Tékumel Board Games: Qál and Milúkhi of Livyánu

(Tumbleweed is a two-player strategy game by Michal Zapala. Yavalath is a two-player strategy designed by Cameron Browne.)

This Livyáni board is used for a few different games, two of which are given here. The board is a hexagonal arrangement of circular spaces, arranged in a larger hexagon. The whole hexagon may be eight to eleven spaces on a side and is used for the game Qál. The inner hexagon five spaces on a side is used for Milúkhi. The center space is usually highlighted in some way. In both cases two boxes of ~100 pieces are included, usually white and red, made of discs that can be stacked easily.

Qál

To start, the younger player sets a red piece and a white piece down on separate circles, and the other player picks which color they want to be. White goes first.

On a turn, a player picks a space on the board. The space must be 'seen' by another one of the player's pieces, in an unobstructed straight line. The player puts down a stack of pieces with height equal to how many different player stacks can see the chosen space. (So, up to a maximum height of 6.)  The player may target a space occupied by an opponent's stack only if the play would build a higher stack, and the enemy pieces are replaced in this case.

The central space is assumed to have a stack of height 2 of neutral-colored pieces.

A player may choose to pass instead of play.

The game ends when both players pass or there are no more meaningful moves to make (ie moves into spaces that are not safe from capture). The winner is the player with the greater number of controlled spaces.

Milúkhi

Milúkhi is seen as a lighter game than Qál. It uses the inner 5-sided hex of spaces in the board. The center space is not special.

In Milúkhi each player takes turn placing a piece on an empty space. If four pieces are connected in a line, that player wins. If only three spaces are connected in a line, that player loses.