page_title: Daldøs
section_title: Rules
hierarchical_section_title: Daldøs / Rules
caption_attribution_description: Diagram of the Danish/Norwegian board game Daldøs/Daldøsa
context_page_description: Daldøs [dal'døs] is a running-fight board game only known from a few coastal locations in southern Scandinavia, where its history can be traced back to around 1800. The game is notable for its unusual four-sided dice. In Denmark it is known as daldøs in Northern and Western Jutland, and possibly as daldos on Bornholm. In Norway it is known under the name of daldøsa from Jæren, where, unlike in Denmark, a continuous tradition of the daldøs game exists. Daldøs has much in common with some games in the sáhkku family of Sámi board games. Sáhkku is known to have been played among Sámi on the northern coast and eastern-central inland of Sápmi, far away from Jæren and Denmark. Otherwise, the closest relatives of this game appear to be the tâb games from Northern Africa and South-western Asia, possibly apart from one unlabelled diagram in a codex from Southern England.
context_section_description: Starting the game
  Both players throw the dice; the highest throw (adding the dice, the dal counting as 1) begins the game.
  Dalling
  Pieces cannot move until they have been dalled. A die showing the dal allows the player to dal one piece, which means to turn it parallel to its row and move it one position ahead. With the first dal, only the piece closest to the stern can be dalled, and then it goes into the middle row. With no dalled pieces, a throw with no dals is a lost move.
  Moves
  The dalled pieces move according to dice throws. Each player's pieces move first through the home row to the stern, then through the middle row towards the prow, then into the enemy row back towards the stern. From here it moves into the middle row again, etc., never returning to the home row. The showings of the two dice may be either added and used to move one piece, or used separately for two different pieces. E.g., a throw of a dal and a three allows the player (i) to dal one piece (moving it one position) and then move another dalled piece three positions; (ii) to dal one piece and move it a total of four positions; (iii) to move two dalled pieces, one three positions and the other one position; or (iv) to move one dalled piece four positions. The showings of both dice must be used in a move. If that is not possible, the showing of one of the dice must be used. If that is not possible either, the move is lost. At a throw of dal-dal (two dals), the player has an extra throw.
  Object
  The object of the game is to remove all enemy pieces from the board. An enemy piece is removed when another piece ends at the same position. When the dice are added, only an enemy piece at the final position can be removed. Enemy pieces (both dalled and not) can be jumped, but are not removed thereby. Friendly pieces cannot be jumped at all. The game ends when one player has no pieces left.
caption: Daldøs board. Top: Opening position. Middle: Route for player A's pieces. Bottom: Position after first move for each player.
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