King's Escape
Run the king to a corner, or trap him. Then swap sides. 1 pair of boards, sides swapped.
King's Escape is a two-player tafl game in which one side guards a king in the middle of the board and the other surrounds him. The king wins by reaching a corner, and the army wins by trapping the king. You then swap sides.
One of you guards a crowned king in the middle of the board; the other closes in with a ring of plain pieces. Slide pieces like rooks, trap enemies between two of yours, and race to open a lane to a corner before the army blocks it. Then you swap sides.
Also known as Tafl, Hnefatafl-style, Brandubh, Tablut.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- 1 pair of boards, sides swapped
- Length
- About 3 to 6 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play King's Escape: quick rules
About 3 to 6 minutes for a pair of boards on 7 by 7; 9 by 9 and 11 by 11 take longer. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1One side has a king in the middle. The other side surrounds him.
- 2Pieces slide any distance in a straight line.
- 3Trap an enemy between two of yours to take it.
- 4The king wins on a corner. The army wins by trapping the king.
- 5Then swap sides. Win both, or win faster.
King's Escape rules
Setup
- Two sides: the army (plain counters) and the king's side (the king, with a crown, and his guards, with a shield).
- Three boards: 7 by 7 with 8 attackers and 4 guards, 9 by 9 with 16 attackers and 8 guards, and 11 by 11 with 24 attackers and 12 guards. The king always starts on the throne, the centre square.
- Guards stand next to the king in a cross; the attackers stand in T-shapes at the middle of each edge. The layout looks the same from both ends of the phone.
- A coin toss decides who holds the king's side on the first board. Sides swap for the second board, so each player holds the king once in every pair.
- The army always moves first on every board. A 3-2-1 countdown starts each board.
Moving
- On your turn, move one of your pieces any number of empty squares in a straight line along a row or column, like a rook in chess.
- No jumping, no diagonal moves and no passing.
- Only the king may stop on or pass through the throne, and only the king may stop on a corner square.
Capturing
- Trap an enemy piece between the piece you just moved and another of your pieces on the same row or column, and it is taken. One move can take several pieces.
- A corner, or the empty throne, counts as one of your pieces when you capture against it.
- Moving into a gap between two enemies is safe: only the piece that moves makes captures.
- With Armed king on (the default), the king helps his side capture, both as the moving piece and as the far piece.
- Taken pieces leave the board and are counted in the taker's dock.
Taking the king
- Only the army can take the king. Away from the throne, two attackers on either side of him on one line take him; a corner or the empty throne counts as an attacker.
- On the throne or right next to it, the king is taken only when attackers stand on all four sides (the empty throne counts as one).
- With Strong king on, four sides are needed everywhere, so a king on an edge square can't be taken.
Winning a board
- The king's side wins the moment the king stops on a corner (or any edge square with Edge escape on).
- The army wins the moment the king is taken.
- A side with no legal move when its turn comes loses the board.
- A board that runs very long without a result (80 moves on 7 by 7, 120 on 9 by 9, 160 on 11 by 11) is replayed with the same sides and doesn't count.
Winning the pair and the match
- Win both boards of a pair and you take the pair.
- If you win one board each, the faster win takes the pair: the win that took fewer moves on its board, counting both sides' moves. "Faster win" shows.
- If both wins took the same number of moves, the pair is replayed from the first board.
- A match is 1 pair by default, or best of 3 pairs. It never ends in a draw.
Hints against the bot
- Playing the bot outside a tournament, you can spend 20 coins on a hint on your turn. It rings, for two seconds, the move the Hard bot would make for your side, with a dashed path between the two squares.
- A hint never plays the move for you, and you can take one per turn. There are no hints against a friend or in a tournament.
Tips to win at King's Escape
- 1As the king's side, get the king off the throne early. A king with two open lanes to different corners can't be blocked in one move.
- 2As the army, block the squares next to the corners first. Once the diagonal squares beside each corner are held, the king has nowhere to land.
- 3Don't send attackers deep into the middle one by one. A lone attacker between guards is easy to take.
