Chinese Checkers

About Chinese Checkers

Race the computer across the star. Play one computer head to head, two for a three-way race, or five to fill all six points. Pick Easy or Normal, tap a marble to see everywhere it can go, and fill the opposite point first.

Chinese Checkers is a race across a six-pointed star. Each player starts with ten marbles in one point of the star and must move all of them into the point directly opposite. Marbles step one hole at a time or hop over other marbles, and a good chain of hops can carry a marble right across the board in a single turn.

Also called: star checkers, sternhalma, hop marbles.

How to play Chinese Checkers

1. You play the pink marbles at the bottom of the star. Your goal is the point at the top, marked with a dashed ring of your colour.
2. On your turn, tap one of your marbles. Every hole it can reach lights up yellow, including the end of every hop chain.
3. Tap a yellow hole to move there. Hops play out one at a time so you can follow the route. With a mouse, hovering a yellow hole shows the path first.
4. The computer players then take their turns, one after another, clockwise round the star.
5. The first player to fill the opposite point with their marbles wins. Use Undo to take back your last move, and choose 1, 2 or 5 computer opponents and their level above the board.

Rules

• A move is either a step into an empty hole next door, or a chain of hops. You can’t mix the two in one turn.
• A hop jumps over exactly one marble (yours or anyone’s) in a straight line into the empty hole just beyond. After a hop you may keep hopping from where you landed, in any direction, as long as each hop is legal. Nothing is captured: the marbles you hop over stay put.
• Marbles may pass through any point of the star, including other players’ home and target points, and may stop anywhere.
• Anti-block rule: from round 30 on, your target point counts as filled when every one of its ten holes is occupied and at least one of those marbles is yours. So an opponent who leaves marbles parked in your target can’t stop you winning: their marbles count toward your finish. Before round 30 you need all ten of your own.
• If a player has no legal move, their turn is skipped. A game still unfinished after 300 rounds is a draw (it doesn’t happen in real play).

Chinese Checkers tips and strategy

• Build ladders. Marbles spaced one hole apart in a line let a marble behind them hop the whole length in one turn. Set these up for yourself, and watch for ones the next player can use.
• Don’t leave stragglers. The last marble out of your home point often costs the game. Keep your marbles moving as a group so there is always something to hop over.
• A long hop is worth more than a step, but a step that opens a long hop for next turn can be worth even more.
• Once a marble reaches the far point, push it deep to the tip so there is room for the rest behind it.
• With five computer players the middle gets crowded. That means more marbles to hop over, so look for long chains through the centre.