The gameboard is a 12×12 square grid with six extra squares centered on each of the four sides, totaling 168 squares. Diagonal lines run through each square. Each player has six warriors, and a seventh piece not yet named Priest of the Bow. The historical board was cut into stone slabs, and pieces were small discs of pottery with tops either plain or having a hole in their centers to differentiate ownership. The Priest of the Bow was distinguished from friendly pieces by being somewhat larger.
Game rules
Each player starts the game with six warriors on their six nearest squares. The goal is to bring one's pieces to the opponent's home rank, while capturing as many enemy pieces as possible. The winning condition for this ancient game is not completely defined.
Warriors move one square diagonally forward. Backward moves are not permitted.
An enemy piece can be captured using the —by flanking it on both adjacent squares along a diagonal. Captured pieces are removed from the game.
The first warrior of each player that is captured is removed and replaced by the player's Priest of the Bow, which is entered on the player's home rank. The Priest of the Bow can move one square orthogonally as well as diagonally forward like a warrior. It cannot move backward.
Two players
Players sit at opposite sides of the board; North plays against South.
Four players
North and West are partners against South and East. Each team owns one Priest of the Bow.
Incomplete rules
The rules described by F. H. Cushing and reported by Culin, and subsequently by Bell and Murray, lack specificity on some points:
How a player wins is unclear. One could conjecture that the total number of pieces that reach the opponent's home rank and the number of pieces captured are totaled to determine the winner. The same issue applies when four play.
When four play, it isn't clear whether partners play a combined set of 12 warriors, or each plays a differentiated set of 6 warriors.
It is unknown which player traditionally moves first, how the first player is chosen, and the order of turns when four play.
