Rules of Senet

Senet is played on a board of 30 squares arranged in 3 rows of 10 each. Each player has 5 pieces (some games use 7). Counting sticks are thrown to determine moves. The object of the game is to be the first to carry all your pieces off the board, while hindering your opponent by either blocking his way or sending his pieces back to earlier squares.

Setting Up

1. Construct a board based on the pattern above. Place the glyphs marked in red into the appropriate squares (called peru, or "houses").

2. Obtain 2 sets of 5 playing pieces (yebau, or "dancers") and arrange them as shown on the board. The original pieces had the shapes of cones and spools, but anything will do.

3. Obtain 4 long thin sticks, such as craft sticks. Color each on one side only. These are the counting sticks (jebau, or "fingers"), used to determine the players' moves.

Movement

1. Moves are determined by tossing the counting sticks. The value of the throw and the number of squares you can move per throw depends on the number of uncolored sides facing up:
   • One side: one square
   • Two sides: two squares
   • Three sides: three squares
   • All uncolored sides showing: four squares
   • All colored sides showing: five squares

2. To begin the game, one player picks spools and the other cones, and both throw the sticks until one player throws a 1, at which point this player goes first and play begins.

3. During a game, if a player throws a 1, 4 or 5, they can throw again. A player can keep throwing the sticks until a 2 or 3 is thrown. The value of each throw must be noted. These throws may be used in any order, for any number of pieces, but must be used in their original groupings, and must all be used in the same turn in which they were thrown. So, if a player throws a 4, 1 and 3, they could use them in any of these combinations:
   • Move one piece 3 and another piece 1 and then 4 squares
   • Move one piece 4 squares, one 1 square and one 3 squares
   • Move one piece in any order of the combination 4,1,3.

   But a player could not, for example, move a piece 5 squares and another 2. It is important to use the throws in their original groupings, because during a game, the exact sequence in which the throws are used can be of strategic advantage.

4. Players move their pieces forward in the direction indicated on the chart, alternating direction with each row. A player can move a piece onto any empty or undefended square. Any number of pieces can be jumped in a move, but a player may not end a move on a square which is either defended or occupied by one of his own pieces.

5. A player may move backward only if no forward move is available to any of his pieces, and the player must move the piece backward the amount of one (or more) of his throws.

6. An opponent's piece is considered undefended if it stands alone, with either empty squares or opposing pieces on either side. Pieces in a row of two or more are considered defended; this is called a block. A player may land on the square occupied by an undefended opponent's piece. A player may jump over a row of defended opponent's pieces, but may not land on any of them.

   This is where the original grouping of the throws becomes important: if a piece is to be moved 2 and then 3 squares, for example, both landing places (for the move of 2 and of 3 squares) must be empty or undefended. One could not in this case take a jump of 5 over a block of 4 pieces.

7. When a player lands on an undefended opponent's piece, that piece is sent back to the square from which the attacking piece came. If the attacking piece has made several moves in its progress, the attacked piece goes back only to the last (i.e., most recent) square that the attacker occupied.

End Game

1. Square 26 is the "Beautiful House" (per nefer). A player may land there only by an exact throw. An undefended player on Square 26 can be sent back by an attacking piece, like any other square on the board.

   

2. From Square 26, a player can advance a piece to any of the last three squares with throws of 2, 3, or 4. A throw of 5 carries the piece off the board immediately.

3. Once on Squares 28, 29, or 30, a player may carry a piece off the board under these circumstances:
   • from Square 30, with any throw
   • from Square 29 (marked with 2 ticks), with a throw of 2
   • from Square 28 (3 ticks), with a throw of 3

   Once on one of these squares, a piece is never moved back again. If a player can't use a throw, it is simply discarded.

4. Square 27 is the "House of Waters" (per mu). This square is a pitfall, and any piece landing on this square is trapped there. A piece can be forced into the waters in two ways:
   • If a piece is resting on Squares 28-30 and is undefended, and an opponent lands on the same square from the Beautiful House, the attacked piece moves to Square 27, and not back to 26.
   • If a player's only possible move is from the Beautiful House forward, but a defended opposing piece occupies the desired square, the piece on Square 26 goes into the water.

5. A piece forced into the water loses any remaining throws. Once in the House of the Waters, a piece can't be moved. To reactivate the piece, the player must either throw a 4, or move the piece to Square 15 (right above Square 26) and lose a turn. A player may try for a throw of 4 as often as they wish, but they get only one try per turn. If they give up after repeated tries, they can move to Square 15 on their next turn.

6. The winner is the first person to carry all her pieces off the board.

The game is also enjoyable when a small wager is made on each piece removed from the board. Given what I know about the Egyptians, I doubt we were the first people to think of this idea.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Thomas Kendall, Department of Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Kirk Game Company, Inc., Belmont, MA, from whom this information was obtained.

© 1999, Terrence Donnelly