1. Tafl is played on a square 11-by-11 board. The centre of the board is the throne.

2. One player selects 24 BEADs the colour of their choice, they are the attackers BEADs and their BEADS are placed 6 BEADs on each outside edge as marked on the board.

3. One player selects 12 BEADs the colour of their choice, these are the defenders BEADS and are placed on the board around the throne as marked on the board.

4. The defender also selects 1 BEAD a different colour to be their King BEAD. The King BEAD and is placed on the throne.

5. The attacker moves first.

1. In turns, each player moves a BEAD horizontally or vertically onto an empty space. The BEAD can move through any number of empty spaces in a straight line during a single move.

2. The King BEAD is played like all other BEADs and can participate in captures.

3. A player can capture their opponent’s BEAD when the opponent’s BEAD is between two BEADs either horizontally or vertically.

4. A player can capture their opponent’s BEAD when the opponent’s BEAD is between a BEAD and a corner square, or between a BEAD and the throne.

5. The King BEAD can only be captured if it is surrounded on four sides.

6. Captured BEADs are removed from the board.

1. To win the game, a player must block their opponent such that they cannot move.

2. The attacker wins by surrounding the King BEAD on 4 sides and capturing all the defender BEADs.

3. The defender wins if they can move the King BEAD onto any of the 4 corners.

4. The game is declared a draw if capture has been made in 50 consecutive moves.

1. Tafl games are a family of ancient Germanic and Celtic strategy board games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers, representing variants of an early Scandinavian board game called tafl or hnefatafl in contemporary literature.

2. Although the size of the board and the number of pieces varied, all games involved a distinctive 2:1 ratio of pieces, with the lesser side having a king-piece that starts in the centre. No complete, unambiguous description of the rules of a tafl game exists, but the king's objective was to escape to the board's periphery or corners, while the greater force's objective was to capture him.

3. Tafl spread everywhere the Vikings traveled, including Iceland, Britain, Ireland, and Lapland.