2 players
Hnefatafl
- Game family
- custodial
- Origin
- Scandinavia
Overview
Hnefatafl is a Nordic game mentioned frequently in medieval texts from Scandinavia, Iceland, and the British Isles. Hnefatafl appears to be related to a range of other tafl games, where one side has a king and a smaller number of pawns, situated in the center of the board, playing against an opponent with more pieces. The king's goal is largely thought to be to escape to one of the corners, and the opponent's goal is to capture the king.
Source rules (English)
Played on an 11x11 board. The defending side comprises twelve soldiers and a king, who start the game in a cross formation in the center of the board. Their objective is for the king to escape by reaching any of the four corner squares. The attackers comprise 24 soldiers positioned in four groups of 6 around the perimeter of the board. The King piece is the only piece that can occupy the central and the four corner squares. All pieces move orthogonally any number of spaces, and pieces are taken by custodial capture (surrounding an enemy piece on either side with two of a player's pieces). The king piece must be captured by surrounding it on all four sides.