How to Play Tak

[@Pantousch]

I just want to know how to play it beautifully...

[@vandread]

See the trap the laid out for you, and stride in boldly with a plan to turn it on its head!

[@Charles.Wright]

Just invite Gordon Ramsey over

[@Safikansari-xd2dl]

Jljlljlllllkljlhlljjllljhl

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

You and Cinder both...

[@brunopires7314]

this is an amazing presentation! The perfect combination between observing a game happening with a running commentary and a tutorial for absolute beginners. Clear. Concise, and inspiring!

[@CheapassJames]

Thank you!

[@brunopires7314]

Loved it so much that I bought it today! Thank you! @@CheapassJames

[@JaquesBobè]

I'm amazed. Usually I'm nitpicky about adapting things from the book into the physical form. BUT THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS IMAGINING READING THE BOOK. Simple rules, challenging strategy, playing few pieces smartly is more rewarding than spamming the board with dozens of them. AMAZING!

[@brunofuentes3585]

This is from a book!?

[@JaquesBobè]

@@brunofuentes3585 Kingkiller Chronicle - may be the most well-written fantasy trilogy ever. (fyi: the 3rd book is not out yet, but the first two are well worth the read regardless)

[@dcloudsync]

@@brunofuentes3585 The Kingkiller chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. He is also codesigner of the game.

[@sooooooooDark]

people who make "how to play" boardgame videos should watch this video as a tutorial to see how its done right

[@jazzwell]

Definitely. I once saw a video explaining Backgammon (had never played it before, rulebook was missing) and at the start he complained about how other people weren't explaining the game well in their videos, so he wanted to make an actual good video on the rules, and then he went on for 5 minutes talking about the color of the pieces, the material his board was made of, and some fun facts about die.

[@LouisPhilippeStLaurent]

One of the clearest, most relevant, 'how to play' videos I've ever seen.

[@Big_Dai]

Just watched this great video of this interesting game I had never heard of before.. and noticed THIS is one of the creators. Cool.

[@BreeZieDoesiT]

I cant say I play this game great, but what I can say is that ive never lost the same way twice.

[@jeremyfischer3867]

+Jio T you can play against others online. Just search up tak online in google.

[@an-zw4ml]

He was quoting from a pretty good book

[@GorkaDiaz08]

a n He was *Kvothing from a pretty good book

[@MatthewWaltonWalton]

My sister and I played some Tak and it was great - but we felt our strategies were super simplistic and childlike. You've just proven that with this video! Can't wait to play more.

[@MatthewWaltonWalton]

Jio T I made my own set

[@MatthewWaltonWalton]

+James Karlsen-Davies yes, that's in the beta rules download as well.

[@johnmccarthy2943]

My buddy introduced me to this game recently. I was immediately enthralled.

[@NarlepoaxIII]

That's a hell of a game. Definitely gonna have to try to wrap my head around those rules.

[@Ticktok_of_Oz]

+NarlepoaxIII you can play online in your browser. I just found out about it today so I was here trying to figure out the rules myself. pretty cool. start with 4x4 board. It's considered the "kids version", or what children in Rothfuss' world would learn. There's no cap stone, so it's a little simpler. www.playtak.com/

[@MjrLeegInfidel]

You did a phenomenal job of showing and explaining. I'm buying this because of you. This on your head! Thanks...

[@AndyTalesTV]

Great explanation of the rules. Easy to follow.

[@PixelBandits]

100% need to get a copy of this game. excellent tutorial, thank you!

[@jamesgarman590]

What a great game!! Thanks Mr. Ernest, for making this beautiful game a reality

[@mcmastergi]

I like and own several abstract strategy games for 2 player. Tak is one of my favorites.

[@gavinthorud220]

Just preordered the cloth board and the tavern set, can't wait!

[@origenward3845]

Wow what a design. Brilliant!

[@MarkusFlorence]

Among all modern abstract chess/draughts-like games, this is the most complete, intriguing and satisfying!

[@eliasbischoff176]

I would love to learn corners.

[@sophiesoko1987]

I just got mine in the mail today!! so much fun already!!

[@JB-ym4up]

elegant, in particular the way it starts by laying opponents piece first. from my first look this appears to be a excellent abstract strategy game.

