How to play Arimaa

Learn the rules to the chess variant board game Arimaa quickly and concisely - This video has no distractions, just the rules.
Don't own the game? Buy it here: buy.triplesgam...
RULES:
The object of the game is to be the first player to get one of your rabbits to the other side of the board. Layout the board. The gold player places their pieces however they like on their closest two rows. Once they have finished, then the silver player places their pieces however they want on their closest two rows. Once finished, the gold player goes first, then turns alternate.
All pieces move the same: one space forward, backwards, left, or right; except for the rabbit, the rabbit may not move backwards towards your side of the board. Pieces may not share spaces with either color, nor move off the board.
On your turn, you can move your pieces a total of 4 steps. Moving a piece from its current space to the next adjacent space counts as 1 step. Pieces can take multiple steps and may change directions after each step. Steps may be distributed among multiple pieces so that up to 4 pieces can be moved in a turn. You do not have to use all four steps in a turn, you may pass on some of them so long as you take at least 1 step. Any passed steps are lost and may not be used on later turns.
Pieces have a strength associated with them based on how big the animal is. Elephant is the strongest, followed by camel, horse, dog, cat, rabbit. Stronger pieces can move their opponent’s pieces that are weaker than it. Pieces may not move friendly pieces nor an opponent’s piece of the same strength. It takes 2 steps to move an opponent’s piece and both steps must be completed in the same turn. You can move their piece one of 2 ways: by pushing or pulling. In both instances your stronger piece must be adjacent to your opponent’s piece before it can move it.
To push, first move your opponent’s piece to any one of its available adjacent spaces, then move your piece into its vacated space. To pull, first move your piece to any of its available adjacent spaces, then move the pulled piece to your pieces vacated space. Pushes and pulls do not need to be in a straight line. A stronger piece may not move multiple pieces in the same step. Any combination of pushing and pulling may be done in the same turn. You may not push pieces off of the board.
A stronger piece also freezes any opponent’s piece that is weaker than it so long as that piece is adjacent to it. Your opponent may not move their frozen pieces. Your opponent may unfreeze one of their pieces by moving a friendly piece adjacent to it. Then that piece is free to move.
There are 4 traps on the board. Any piece that is on a trap space is immediately removed from the game unless there is a friendly piece next to that trap space to keep the piece safe. You may not pass over a trap safely unless the space is protected.
You may push or pull a rabbit into the goal row it is trying to reach then back out in a single turn without immediately losing. If you are unable to make a move because all your pieces are frozen or you don’t have a legal move, then you lose. If you lose all your rabbits, then you lose the game. If both players lose all their rabbits on the same turn, then the player who’s turn it was who made that move wins.
The first player to get a rabbit to the opposite side of the board wins!

[@rextanglr4056]

So... basically the goal of the game is to promote a pawn.

[@DuckStrider]

Exactly

[@arrowghost]

The Passed Pawn and score a touchdown

[@ninayescover5554]

exactly

[@overpower3382]

Not at all. The way the pieces move and interact with each other is entirely different. The win condition will be suited to fit those rules.

[@inspectorhound7931]

Well... aside from the fact that there are no captures, no special moves for individual pieces, and pieces can only be permanently removed from the board via four out of the 64 squares. And unlike pawns, rabbits can't even do anything offensive against the opposing pieces (they can help with defensive plays).

[@LuxisAlukard]

Great thing is you can use standard chess pieces for this game! From wikipedia: These are, in order from strongest to weakest: one elephant, one camel, two horses, two dogs, two cats, and eight rabbits. These may be represented by the king, queen, rooks, bishops, knights, and pawns respectively when one plays using a chess set.

[@Penguinmanereikel]

Wouldn’t it make more sense to make the knights the horses?

[@LuxisAlukard]

@@Penguinmanereikel I agree, but's what wiki said :)

[@LuxisAlukard]

@@Penguinmanereikel Maybe knights are smaller pieces? Because in Arimaa - you can tell thee difference just by the size

[@CaptainWizard3000]

@@LuxisAlukard I think it is just based on the value of pieces. I feel like bishops are usually taller than the higher-valued rooks

[@kaylaa2204]

@@LuxisAlukard You can in alot of chess sets too. Nice sets try to make the height of the piece correlate to its value. And rooks are more valuable than knights in chess

[@jacobcharleszimmerman7934]

This game was designed specifically to be difficult for a computer to play but easy for a human.

[@fabioprieto9205]

How?

[@jacobcharleszimmerman7934]

@@fabioprieto9205 It was designed by a computer engineer, so I guess he knew what would be difficult for an AI. However, that was back in 2003. AI has gotten a lot better since then and I think computers can now play this game easily.

