Trap lone checkers by pinning them. Protect your mother checker.
There is no hitting in Plakoto: lone checkers are pinned instead.
Starting
All 15 checkers start on your opponent’s 1-point. Players move in opposite directions toward their own home boards.
Pinning
Landing on a single opposing checker pins it under yours. It cannot move until all your checkers leave that point, and you may stack more of your own on top. A point with two or more checkers, or with a pin, is closed to the opponent. You cannot pin a checker that is itself pinning one of yours.
The mother checker
Your last checker on your starting point is the mother. If it is pinned there, you lose at once with 2 points.
Dice and bearing off
Doubles are played four times (no cascade). Bearing off works as in Gulbara: exact rolls, otherwise move from a higher point first. A pinned checker cannot move or bear off.
Scoring
1 point for a win, 2 (a gammon) if the loser has borne off nothing. There is no doubling cube.
Guided Plakoto game
Short lessons on the real board with the dice set for you: moving, the rules that matter, and how to win.
Try Plakoto
Practise against the computer with no clock, or play someone online.