[@claridadespontanea1195]

This is actually a really beautiful game, seems like it has an absurdly high complexity

[@suntzu6122]

So.. if you get good at this game are you a Taktician? heheheh

[@iloivar]

+

[@danielsjohnson]

Maybe that's why its named the way it is.

[@sujothefaux7995]

This was an incredible video, and an interesting game. Excellent explanation!

[@R0DisG0D]

This game really looks quite fascinating. Sadly I have missed the kickstarter so I hope you don't mind if I improvise my own set until I get a chance to order it.

[@jairusstrunk94]

easy enough. a checker set would do fine, just tape the board down to a 5x5 or 6x6 and grab 2 items for cap stones. Shot glasses, pieces from a chess set, so on.

[@thegamechangerchannelclass9711]

It is a connection game in the Mancala family. Well played.... well played.

[@JablonskiJoshua]

Question: Musst be the capstone be placed in the middle (center) or can i place it everywere

[@GabrielBishop]

+Joshua Jablonski as i understand any open square

[@CthulhuBob.Lovely]

+Gabriel Bishop That's correct, all pieces must be played into any open space, and this includes the capstone

[@jacobconverset7180]

+CthulhuBob Lovely Except the Capstone can be used to flatten a wall.

[@JablonskiJoshua]

+ Jacob Converset but not initially the capstone needs to be placed in an open space and with a move you can flatten a wall, cant you?

[@CheapassJames]

+Joshua Jablonski Oops! Yep, you can play the Capstone in any empty space. It was pure coincidence that both players started their Caps in the center space. (Maybe I should have a scripted game next time?)

[@CalaCrisp88]

Does the loser also get points from the pieces s/he has left? Or only the winner?

[@jairusstrunk94]

from what i gather yes. since you'd want to play 2 bouts for a fair game. Black in this won the board and got 25 points plus his remaining pieces. so 38 and white got 11. or you could play pointless and just whoever wins the board wins that match.

[@alksmdlaks]

Only the winner gets points as per the rules. This can be used to tally up the pot for winning. Every point = $1 or something similar. Scoring is considered a "commoner rule" and games played at court are simply just considered wins or losses.

[@R3alOzero]

great game and great explanation

[@UTurnCub]

1,600 thumbs up, and only 7 thumbs down. That's the best ratio I've ever seen on a youtube video. Well done ;-)

[@MrPleers]

Reminds me a bit of Othello/Reverse. But with stacking instead of changing the colours by getting your peice at both ends.

[@Wolfwent79]

I finally got my rewards from the campaign and am deliriously happy to play it. It's fantastic. I like Go already but this here is faster and way easier to play with younger players. Go goes 'deeper', but Tak allows way quicker games. If you haven't had a chance to get it so far...way until it comes out and get it. I wonder if there'll ever be a variant of 3-4 players...or teams of two against each other...it would be chaos...but beautiful chaos :D

[@zatcharybelltucker735]

Ugh, I need this game Also a friend.

[@davidmartin3280]

One question comes to mind. At 7:24 it's white's turn and wouldn't it be possible for white to set himself up for victory by playing a flat piece on the square above the possible road comprised of three flat pieces and the stack with white's standing stone on top. Let black make his move and then on white's next turn move the top three pieces of the stack to the left or right to open the complete road? I hope that made sense and I'm really looking forward to getting my copy of this fantastic game!

[@commissionergordan]

2:54 could black not just play a piec on top of the top corner white to complete the road

[@Sylfa]

+commissionergordan You can only play a new stone in an empty space, you can only stack stones by moving

[@commissionergordan]

+MrSylfa Thanks.

[@gogameguru]

has anyone done an analysis of this game? in terms of complexity? where does it sit vs chess?

[@webjaker]

I'm very confused how Black didn't win at 3:44 ??? Has a continuous line east west??

[@CheapassJames]

+webjaker Diagonal spaces are not connected.

[@webjaker]

+James Ernest At 9:06 you seem to say that the same thing going north to south could have been a win. I am still confused?

[@CheapassJames]

+webjaker I will link to the full rules in the description. I'm a bit surprised I didn't already do that.

