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How to Play

YINSH

2-2 players 30-60 min 7.7 Board Game Geek Rating

Players begin with five rings that leave markers when moved. These double-sided markers flip colors when jumped over by rings, creating constantly shifting patterns. Form rows of five markers in your color to remove a ring. First to remove three rings wins, but fewer rings make subsequent rows harder to achieve in this strategic paradox.

Published 2003

YINSH

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Choose starting player
Determine who will take the first turn
2
Place rings alternately
Take turns placing rings one at a time on empty board spaces
3
Complete ring placement
Each player places all 5 of their rings (white or black) before normal play begins

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Take a marker
Remove one marker from the pool of 51 two-sided markers
2
Place the marker
Put the marker inside one of your rings with your color facing up
3
Move the ring
Slide the ring in a straight line following movement rules
4
Flip jumped markers
After moving, flip all markers the ring jumped over to their opposite color (not the marker placed at the start)
5
Remove completed rows
When a move creates one or more rows of exactly 5 uninterrupted same-color markers:
6
Handle intersecting rows
If rows share markers and removing one breaks another, choose only one row to remove
7
Handle extended rows
If a row contains more than 5 markers, choose which continuous 5 to remove
8
Exclude rings from rows
Only markers count toward rows; rings cannot be part of a row

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Remove three rings
The first player to remove their 3rd ring from the board immediately wins
2
Resolve simultaneous rows
If a move creates rows for both players, the moving player removes rings first and wins if they reach 3
3
Exhaust the marker pool
If all 51 markers are used, the player with more rings removed wins
4
Declare a draw
If markers run out and both players have removed equal rings, the game ends in a tie
5
Win in Blitz Mode
The first player to complete any row of 5 markers immediately wins (alternate game mode)

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

How to Play: YINSH

How to Play: YINSH

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Règle du jeu Yinish

Règle du jeu Yinish

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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