How to play
Amazons is played on a 10 × 10 board. Each player has four amazons, which move like chess queens. White moves first.
- Move an amazon. Slide one of your amazons any number of empty squares in a straight line, across, up and down, or diagonally. It cannot jump over amazons or arrows.
- Shoot an arrow. From the square where it landed, the amazon shoots an arrow the same way a queen moves. The square where the arrow lands is burned and blocked for the rest of the game. You may even shoot back into the square the amazon just left.
- Nothing is ever captured. Amazons stay on the board all game; the board just keeps shrinking.
- The last player to move wins. If it is your turn and none of your amazons can move, you lose. There are no draws.
To play, tap one of your amazons, then the square to move to, then the square where the arrow should land. The highlighted dots always show what you can tap next, and the last move is marked.
At the top, choose your Opponent. Against the Computer you play white and can pick Easy, Medium or Hard. Choose Friend to play two people on one device. Hint shows a good move for the player to move, and Undo takes back one move against a friend, or your move together with the computer’s answer.
Strategy
- It is a territory game. Late in the game the board splits into closed areas. Each area belongs to whoever has amazons inside it, and the player with more room left to move wins. Every move should claim space.
- Keep your amazons mobile. An amazon in a corner or boxed in by arrows is nearly useless. Bring them toward the open center early.
- Use arrows to block. The arrow is your main weapon: shoot it to cut an enemy amazon off from open space, or to seal an area for yourself.
- Count the squares near the end. When the areas are closed, count how many moves each side has left. Fill your own area one square at a time, and don’t waste moves in it while you can still fight for open regions.
- Don’t trap your own amazons. Before shooting, check that your arrow doesn’t close the last exit of one of your own amazons.
The computer estimates territory by counting which squares each side can reach first and considers the most promising moves. In our tests between its levels, Hard beat Medium in all 6 games and Medium beat Easy in all 6.
For more modern abstract games, try Hex or Breakthrough.
If you enjoy Amazons, try Backgammon or Breakthrough next.
