Hounds & Jackals
History & How to Play
History
In Ancient Egypt, people of all ages and classes played board games to pass the time and connect with one another, and Hounds & Jackals was likely among their favorites. The earliest game set that has been discovered is nearly 4000 yrs. old, from the middle kingdom.
It’s a race style game where each player takes turns trying to get all of their pieces through their track and to the goal. If you’ve ever played the modern game shoots and ladders, you’ll probably see some similarity. The original rules of the game have been lost to history, but game historians have been able to piece together a set of potential rules through research of similar known games of the time period in that region. The rules listed below are just one of many variations that you can also try.
How to play
Overview
Each player has 5 pegs (either hounds or jackals) and has their own track on the board. Pieces enter the track in the row closest to the center of the board, then travel down to the bottom, then follow the track back up to the top of the board ending at the large hole at the center of the top of the board.
Game Play
- You can determine who goes first however you would like.
- On your turn, hold the casting sticks vertically and drop them to the table. The number of sticks shown with the decorated side up determines the number of spaces to move, except if you get all 4 sticks face up you get to move 5 spaces.
- If you cast a 1, you can either move a piece onto the board at the starting point, or move a piece that is already on the board.
- If you cast any other number your only choice is to move one of your pieces that is already on the board (if you have any).
- If you land on a space that is connected to another space with a line, you must travel along the line to the space it's connected too. This may move you forward or backward depending on which side of the line you landed on.
- You must land on the final space by exact throw. Once you land there, remove your piece from the board.
Declaring the Winner
The winner is the first player to get all their pieces to the last space at the top of the board.
A note on the accuracy of historic game rules:
Most ancient games and historic games were originally taught by word of mouth, so there can be many different interpretations to the rules. This is just one version that you can play. There are other variations that you can try until you find your favorite, but this will get you started. Just make sure that when you play with other people who are familiar with the game, you agree on a set of rules before you start to avoid any hard feelings.