[@Ticktok_of_Oz]

+webjaker when he shows that it didn't need to be a straight line to win at 9:06 he moves a piece over AND ADDS A PIECE to make it a full line as an example. at 3:44 there is a diagonal, which does not count.

[@webjaker]

I understand now, thank you for the clarification. Its quite an intricate yet simple game, I was just confused on the winning condition - now I get it.

[@joeyjojojunior1794]

Great explanation.

[@ShiivaWilding]

Looks great!

[@jamescomins]

What does it look like when you crush a wall? Does it get removed, or just turned sideways?

[@eldereth]

+James Comins You just flatten it, it doesn't get removed.

[@erictheredskydives]

+Eldereth So, if a capstone is on a stack, it can't flatten a wall. I assume this means that you would have to run out the stack and end at the wall if you wanted to crush a wall with a capstone that was already on a stack. Correct? Seems a very cool game - can't wait to play

[@eldereth]

+Eric the Red You are correct, you can only flatten a wall with the capstone alone. It looks cool indeed, can't wait to try it as well :). The only thing I don't like is the shape of the pieces. It seems pretty unnecessary to have different shapes for each player when the colour already does the job. Also I think the game deserves more elegant pieces than that (they kinda look like the shapes from one of those games for kids where you put the pieces through the holes you know? xD). The Tavern set looks a lot better in my opinion, I think that's the one I'm gonna get.

[@MarceldeJong]

+Eric the Red well it can be on a stack when flattening walls. Say you have a white wall on one side of the board, and a stack with the black capstone on top in the middle of that line. that stack could then move towards that wall, but only the capstone can flatten the wall. So the last part of that move would be the capstone on top of the wall, leaving any extra stones beneath it behind on the square before the wall.

[@ayrtondasilva758]

+Eldereth the pieces have this form in a random way, because is supose to be an ancient game played for any kind of people, and most people used to had simple boards and pieces, that is why the creator isn´t worry about doing it fancy. Also, they said in other video or text(I don´t remenber where I saw it), that the pieces could be all different. Sorry for my english, is not my native lenguage.

[@DavidSerhienko]

First 'real' move at 3:02... couldn't black just place flat on white in the corner, and complete the road?

[@cihan1371]

+David Serhienko no you can place pieces only on empty spaces. if you want to place a piece onto another piece you have to move a piece that is already on the board.

[@MonoKabi]

+David Serhienko New pieces on the board must be placed in empty spaces. You can move old pieces onto occupied spaces, but new ones must hit an empty.

[@DavidSerhienko]

+MonoKabi +Cihan T Thanks

[@MarkMassengale]

At 3:00 could black have just played a new piece on top of white's in the corner, thus finishign the road and winning?

[@MrAndercover]

+Mark Cleveland Massengale (SaveMeJebu5) No, you can't place a new piece on top of another. You can only move an adjacent piece on top an existing one.

[@divado]

Wasn't white already able to complete a road at 2:50 ?

[@CheapassJames]

Not sure what you mean, but here is a breakdown of that moment. On White's turn (which he takes at 2:42) there is no way for White to complete a road, because (in part) diagonal connections do not connect. By 2:50 White cannot make a road because it's Black's turn. And the move that Black makes at 3:09 interrupts White's threat. So I don't see a moment near that time code where White could have won the game.

[@sicemlonghorns]

At 3:05 isn't black in position to win if he just places a new piece in the corner?

[@AFallingToaster]

Nope. But immediately after that capture that black makes - if white placed the capstone in between those two black pieces, it would be an unavoidable win for white. What the community calls "Tinue"

[@AexisRai]

The actual answer to OP's question is that you can only place new pieces in _empty_ board spaces.

[@joinjanis6986]

No way. You really invented it with pat together?? Genius. And so beautiful designed with the wooden chips. Well done. Love it

[@PabloGarcia-yl3wg]

7:27 u have an unstoppable win if u play a white at the end of the road. Then u just have to move you tower in the next move

[@turtlethrower13]

I think black would actually win if they did that. The black would just have to move the stack with the capstone down and they would have a completed road.

[@angelodelamorte3592]

Walls can’t be a part of a road I believe he said.