- 4Remember that a corner or the empty throne counts as one of your pieces, so enemies standing next to them are easy to trap.
- 5In a split pair, the faster win takes it. When you hold the king, look for a quick escape rather than a slow grind.
Where King's Escape comes from
King's Escape is based on tafl, a family of board games played in Scandinavia and the wider Norse world from at least the Viking Age. Hnefatafl is the best-known version, and smaller boards like Brandubh in Ireland and Tablut in Lapland are thought to be regional cousins. The exact original rules were never written down, so modern tafl rules are reconstructions.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Tap one of your pieces to lift it; every square it can reach pulses. Tap one of those squares to slide there.
- Tap the same piece again to put it down, or tap another of your pieces to pick that one instead.
- You can also drag a piece and let go on a legal square. Let go anywhere else and it springs back, still picked.
- The phone lies flat between you, and each player's dock and role plate sit at their own end, facing them.
- No undo, no take-back and no pass: the lift-and-dots step is your chance to check a move.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Board | 7 by 7 (default)9 by 911 by 11 | 9 by 9 and 11 by 11 are offered only on bigger phones, where the squares stay easy to tap. |
| Pairs | 1 pair (default)Best of 3 pairs | Both boards of a pair are always played. |
| Open lanes glow | On (default)Off | Extra: every clear line from the king to a corner is marked for both players. |
| Armed king | On (default)Off | Extra: the king helps capture. |
| Strong king | OnOff (default) | Extra: the king needs attackers on all four sides to be taken. |
| Edge escape | OnOff (default) | Extra: the king escapes on any edge square, not just a corner. An easier version for new players. |
Play King's Escape against the bot
The bot plays whichever side it holds on the current board and sees only the board, as you do. It cares most about open lanes for the king, then how close the king is to a corner, then pieces taken and attackers pressing on the king. It pauses to think before each move.
Easy
Plays many moves at random, and sometimes misses a move that would win on the spot.
Normal
Always takes a winning move and checks it isn't handing you one, but looks only one move ahead and now and then picks a weaker move.
Hard
Looks at your best reply before it moves and won't leave you a winning move if it can avoid it. It still slips on rare occasions.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- PlannedOnline play for King's Escape is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on the same phone or the bot.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it plays the default options: 7 by 7, 1 pair, Open lanes and Armed king on. Hints are off.
- Hints
- Stuck against the bot? A hint lights up the strongest move for a few coins. Never with a friend, online or in a tournament.
Coming soon
- Online play. Play King's Escape against someone on another phone, with a turn clock.
How it feels
- A wood tick when you pick a piece and a soft slide as it moves.
- A clack as a taken piece flies off with a ring of light, and your dock count pops.
- A rising chime when a lane to a corner opens, a fanfare when the king escapes and a low thud when he is taken.
- A sticker between boards: "Swap sides", "Faster win", "Next pair" or "Replay".
Accessibility
- Colour is never the only cue: attackers are plain, guards carry a shield and the king a crown, and the corners and throne carry a carved knot.
- Whose turn it is shows as a lit dock and bar; open lanes are dashed, not just coloured.
- One finger, tap only. With reduce motion on, pieces jump instead of gliding and taken pieces fade.
- Every square has a screen-reader label naming the piece and its side.
- There is no clock on a turn against a friend or the bot.
King's Escape questions
One player guards a king in the middle; the other surrounds him with an army. Pieces slide like rooks, and two of yours on either side of an enemy take it. The king wins by reaching a corner; the army wins by trapping him.
It is a Tafl game in the same family. The 7 by 7, 9 by 9 and 11 by 11 boards follow the Brandubh, Tablut and Hnefatafl layouts, with options for the king's strength and where he can escape.
Yes. You play a pair of boards and swap sides, so each player holds the king once. If you win one board each, the faster win takes the pair.
Yes. The bot plays on Easy, Normal or Hard, and you can buy a hint with coins against it.
Yes. King's Escape in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
Not yet. Online play for King's Escape is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on the same phone or the bot.
Play King's Escape on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