[@imacrostutorial]

@@fabioprieto9205 The branching factor of this game is a lot higher than chess. Its more than 17 thousand

[@danielyuan9862]

@@imacrostutorial But that's only because you essentially have 4 moves per turn.

[@knigistudios9430]

@@danielyuan9862 Also because the player chooses the starting position

[@arcturuslight_]

I like how pulling the opponent down with you by triggering a lose condition for both players counts as a win.

[@EdKolis]

Flashbacks to Bowser's kamikaze grapple in Smash Bros

[@terribletrench]

I don't have to win, you have to lose.

[@mihailmilev9909]

@@EdKolis lmfaooo

[@risyadxmi443]

Death for you, death for me.

[@Player-df7ny]

if i ever play this game, ill count that as forcing a draw

[@m.a.r.i.a.9861]

I was expecting "The rules are the same as the regular chess except for these changes" lmao

[@EdKolis]

Except for these changes: the pieces are attending a furry convention!

[@zakiajacobprecioso408]

THERE RULES ARE THE SAME AS ANIMAL CHESS EXCEPT FOR THESE CHANGES

[@Ninja_Ahmed]

En passant is allowed

[@janehuskmann1914]

That's only if you flip the board over.

[@isaac_aren]

2:27 I love how you used the cat as an example of a piece pushing another off the board

[@irasac1]

Lol

[@jackys_handle]

Hilarious!

[@galladegamerletsplays]

Just like the simulations

[@edtr8434]

Imagine people start to develop gambits, openings, defenses, strategical placements of the pieces according to deducible plays of your opponent based of their set up. Since there’s more ways to set up the starting positions it would be insane.

[@jondo7680]

This game was designed to be hard for computers, and I think they even have some price going on I don't know if someone won.

[@defensivekobra3873]

There's gonna be a friggin lead metagame

[@baitposter]

​​​​@@jondo7680 The prize was offered only up to 2020 or so for someone to develop software that could be a selected set of masters at it Regardless of the details, I'm sure it's already expired, and contemporary AI could do it better by simply learning biases and probabilities in human player behavior after it learns the ruleset and win conditions

[@MegaMinerd]

This one is very interesting. I'd love to see how full games of this play out and the way the mechanics interact.

[@jacencade4019]

The pieces look difficult to distinguish between. Other than that this looks very good.

[@jort93z]

I agree. At first glance I thought there are only big and small pieces, and all the big ones are the same, lmao.

[@somekindofgnome8477]

The game was designed to be used with a chessboard and pieces, so you don’t even need to buy anything new if you have a chess set. You just need tiny pieces of black paper or coins or whatever to stand in for the holes.

[@jort93z]

@@somekindofgnome8477 Good point.

[@jacencade4019]

@@somekindofgnome8477 I saw someone say that in another comment.

[@Sparasemi456]

69 likes, *nice*

[@anthonycannet1305]

The number of each piece is made to resemble a standard chess set. King=elephant, queen=camel, rook=horse, bishop=dog, Knight=cat, pawn=rabbit. So as long as you can mark the trap spaces on a chess board, you can play this game with a standard chess set

[@ikindajustexist520]

Shouldn’t the knight be horse?

[@anthonycannet1305]

@@ikindajustexist520 I set them so the piece heirarchy in Arimaa matches the point values associated with classic chess pieces. In Arimaa, the horse is 3rd most powerful. In chess, assuming the king is worth infinite points cuz you lose without it, the rook is the 3rd most valuable piece.

[@nif4345]

the traps are consistent, also tsg said themselves that the horse is the knight when used for normal chess

[@LoveKirbythecutepinkball]

Or Chinese chess or Japanese chess

[@arkbeetlegaming]

Is En Passant Allow?

[@Sarahbryson321]

Yes but only in the weird variant of this called ‘chess’, but I’m sure it’ll never catch on

[@arkbeetlegaming]

@@Sarahbryson321 Chess? Oh! You mean that bad game where stalemate is a draw? Yea, it will never catch on.

[@thebrazillianguytm2186]

here before the dumb guy says "ThIs Is NoT cHeSs"

[@omatic_opulis9876]

Thls ls NoT cHeSs

[@HatterTobias]

This game is EVERYTHING Animal Chess should've been

[@wbl_unlimited]

I would love to see you cover Archon, the fantasy computer/NES chess game

[@juicedelemon]

chess 2 is finally here! props to the devs! miss you chess 1

[@cinderare]

Faerie chess, Musketeers chess

[@CNWPlayer]

gotta blunder about 10000 quadrillion more queens until that happens… so it’ll be about a second.

[@revimfadli4666]

@@cinderare Marsellais Chess Onitama

[@danielyuan9862]

Are you allowed to pass a square adjacent to a stronger enemy piece, even if you have no ally pieces next to that square?