[@o_ber]

I've never even heard of Tak and I'm already interested.

[@MrBardun111]

So how can stack move? only left right up and down? Not diagonaly?

[@AsherStone-wd3rb]

Tak is an absolutely wonderful game, and it has a burgeoning competitive scene mostly centralized around a discord server!

[@Alien.404]

The Standing Stone moves, me: "we used to ride these babies for miles"

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

I did have a question! If there is a piece already on the board, can it move into an empty space? Or does it have to go on top of a piece or stack?

[@CheapassJames]

This is legal, but you wouldn't usually do it. You would be better off adding a new piece to the empty space, rather than moving an existing piece. This might happen at the end of the game when you don't want to play your last piece.

[@p.r.2802]

Where can i get the beautiful board?

[@CheapassJames]

I'm not sure. The board in the video is the "Arcanist's Board," which was a perk from the Kickstarter campaign. You can sometiems find it for sale second-hand. Worldbuilders carries some Tak accessories, and Wyrmwood used to make very nice boards, but I can't see anything like this board at either place right now.

[@p.r.2802]

@@CheapassJames Thank you

[@joinjanis6986]

Where does this game come from?

[@reginag4053]

When you're moving the stack by dropping pieces along the way, do you have to move in a straight line or can you change directions part way through the stack?

[@gundisalvus3686]

Question. Why aren't the pieces reversible? As in, one side is a flat stone, the other a wall. Wouldn't that make moving the stack of pieces more comfortable?

[@AFallingToaster]

A wall is just a flat stone on its edge. It helps newer players realize that they can't stack on top of walls, also.

[@wozit3]

Me a couple of minutes in: this is not checkers.

[@meesterantoine]

Is it wrong to bring your capstone early on in the game? Ive found it oractical to have it handy in the center of the board from the start.

[@CesarRocksoud]

hey, how cool :), where can I buy this?

[@veronicafreund764]

worldbuildersmarket.com/collections/tak-a-beautiful-game

[@EduardoGarcia-qw3il]

I have a question with the standing stones. for example, a flat stone can be converted into a standing stone? and if yes, can do it if it is in the top of a stack?

[@EduardoGarcia-qw3il]

Ok, i think i'm answering myself. I think that not. You can place a standing stone as any other piece, but you can't convert a flat stone into a "wall". At the contrary yes, ofc, with tha capstone. am i right?

[@kempyboi123]

correct, you can't change a piece, you can however move it.

[@skywalkertime376]

When you have a stack are you allowed to place let’s say all 4 pieces at once in a single turn, for example like jumping someone in checkers you move multiple spaces in one turn. ?????

[@AFallingToaster]

If you have a stack of pieces, you can spread that stack out - leaving one piece behind after the initial move. You must move your stack in a straight line. You cannot pick up additional pieces as you move the stack, the pieces moved must be from the initial stack.

[@thacoldfate]

2:51 could black not have won here allready or im missing somthing

[@AFallingToaster]

There is no winning move there. A piece must be placed on an empty space, and there was no connecting empty space to black's road threat.

[@JuanChOKhan]

We want the app! :)

[@csababota8267]

Can u start with the opponents capstone?

[@AFallingToaster]

No

[@jasontabrett317]

Thank you!

[@spartaguswoodall3062]

When moving a stack does it have to be a straight line or can you move in a L shape?

[@AFallingToaster]

It must be in a straight line.

[@pepinmystepmusic]

almost like skyscrapers from logygames. really cool

[@onlythistube]

Instant classic. I just read the beta rules and I did not understand the "Playing sheriff" variant/move? How does a single piece (capstone) "suck up" every opponent's flatstone? You are not allowed to add pieces to your stack/single piece during a move, right?!

[@Sylfa]

+onlythistube Move the entire stack under the capstone on top of the other players stone. Eventually the stack will get too tall to move the entire thing though and you will start to leave stones of the other players colour behind.

[@charliemopic470]

Superb.

[@thomassaurus]

I'm not sure I understand the difference between a cap stone and a wall.

[@jonmkl]

Capstones count as a piece in a road (walls don't), capstones can crush walls, and you only have one capstone.

