ΠλακωτόPLAKOTO · Greek tavli

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How to play Plakoto

The board

• Each side has 15 checkers, all starting on one point. Yours start in the far right corner (your point 1); the computer's start in the near right corner (your point 24) — inside your home board. Choose white (ivory, the default) or black under You play; you always sit on the same side.
• The two sides travel in opposite directions. You move right → left along the far side, then left → right along the near side into your home board (near right, 19–24), and bear off. The computer comes the other way and its home is your 1–6.
• Roll two dice and move by each number. Doubles are played four times.
• Who starts: each side throws one die and the higher starts — by rolling again, or (Settings → Play) by playing those two opening dice as the first move.

Pinning (plakoto)

• No hitting. Landing on a point with a single opposing checker pins it: your checker sits on top and the pinned one cannot move until every checker of yours has left that point.
• A point is closed to you when the opponent has two or more checkers on it, or one checker pinning yours there. A point where you pin is yours — more of your checkers may join it.
• One checker can play both dice only by stopping on the point between: it pins there if that point holds a lone checker, and frees it again by moving on.
• Play both dice when you can; if only one can be played, it must be the larger.

The mother

• Your mother is your last checker on your starting point. If it is pinned there, you lose double at once — unless the pinner still has checkers on its own starting point. Then play goes on, and the pinner wins double the moment its own start is empty.
• If both mothers are pinned, the game is a tie: nobody scores.
• The result is judged after each whole move, so a mother pinned with the first die and freed with the second does not count.

Bearing off & scoring

• Once all 15 are in your home board, bear off by exact roll, or with a higher number from your furthest-back point. A checker of yours pinned inside your home counts as home but cannot move (and it still counts as furthest back); one pinned outside it stops bearing off.
• First to bear off all 15 wins 1 point; mars (the loser has borne off none) and a pinned mother score 2.
• Match play (Settings → Play): games continue until one side reaches 5 points; a tie scores nothing.

Opponents

• 1 Beginner – random · 2 Novice – careless pip-counter · 3 Intermediate – pins and guards · 4 Advanced – weighs every risk · 5 Expert – looks at every reply.

Games

Puzzles

Settings

Favourites level, colour, lighting, view and every setting below, in one click

Board style

Play

End my turn automatically after my last move (no Done / Enter) Play a match to 5 points (mars counts 2) — off: single games with a running score Opening throw: the winner plays the two opening dice as the first move (off: the winner rolls again)

Display & sound

Retro lamp light — a warm pool of light from a lamp hanging over the board; the room around it goes dark Point numbers on the rails Show the computer's last move — glowing arcs and rings from where its checkers left to where they landed, for a few seconds Round counter at the top — round 10 is each side's tenth turn, the moment the strategy guide's "after ten turns" figures describe Show the sum of the two dice in the move message — a 6–5 reads "(sum 11)" Show winning chances — your chance and the computer's, estimated from computer play-outs of the board as it stands (updated each turn) Sound effects Free view — drag to turn the board, scroll to zoom (off: the board stays where it is; also the 🔒 button or V)