[@BuffaloEdward]

No. Once you hit the adjacent square, the piece is immobilized

[@Robinmine]

link in description goes to "arimaa borad game" instead of board game

[@okamisansempai557]

very complicate game...but interesting, nice video!

[@imacrostutorial]

Its actually a lot simpler than chess because all pieces move the same way... It can even be played with chess pieces and board.

[@versuzzero5335]

I think chess is more complicated than this when it was newly created. But yes, simple games are hard to invent as time goes on.

[@danielyuan9862]

@@versuzzero5335 Even though chess is more complicated in terms of rulesets, I've heard that this game is more complicated in terms of AI computation power needed.

[@BuffaloEdward]

@@danielyuan9862 it was specifically designed to be easy for human players and very difficult for computers. The main issues that AI has with the game are that because each player gets four actions per turn, there’s a massive amount of computation involved in figuring out what actions to take and, because it’s so hard to capture pieces, the game state doesn’t tend to simplify much as the game is played, unlike chess, which gets easier to calculate as pieces are removed

[@Person-ef4xj]

This is both similar to chess and very different at the same time.

[@Snukkuri]

"You may not push pieces off the board" What the scene looks like: "It's over anakin, i have the high ground!" "You underestimate my power!" *undos illegal move*

[@theheartofthequeen]

Thank you for this great introductory video of Arimaa. This video is clear to understand. I have just learned this interesting game recently and I really love it! However, in my opinion, there is one mistake in the video that could be fixed and one suggestion to add in the future, perhaps a revised, refresher video or something like that! At 3:18, this video explains if a player (in this case, it is Gold) is unable to make a move because all of Gold's pieces are frozen or Gold does not have any legal moves, then Gold lose the game. It is actually the correct rule, but the placement of the pieces will probably be confusing. Assuming that it is Gold's turn, actually the two Gold rabbits on the square G1 and H2 are ABLE TO MOVE because those two are both adjacent to Gold elephant on the square H1 and the square G2 is not blocked. For instance, if the silver cat on the square D2 or H7 is on the square G2 instead, then Gold loses the game because those two gold rabbits no longer have a vacant square to move to. A good thing to add, regarding legal moves, unlike Chess, 'threefold repetition' (the same position occurs three times during the game) is forbidden/illegal in Arimaa. If threefold repetition is the only move left that a player has, that player loses the game due to not having any legal moves.

[@TripleSGames]

Good catch, that is indeed a mistake

[@arrowghost]

Looks like that elephant is not going to be opposed by a rabbit when there's no mouse or rat.

[@alexlangrock4225]

I like how at first glance it just looks like furry chess, but then it has nothing to do with Chess whatsoever

[@spah_tf2]

arimaa, also called furry chess. how to play.

[@danielyuan9862]

3:18 aren't the two rabbits at the bottom-left allowed to move because they are adjacent to the elephant?

[@Tehom1]

Sounds interesting but not at all "intuitively simple" like the game box says. There were a lot of little rules that seem like they can completely upset your strategy.

[@przedwczorajszyszprot9931]

So horsey from chess finally got his own spinoff?

[@PauxloE]

The pieces in the set used there are just awfully similar to each other, making it extra hard to see which one can push/pull which other one. They should have used just figures displaying the full animal instead of just the head. Or, what did when playing it with my wife, use the Looney Pyramids you know e.g. from Martian chess - tiny ones for the rabbits, medium ones for cats, medium + tiny for dog, big one for horse, big + tiny for camel, big + medium for elephant (or some other clearly distinguishable series). Of course you need enough of one color to make a full set (though the hat can be of a different color, if needed).

[@Alter-Ego545]

when you see the video is 3:45 long and it's by triple s games, you knows it's complicated

[@thomaslwin8588]

Investing concept, would like to know the strategies:D

[@Tigewew]

I really wish i could see someone play all these games

[@alexvilla5277]

Anybody know how to solve the arimaa puzzles app. Camel number 8, par 2???

[@LoveKirbythecutepinkball]

In xiangqi, general can move 1 point orthogonally inside the palace. While Chinese pawn move left and right once it cross the River

[@janwarrenbunoan3795]

*You may push or pull the piece protected for a friendly piece, so that your opponents piece was removed.

[@genius11433]

From the thumbnail, i thought that this would be a chess variant. Glad to have been proven wrong.

[@robuhr2300]

Mistake on 3:22 - the two rabbits are not frozen, because the elephant is orthogonoly to them!

[@alexlangrock4225]

I like how at first glance it just looks like furry chess, but then it has nothing to do with Chess whatsoever

[@Bonasomnium]

If only this game was more mainstream...