[@LemonInYourEyes]

capstones can also be used to hold onto a stack with a lot of captives in it to use as a threat throughout the game. they are naturally deceptive pieces.

[@NomadGSA]

There were many game ending moves that were missed during the example ...

[@lemieuski]

Just learned how to play this last night and I love it. Random question, what tripod is that?

[@CheapassJames]

That tripod is a MeFOTO A0320. I bought various sizes of this model a few years back, and they work pretty well. But don't make the mistake of using the on-table camera for your audio, as I did here. I got a quiet thud every time my elbows hit the table.

[@SmokeTemple]

i wanna try this game, but the price was almost double what i expected.. might construct my own board

[@corwinkori4623]

Thank you, very much)

[@alanguages]

Does Tak mean tactical/tactician or does it mean thanks?

[@Rainmaker305]

can you play as manys walls as you want?

[@darmakx99]

Yup! Though every wall you place is a piece that's not part of a road of your own, so you have less pieces overall with which to win the game. I guess you could try using your capstone to later flatten your own walls but that seems like an awful lot of work and gives your opponent more time to try and win (but it is kind of fun to occasionally just place walls and try to divide the entire board up lol)

[@XeIanXI]

Love it!

[@austinwiebe3801]

I wanna play this so bad

[@kvithe]

i love u thanks for that video i'm so hype now

[@thecoldone541]

2:59 black could have won? Why play defense if you could just win it

[@AFallingToaster]

Black would need to place a piece on an empty square. There was not an empty square for black to place on, so there was no possible win.

[@michaelhalligan6111]

Wait. Walls move? That's not what I remember reading in the rules

[@BreakDowning]

Walls can move! In the rulebook that comes with the official board, concerning moving stacks, there is a picture of a stack being moved with a wall on top. Since you can't place on a stack, I took it to mean that walls can be moved

[@BreakDowning]

What I didn't get with this one is that we always play that a stack can only be as high as the carry limit. At 1:37, he places a stack of six on a 5x5 board (???)

[@AFallingToaster]

@@BreakDowning The stack can be as high as it can get. The carry limit is the only limiting factor. You could potentially have a stack 40 high, though it wouldn't ever happen in a legitimate game.

[@paanbaharudin5807]

The rear wheel is a bit more of an issue

[@WuchtaArt]

How to play jak?

[@melrakan]

... so what's a road?

[@TheEriegpman]

somehow i missed the fact that capstones ARE part of the road, i thought they were like walls...

[@HatterTobias]

Capstones act as both a wall and a flat stone, so it's part of the road

[@jasonbrown4739]

Black could have won at 4:28 by capping the wall.

[@CheapassJames]

+Jason Brown Pieces must be played n empty space. It's true that a Capstone can flatten a wall, but it would have to move onto it. not be played directly on it..

[@jasonbrown4739]

Kk, my wife beat me on our first playtest by flattening my wall. It made walls seem ineffective. This makes more sense, adds more strategy. Looking back, the input beta rules barely mention "capstones can move *onto* any standing stone" that onto is quite important and easily missed.

[@diegolongueira4771]

best game un the world!!!!

[@mitchellcleveland6182]

Video is halfway through and I'm completely lost

[@vj7248]

for some reason reminds me of go/baduk

[@RC-DOG]

Games looks great!! Would be cool if there were "water pieces" that were set out before the game started to create a new challenge that would act as unbreakable walls

[@puddingosu3326]

interesting

[@joeyjojojunior1794]

From "CHÉ uh pass" games

[@JavierGonzalez-vf6rr]

i love this game

[@PaulWitzelNarratives]

Excuse me? Its pronounced "Harumph"

[@OctapezOficial]

YONNNNNNNNNNNNN

[@Poisindart2000]

Kvothe

[@OGPimpin]

I HATE this game with a passion!

[@purplemoonfibers]

I'm gonna challenge you to vary your pronoun usage. It can be frustrating as a woman who games to have the default pronoun be exclusively male in the directions. Great explanation and I am looking forward to playing for myself.

[@CheapassJames]

+Michelle Martin cheapass.com/sites/default/files/TakBetaRules3-10-16.pdf

[@purplemoonfibers]

+James Ernest Thanks :)