a turn.
Tip 2
Take the longest hop.
A chain of hops that gains eight squares beats four plain steps. Look for the chain first.
Tip 3
Bring up your stragglers.
The game is won when the last piece arrives. Don’t leave one alone in the corner.
Tip 4
Use their pieces.
Hop over the other player’s pieces whenever they help. Nothing is captured.
Tip 5
Stay near the middle line.
Pieces on the line between the two camps have the most hops available.
What would you do?
One decision. Every day.
A new Halma puzzle every day, the same for everyone. Solve it, then send it to the group chat and see who gets it right.
Want more? See today's puzzles for every game →
Your path to game night
Learn it here. Play it with friends.
Finish the lessons or win a practice game and you're ready to sit down at a real Halma table with your people.
The Feral Worlds community
Play-testing Halma? Tell us in Discord.
Found a bug, a rule that feels off, or a house rule your family swears by? Our Discord is where we collect play-test feedback, and where game nights are starting to happen.
Glossary
Talk like a regular.
- Camp
- The corner triangle of squares where a player’s pieces start.
- Step
- A move of one square to an empty neighbour.
- Hop
- A jump over an adjacent piece onto the empty square beyond it.
- Chain
- Several hops in a row by the same piece in one turn.
- Ladder
- A line of pieces with single gaps, ready for a chain of hops.
- Straggler
- The piece furthest behind, which can lose the race.
The Feral twist
Still under the hat.
Every game can be played Classic. In Feral mode, the host writes the house rules: how big the board is, whether you must leave your camp, how a blocked camp counts. We'll show you what Halma can do when it's ready.
In the Board Games pack
Halma is on the ballot.
Backers vote on which board games join the Board Games pack. Owning the pack means every one that joins is yours too.
$9.95, one time, to host every game in it. Playing is always free. Packs go on sale when the full game launches.
Halma is on the ballot
Save me a seat.
Hear when the Kickstarter opens so you can vote Halma into the Board Games pack, and when you can host it with friends.