Chinese Checkers vs Computer

How to play Chinese Checkers (Sternhalma)

Chinese Checkers is the famous race game on a six-pointed star board with 121 holes. Despite the name, it is neither Chinese nor checkers: the game was invented in Germany in 1892 as “Stern-Halma”, a star-shaped variant of the older American-favourite Halma, and got its exotic marketing name decades later in the United States. Each player owns ten pegs that start in one point of the star and race straight across the board into the opposite point. There is no luck and no capturing — the whole game is about building and riding chains of hops, where a single turn can rocket a peg across half the board. Play it with 2, 3, 4 or 6 players on one screen, or race the computer at three difficulty levels and earn ranking points.

The goal

Move all ten of your pegs from your starting triangle across the board into the target triangle directly opposite, before any other player fills theirs. The first player to occupy the whole opposite triangle wins immediately. Pegs are never captured or removed — pegs you hop over, yours or an opponent’s, stay exactly where they are — so the game is a pure race of speed and clever routes.

Board and setup

The board is a six-pointed star with 121 holes: a hexagonal centre of 61 holes plus six corner triangles of 10 holes each. Every player starts with ten pegs of one colour filling one corner triangle; the triangle straight across the board is their target. Blue always moves first, then play passes from player to player in a fixed order around the star. On this screen you pick the number of players before the game starts — 2, 3, 4 or 6 — and each player takes their turn on the same device.

How pegs move

• Step: move one of your pegs to any of the (up to six) directly neighbouring holes, if that hole is empty. A step ends your turn.
• Hop: instead of stepping, a peg may jump in a straight line over ONE peg standing in a directly adjacent hole, landing in the hole immediately beyond it — that hole must be empty. Any peg can be hopped over, your own or an opponent’s.
• Chain: after one hop you may keep hopping with the same peg as long as more hops are available, changing direction freely. A well-built ladder of pegs can carry a peg across half the board in one turn. You may also stop the chain early at any legal landing hole.
• Nothing is ever captured: hopped pegs are not removed, and hopping never harms the pegs you jump over. You cannot hop over an empty hole, over two pegs at once, or over a peg that is not directly adjacent.
• Home-triangle rule (anti-blocking): a move may PASS THROUGH any hole during a hop chain, but it may only END in the central area, in your own starting triangle, or in your target triangle. You may never park a peg in another player’s home triangle, so nobody can squat in a corner to block an opponent’s win.

Winning

You win the moment all ten holes of your target triangle are occupied and at least one of the pegs in it is yours. This wording includes the standard anti-spoiling rule: if an opponent leaves a peg sitting in its own starting corner (which is your target), that hole counts as filled for you — a player who refuses to move out cannot deny you the win. In practice you will almost always finish with all ten of your own pegs in the triangle. In the local game the first player to finish wins and the game ends; use Undo to take back a slip of the finger.

Playing with 2, 3, 4 or 6 players

With 2 players you sit in opposite points and race head-on through the crowded middle. With 3 players you sit on alternate points, so each player races into an EMPTY opposite triangle — a faster, more open game. With 4 or 6 players, opposite pairs of corners face each other and the centre becomes a busy motorway of ladders; other players’ pegs are both obstacles and free stepping stones. Turn order simply rotates around the seated players, and every seating always sends you to the triangle directly opposite your start.

Playing the computer (ranked)

In “Chinese Checkers vs Computer” you play Blue on a two-player star and always move first. Easy plays loosely and makes deliberate mistakes, so beginners can win. Normal always takes the best immediate route it can see. Expert looks ahead, weighs your best reply, and is remarkably good at finding long hop chains across the whole board. The computer thinks entirely on your device, so the game works offline. Beat it to earn ranking points — Easy +10, Normal +30, Expert +100 — and sign in to put your best result on the leaderboard.

Strategy tips

• Move through the middle, not around the edge. The shortest routes run straight through the centre of the board, and central pegs have the most hop opportunities in every direction.
• Build ladders. Two pegs spaced one hole apart form a ramp that a third peg can hop along. Plan your moves so pegs line up into hop chains for the pegs behind them — one good ladder saves many turns.
• Use your opponents. Any peg can be hopped over, so a crowded centre is full of free stepping stones. Before making a plain single step, always check whether a chain of hops gets the same peg further.
• Don’t leave stragglers. A lone peg left at the back needs many turns to cross an emptying board with nothing left to hop over. Keep your group compact and bring the rear pegs forward early.
• Watch what your moves open up. Every hop you make can also be used against you — after your turn, an opponent may ride the very ladder you just built. Sometimes the best move is the one that breaks a chain your opponent was about to use.

Frequently asked questions