Hus

How to play hus

Hus is a distant relative of wari, and games like it with four rows are found all over southern and eastern Africa. All the pieces stay in play, and the number by each player is the pieces on that player's half.

From the book

• The board has four rows of eight holes. You play only on the two rows on your side.
• You start with two pieces in each hole of the back row, and two in each of the four holes on the right half of the front row. Lots decide who begins.
• Take all the pieces from a hole holding two or more. Drop them one by one into the holes after it, with the sun. That means clockwise around your half.
• If the last piece lands in an empty hole, the turn is over. If there were pieces there, you pick them all up and carry on from there.
• If the last piece lands in an occupied hole in your front row, and the hole directly opposite is occupied, you capture the pieces there. If the neighbouring hole in the same row has pieces, you take those too.
• Captured pieces are sown onto your half, and you begin in the hole directly opposite the one you captured from.
• If you are left with only single pieces, you have lost. Capturing all of the opponent's pieces counts as a double win.
• Hus is usually played in sets of seven games.

My choices where the book leaves it open

• The book says you "may" capture. Here it always happens, and capturing comes before picking up.
• If both neighbouring holes have pieces, the capture runs the way that gives the most, and it continues up to an empty hole.
• All the pieces from one capture are sown in a single round, with the usual rules for where the last one lands. That way you can capture several times in one move.
• A double win gives two points in the set. Most points after seven games wins.
• If the game goes round in circles, or 200 moves pass without a capture, the player with the most pieces wins. A move that never ends is stopped after 3000 pieces sown.

New set

A set is seven games. Lots decide who begins each game.