Publisher(s) Cheapass Games Setup time Minimal | Players 2 | |
Designer(s) James Ernest
Patrick Rothfuss Genre(s) Board game
Abstract strategy game Playing time | ||
Tak is a two-player abstract strategy game designed by James Ernest and Patrick Rothfuss and published by Cheapass Games in 2016. It was introduced in Patrick Rothfuss' book The Wise Man's Fear, Day 2 of The Kingkiller Chronicle.
Contents
The objective of Tak is to be the first to connect any two opposite edges of the board with their pieces, called "stones", creating a road. To this end, players will take turns attacking and capturing their opponent's pieces while supporting their own.
Cheapass Games created a Kickstarter campaign in order to bring the game to publication. The campaign was launched on April 19, 2016 with a goal of US$50,000; it ended on May 23, 2016 with 12,187 backers and US$1,351,142 pledged. Among tabletop games, it made #23 in funding and #13 in backer count at the time.
Rules
As of March 9, 2016, the official rules for Tak are described by Cheapass Games on their website.
Setup
Tak can be played on several sizes of boards. Depending on the size, players will use the appropriate number of stones. All Tak games start with an empty board.
Tak, similar to Chess and Checkers, can be played on a square board with alternating "light" and "dark" squares. In addition, Cheapass Games released a specialized hybrid board to provide a single surface for 6x6, 5x5, 4x4, and 3x3 games. For even-sized games, pieces are played on the squares (similar to a Chess board.) Odd-sized games are played on the small diamonds located at the corners and intersections of the squares (similar to a Go board.) If there is no board available, players may use an object or a temporary marker to designate the center of the board. Players must imagine the rest of the board until there are enough pieces in play to define it. The object or marker will then be removed.
Also similar to the conventions of chess, checkers, and Go, Tak game pieces, commonly referred to as "stones", are divided into white and black sets and players are often referred to as "White" and "Black" respectively. Tak sets, however, can come in a variety of colors and styles. The capstone can be of any shape, and the stones should be simple, stackable pieces in a matching style.
For a game played on a 7x7 board, the number of capstones is determined by player agreement.
First turn
On each player's first turn, they must place one of their opponent's pieces on any empty space on the board. The piece must be a flat stone of their opponent's color. Play then proceeds normally with players controlling their own pieces.
Players determine randomly who starts the first game, and alternate the first move for future games. In competitive play, white plays first.
Each turn
After the first turn, players may make the choice during their turn to either place a stone or move stones under their control. There is no option to pass a turn.
Placement
During their turn, players may place one stone from their reserve onto an empty spot on the board. There are three stone types that may be placed:
Movement
A player may move a single piece or a stack of pieces they control. The stone on top of a stack determines which player has control of that entire stack. All stones move in a straight line on the board. There is no diagonal movement, and all stones must proceed forward across the board.
Moving stones is the only way to make stacks. As a stack moves, the player has the option of breaking the stack, covering any existing flat stones along the way. Each space must have one or more stones placed on each space as it moves, but a player has the option to leave zero or more pieces on the starting space. There is no height limit for stacks, but all stacks must be below the carry limit set by the board size in order to leave no stones on the starting space. For example, if the stack was on a 5x5, the carry limit of a stack is 5.
Standing stones and capstones cannot have any stone stack on top of it. Any move that would place a stone atop a standing stone or capstone is not legal. The only exception to this is when a capstone moves by itself onto a standing stone, flattening it. A capstone may make a longer move with a taller stack to flatten a standing stone, but it must be the only piece that moves onto the standing stone.
End of game
The primary goal of Tak is to build a road from one opposite end of the board to the other. Only flat stones and capstones can contribute to a road, while standing stones do not. As soon as the road is built, the player who built it wins. This is called a "road win". Roads do not have to be in a straight line, but stones can only connect when they are adjacent to one another. Stones cannot connect diagonally.
If a player makes a move that results in a winning road for both players, the active player wins.
If a road is not built by either player, a player can also win by controlling the most spaces with flat stones on the board. The game will end when a player places their last piece, or when all spaces on the board are covered. The player with the most flat stones wins. Standing stones and capstones do not count. Stones captured by other pieces also do not count, only the flat stone on top.