[@dixiebiscuit5623]

so, like chess, just better

[@arthvitbansal8376]

Can a partition be used in between during setup???

[@arthvittiwari4855]

Is there a way for the game to end in a draw???

[@andreithevideoeditor9290]

2nd

[@JennyBlaze253]

Recently found out about this game through reading the Teen Titans Academy comics, as the first issue had one of the characters playing it. Interesting to find out how to play.

[@ember6124]

3:21 why does gold elephant not count as a friendly that would allow the neighboring rabbits(?) to move unfrozen?

[@zackandderson7587]

Beautiful concept

[@YeahEsCereal]

This is old chess

[@paulgibbons2320]

I feel like it should have a pig an we should call it pig push. What's the history/origins of this game?

[@notdavid6893]

I'm waiting for a game that looks nothing like chess but the opening still be "the rules are etbe same as regular chess except for these changes.

[@cheesuschrist300]

fun fact: this game was designed to be as hard to make a bot for while being a easy for humans to play as possible

[@jonathanschmitt5762]

The rules are the same as regular chess, except for these changes. For a refresher of those rules, check out this video☝️.

[@arthvittiwari4855]

Is there a limited number of each piece? List them in the replies

[@Shardus]

Same number of pieces as in chess, but different names for the pieces. 1 elephant, 1 camel, 2 horses, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 8 rabbits.

[@Grimm_Sleeper]

The rules are the same as regular chess except they are nothing like regular chess

[@aperson6546]

How to play Spanish Card games??

[@GadielGarciaLopez-oz3il]

I like this game

[@lownleinhigh]

Make a "how to play" for "Games of the Generals"!

[@cyruskeshmeshian5851]

I’m waiting for chess 3 lol

[@pawnquacker]

It's surprisingly simple yet so intriguing.

[@brunopires7314]

that was clear and concise! thank you!

[@Mr_comical0]

A wise guy said: teamwork makes the dream work

[@Salah_Eldin.321]

leki

[@jort93z]

I kinda feel like it needs a mouse to beat the elephant, sort of like the spy in stratego.

[@johnangel8361]

The furries made their own chess

[@musicme148]

АРИМАА

[@hwanmigellegaspi4803]

this is like chess+abalone+chekers

[@knigistudios9430]

Wow, this is a really cool game

[@SeadKorjenic]

&arimaa kinda looks like Chess

[@steveburke1519]

You neglected to mention that Arimaa can be played on an ordinary chessboard using ordinary chess pieces: K=Elephant, Q=Camel, R=Horse, B=dog, N=Cat, and P=Rabbit. Put a coin on c3, c6, f3, and f6 to represent the traps.

[@GaJaz05]

I like this game!

[@vmaximo185]

this is very interesting

[@SL2797]

Can you push an opponent's piece into a trap?

[@freddiesimmons1394]

He literally does

[@Dragon-eh9oq]

I said aringma

[@udeshbenthuhewa5333]

One Elephant

[@udeshbenthuhewa5333]

First Play

[@lomanalchemik7749]

At least!

[@isavenewspapers8890]

Only now…

[@plzcme434]

This is a surprisingly good game. Certainly worth trying out.

[@zamir3773]

Is chess

[@lauziyi5728]

Why?

[@Viel_Glueck]

3:28 wouldn't the silver player lose in that scenario, because the silver player has no rabbit left => immediately loses and can't kill the enemy rabbit with it. Or is that an exception?

[@Robinmine]

all 4 steps are a single move and happen at the same time

[@ScorpioneOrzion]

you only lose/win at the end of your turn.

[@Viel_Glueck]

@@Robinmine that can't be true, because then he couldn't drag the enemy rabbit in the spot his rabbit died in (because it would be occupied)

[@Robinmine]

@@Viel_Glueck yes tijimen's response is much more accurate, the 4 steps are a single move but definitely do not happen at the same time (there are many obvious examples). I didn't think my response through :P I play arimaa only online and you make all the steps before sending the move and can change your steps in the meantime. The win condition is evaluated at the end when you finish your move.

[@omars6224]

@@Viel_Glueck Good observation. However only the win/lose conditions are evaluated at the end of the turn. Freezing, captures, etc are evaluated after each step.

[@Sarahbryson321]

Ok

[@ahbraveconscript997]

hold on is en passant allowed or not?

[@zakiajacobprecioso408]

ITS NOT CHESS SO ITS NOT ALLOWED

[@chris92264]

Pin me

[@danielyuan9862]

White Bishop - - Black Knight (You) - - Black King

[@m.a.r.i.a.9861]

@@danielyuan9862 lmao

[@Machodave2020]

Chess Lite

[@imnotyourdaddyimyour001]

So that was basically Zootopian Fire Emblem?