Ringbreak is a strategy game for two with unequal sides: 24 besiegers around the edge against 12 defenders and their king in the middle. Get the king to a corner — against the computer, or against another person over an invitation link. Both run right here in your browser, free of charge and without signing up.
How it works
The rules fit in a few sentences; what follows from them does not. The board is eleven by eleven squares, and play follows the rules of Copenhagen Hnefatafl, the tournament standard of an old Nordic board game. Everything that matters is on the board: no dice, nothing hidden.
Against the computer you lead the defenders: the circles and the star, which is your king. You pick one of four strengths, from Easy to Very hard, and the game begins — nothing starts before you choose. The besiegers move first, then the sides alternate.
Every piece moves like a rook: in a straight line as far as the way is clear, never diagonally and never over another piece. The king moves the same way.
Pieces are taken by bracketing them: a piece that ends up in a straight line between two enemies leaves the board — but only if the enemy closes the gap. If you move in between two of them yourself, you stay.
Five squares are special: the four corners and the throne in the centre. Only the king may stand on them, but any piece may pass over the empty throne. To the squares next to them they act like an enemy piece: the corners against both sides, the throne always against the besiegers, but against the defenders only while it is empty.
The king has to be enclosed on all four sides; when he stands beside the throne, the throne counts as the fourth side. If he reaches a corner, the defenders win.
The exit fort: if the king stands on the edge but not in a corner, still has an empty square beside him, and his own pieces and the board edge seal off the free area around him with no besieger touching it, the defenders win. The wall has to hold as well: no besieger move may capture a piece of it.
Encirclement: if the besiegers close a ring around every defender, so that no free path leads from the king or any defender to the board edge, the besiegers win.
A side that has to move and cannot, loses. The defenders, in addition, may not repeat a position.
There are two ways to move: tap a piece, then one of the marked targets — or drag the piece along its row or column and let go. Letting go off the line cancels, so a slip never becomes a move.
Against a person the two of you play a two-game match: one game, then the other, with the sides swapped and up to 48 hours per move. The first game's result stays sealed until both are revealed together at the end.
Tips & techniques
On the edge the king cannot be captured — but he can be walled in. One of his four sides lies off the board there, and a side that runs out of moves loses all the same. The edge alone is shelter, not a destination — only a sealed exit fort there wins.
Moving in between is safe. You may step into a gap between two besiegers, and bracket one of them from there.
The throne and the corners help to capture. Next to a corner, your opponent needs just one piece on the far side; at the throne that holds against besiegers always, and against defenders only while it is empty. Check before you park a piece there.
The shieldwall: a whole row along the board edge falls at once when it is bracketed at both ends and every piece in it has an enemy in front. Long chains on the edge are more fragile than they look.
Do not shuffle. Moving back and forth as a defender simply uses up your legal moves.
In a match, the side you win on decides first, the move count second. A win as the besieger beats everything else; failing that, a win as the defender takes the match. If you both win on the same side, the lower move count decides. If those are equal too, or both games are drawn, the match is drawn. Every single move by either side is counted.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of game is this?
A strategy board game for two and not a puzzle: there is no solution to find, only an opponent who moves back — the computer or another person. One side hunts, the other runs.
Why do I always play the defenders against the computer?
Because the two sides are not equally hard. At the same search depth the computer wins far more often as defender than as attacker. You do get to play both sides in a match against a person.
How do I challenge somebody?
“Challenge somebody” creates an invitation link that expires if nobody accepts it (storage periods are set out in the privacy statement). Whoever opens and accepts it plays the match with you. This needs saved progress on your device: a random key, with no email address and no account.
What happens if I resign a match or let a deadline pass?
You lose the whole match, not just the game in progress — even if you had already won the other one.
Can someone watch?
Yes. Anyone who opens the link of an accepted match watches it, without any identifier, and sees exactly what the players see — the sealed first result included.
Does Ringbreak cost anything, and do I need an account?
No and no. Ringbreak runs free of charge in your browser, and against the computer you can play at once without signing up — no account and no saved progress.