Twelve Hnefatafl Games for Your Mobile Phone: Tafl by Jocly

Friday, 23rd September 2016

Jocly is a web site on which a large number of games can be played against people from around the world. There is a range of hnefatafl games available there, and Jocly have taken those hnefatafl games and made a mobile app for them. Of all the apps I've looked in this blog series, this is oneof only two available for both Apple and Android.

The game features 2D and 3D views, much like those available on the web site. The rules are the "classic" rules of Murray: a strong king requires four pieces to capture him, and wins at the edge of the board. This combination produces a game in which the king and defenders are highly favoured.

There are six board layouts available: Brandub and Ard Ri are the smallest, on the 7x7 board, and Alea Evangelii is the largest, on the 19x19 board. You can play against the computer, or against an opponent across the web.

Tafl is available from the Google Play Store and from iTunes. Tomorrow I'll round off the series by looking at another game for Android.