Chinese Checkers Game Made on a Wooden Board by Rustik Classic Games Classic game of Chinese Checkers Made on a High-Quality Wooden Board by Rustik Classic Games. Chinese Checkers is a strategy board game of German origin (named "Sternhalma") which can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners. The game is a modern and simplified variant of the American game Halma. The objective is to be first to race all of one's pieces across the hexagram-shaped board into "home" the corner of the star opposite one's starting corner using single-step moves or moves that jump over other pieces. The remaining players continue the game to establish second, third, fourth, fifth, and last-place finishers. The rules are simple, so even young children can play. Despite its name, the game is not a variation of checkers, nor did it originate in China or any part of Asia. The game was invented in Germany in 1892 under the name "Stern-Halma" as a variation of the older American game Halma. The "Stern" (German for star) refers to the board's star shape (in contrast to the square board used in Halma). The name "Chinese Checkers" originated in the United States as a marketing scheme by Bill and Jack Pressman in 1928. The Pressman company's game was originally called "Hop Ching Checkers". The game was introduced to Chinese-speaking regions mostly by the Japanese.