Halma
BGG rank
BGG #28,605
BGG rating
5.5

Halma

1884

Rules assistance for Halma

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 2–4 players
  • 30 min
  • 8+
  • Complexity 1.8/5

For 2 players

Rules assistant for Halma

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

Halma is a board game released in 1884 for 2–4 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by George Howard Monks and its main mechanics are Race, Square Grid, and Grid Movement.

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About the game

Halma (from the Greek word meaning "jump") is a board game invented in 1883 or 1884 by an American plastic surgeon at Harvard Medical School, George Howard Monks. An English game called Hoppity was the inspiration. Playing equipment consists of a checkered board, divided into 16 x 16 squares. Pieces are typically black and white for two-player games, and of various colours or other distinction in games of four players. In the Royal Series edition the playing pieces are pink and yellow (not supplied with the game). It is also a two player variant only. From a rulebook introduction: "The game of Halma is played with a number of men on a board with 256 squares. Two or four persons can play the game, or it may be played by one person as a solitaire. In each corner of the board there are thirteen squares, called a yard, inclosed (sic) by dotted red lines. These yards are used when four persons play. In two of the four corners of the board a heavy red line..."

Publishers

  • (Unknown)
  • Parker Brothers
  • Schmidt Spiele
  • ASS Altenburger Spielkarten
  • Klee
  • Carlit
  • Milton Bradley
  • Piatnik

Questions and answers

Halma supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.