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Hnefatafl

An uneven battle. Two very different plans.

Escape & capture · 2 players

Pull up a chair.

One king trying to escape. An army closing in.

Play a friend onlineShare a link and play over the internet on separate devices. Play on one screenTwo people taking turns on this device.

Free to play. No account or download. Chat and optional voice in every online room.
How to play

Attackers move first on the 11 × 11 board. Every piece slides horizontally or vertically through empty squares. Only the king may stop on the central throne or a corner.

Capture an ordinary enemy piece by trapping it between your piece and another friendly piece or a hostile throne/corner. Defenders win by taking the king to a corner. Attackers capture the king by surrounding him on all four sides, with the throne counting as hostile.

This table uses the simple corner-escape rules shown here, without shield-wall or edge-fort rules. A player with no legal move loses; three repetitions of the same position with the same player to move are a draw.