How to play
Mahbusa (“the prisoner”) is a traditional Turkish way to play on a backgammon (tavla) board; elsewhere it’s known as plakoto. You play white against the computer. Each side has 15 checkers, and all 15 start on one point: yours on the far corner at the top right, the computer’s on the corner below it. Checkers move in opposite directions, as in backgammon: you go round to your home in the bottom right, the computer to the top right.
- Roll the dice and move checkers by the numbers shown. A double is played four times. You must use both dice if you can; if only one can be played, it must be the larger when possible.
- No hitting. Nothing is ever sent back.
- Trap a lone checker. If you land on a point where the computer has a single checker, it becomes a prisoner (mahbus): it’s shown with a red ring under your checker and can’t move until every checker on top of it has left. The computer can do the same to you.
- Blocked points. You can’t land on a point with two or more enemy checkers, or on a point where the enemy holds one of your checkers prisoner.
- Bearing off. When all your checkers, including any prisoner of yours, are in your home, you bear them off as in backgammon. The first to bear off all 15 wins.
The mother. The last checker left on your starting point is called the mother (ana). If it’s trapped there, you lose the game at once, with double points.
Scoring. A normal win is 1 point. It’s 2 points if the loser hasn’t borne off any checkers, or if the loser’s mother was trapped.
Tap one of your checkers, then a highlighted point. Undo takes back the moves of your turn, Hint suggests a move, and you can choose Easy, Medium or Hard at the top.
Strategy
- Don’t leave single checkers within reach. A lone checker one to six points in front of enemy checkers can be trapped, and a trapped checker far from home costs you a lot.
- Trap early and deep. A checker trapped near its own start is stuck for a long time, and the checker holding it blocks that point too.
- Guard your mother. While checkers are still leaving your starting point, never leave just one there if the enemy can reach it: losing the mother loses the game double.
- Leave in pairs. Moving two checkers together to the same point keeps both safe, because two checkers block the point.
- Free your prisoners. The enemy checker on top has to move on eventually; until then, plan the rest of your moves around the blocked checker.
If you enjoy Mahbusa, try Mangala or Marble Push next.
