Aseb (The Game of Twenty Squares) Rules
How to Play Aseb (The Game of Twenty Squares)
Objective
Aseb (also known as The Game of Twenty Squares) is an ancient two-player game from Egypt.
The objective of the game is to be the first player to bear all pieces off the board.
Gameplay
Aseb is played on a board which has 20 squares in 3 rows.
Top and bottom rows are identical and have 4 squares each.
Top and bottom rows belong to one player each.
Top and bottom rows are connected by the middle row which has 12 squares. Five of the squares are marked.
Each player starts with 5 pieces which are placed outside the board at the beginning.
The game is played with a 4-sided die or a knuckle bone which gives values from 1 to 4 when rolled.
Player can move his/her pieces according to the rolled die value.
Rules for moving pieces
Pieces are moved according to the rules below
- In each turn one piece can be moved according to the rolled value. A piece can enter the board for any roll with count of 1 or more.
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The players move along the path as shown in the diagram below
- One square can only have one piece.
- Player can not move his/her piece to a square already occupied by his/her own piece.
- Player can move his/her piece to a square occupied by opponent's piece which cuts opponent's piece out of the board.
- There are marked squares in the board (5 in total and 4 in each player's path) which are considered safe locations. Piece on safe location in middle row can not be cut by opponent's piece. Player's piece is also safe when it is in his/her own row.
- Whenever a player's piece lands on a safe location, he/she gets one extra roll.
- Pawns can be borne off the board by exact roll of dice required to move it to the last sqaure plus one.
- If a move is possible then player must make the move.
- If no move is possible, then player simply forfeits his/her turn.
The first player to bear all five pieces off the board wins the game.