staka english

What is Staka?

Staka can be played anywhere. All you need is a flat surface to play on. The pieces are used to build stacks. With your pawn you try to get higher. The aim is to get the most points. You get points by building stacks or stealing them from your opponents and keeping them until the end of the game.

How to play Staka?

Start

Choose your colour, pick your pawn and double and determine who starts. For the Starting Field take 2 pieces of every kind. The other pieces make the bank. The start field is placed at ground level by taking turns. Player 1 places the 1st piece, player 2 places the 2nd against the 1st. The next pieces must touch at least two other pieces. Of every piece choose the colour you want to face upwards. Of each colour at least 1 must face upwards. If the Starting Field is finished, place your pawn on a piece with your own colour up.

Game Play

You play alternately. Each turn, you must first move, then take or place. If you can not move, you stand still. If possible, you may also swim instead of move. Then you take a piece from the bank or you place a piece from your hand on the field. You may not both take and place in one turn! Besides your double it is not allowed to have more than three pieces in your hand.

End

If you don’t have any pieces and there are no pieces left in the bank? You can stop moving. For you the game is finished. If the bank is empty and all the pieces are played? The game finishes immediately. The points can be counted.

Points

You win if you score the most points. You get points for all stacks which have your colour on top.

Each piece is 1 point.

The stack you pawn ends on counts double.

If your pawn is the highest pawn of all, the stack counts triple.

There may be more pawns finishing the highest count

Glossery

Starting field

12 pieces, 2 from every colour combination, make the Starting Field.

Move

Start your turn by moving from the piece where you are to a piece which lies next to it.

Walking is required, but only on your own colour.
Do not move more than one piece up. Down is always possible.
You can not walk.

Take

Take one piece from the bank. You may take any piece you like. Stick to the following rules:

You need to take if you can not place a piece.
You may not take if you have 3 pieces in your hand.

Place

Put a piece or double on another piece or at ground level. Stick to the following rules:

Put colour on colour. This also applies for the double.
The piece is next to the piece on which you stand.
Pieces must touch at least two others.
You must place a piece if you have three pieces in your hand or the bank is empty.
Do not place if you already took a piece in the same turn.

Swim

This is not mandatory. Swim only to and from pieces on the edge of the playing field. How high you stand does not matter but you can only swim to a piece at ground level.