How to play Tawla

Roll the dice, bring your 15 checkers home, and bear them off before your opponent.

At a glance

• Players: 2, facing each other, with 15 checkers each.
• Match length: one or more games until a player reaches the chosen points target.
• Variants: 31, the default Federation game, and Aada.
• Play in a private lamma, at public tables, or in bot practice; bots can also join your lamma.

Goal

Move all 15 checkers counterclockwise into your home, the bottom-right quarter, then bear them off the board. First to bear off all 15 wins the game; first to the match target wins the match.

On your turn

1. Roll the dice. Each die moves one checker that many points, and one checker can use both dice.
2. Tap a highlighted checker and then the point it should go to, or drag it there.
3. Doubles are played four times: double sixes move 6 four times.
4. You must use both dice if you can. If only one can be used, use the higher one when possible.
5. If only one move is possible, it is played for you. With no move at all, the turn passes.

If a timed turn runs out, the game finishes it for you.

Ending and scoring

A game ends when a player bears off all 15 checkers. In 31 only, covering all six points of your starting quarter before your opponent gets there also wins the game at once ("closing the quarter").

• 31: the winner scores one point for every checker the loser still has on the board.
• Aada: the winner scores 1 point, or 2 for a mars if the loser hasn't borne off a single checker.

The match ends when a player reaches or passes the target.

Modes

31

All 15 of your checkers start stacked in the top-right corner; your opponent's start in the bottom-right corner. Each player rolls one die: the higher roll starts and rolls both dice again. Ties roll again.

At first, move just one checker off your starting stack; you can't move another from it until that one reaches your home. There is no hitting in 31: you can't land on a point with any opposing checker, even a single one.

You can't bear off while an opposing checker is still in your home. Covering all six points of your starting quarter (top right) before your opponent gets there wins the game at once.

The match is to 11 points unless you change it, about two games. The host can choose 1, 11, 21 or the Federation's 31 points.

Aada

Starting layout: 2 in the top-right corner, 5 in the top-left corner, 3 on the bottom row second left of the bar, and 5 on the bottom row first right of the bar. Your opponent mirrors you. (Counting points from your home: 2 on 24, 5 on 13, 3 on 8 and 5 on 6.)

Each player rolls one die: the higher roll starts by playing those two numbers. Ties roll again.

A point with two or more opposing checkers is blocked. Landing on a lone opposing checker hits it onto the bar. A checker on the bar must re-enter in your opponent's home (the top-right quarter) before you move anything else.

The match is to 3 points unless you change it. The host can choose 1, 3, 5, 7 (the Federation's shortest), 9, 11, 15 or 17 points.

Bearing off

Once all your checkers are in your home (the bottom-right quarter), you can start bearing off. A die bears off the checker that far from the edge: a 6 from the sixth point, a 1 from the first. A die higher than your farthest checker bears off that farthest checker. You can still move checkers inside your home instead of bearing off. In 31, you still can't bear off while an opposing checker is in your home.

Host options

The host chooses the variant and its match target before play. In a lamma, turns can be 30, 45, 60 or 90 seconds, or Open with no turn time limit; the default is 45 seconds.