How to play War Blocker

War Blocker is a turn-based race on a square board. Reach your goal edge first, and use walls to make everyone else take the long way round. No dice. No luck. Pure skill.

Goal

Every pawn starts on one edge of the board. The coloured strip on the opposite edge is its goal. The first pawn to step onto any square of its goal wins the game. In team games the whole team wins when any teammate arrives.

Setup

• Boards come in 9×9, 11×11, 13×13 and 15×15 squares.
• Two players start in the middle of opposite edges. With 3 or 4 players each side gets a pawn, and 6 or 8 players share the edges.
• Walls are shared out from a pool: on a 9×9 board, two players get 10 walls each and four players get 5 each. Bigger boards have bigger pools.

Your turn, step by step

1. Pick your goal. Your pawn starts on one edge of the board. The coloured strip on the opposite edge is your goal. The first pawn to reach its goal wins.
2. Move one square. On your turn, move your pawn one square up, down, left or right. Walls block movement, so find the shortest open path.
3. Jump face to face. When another pawn stands directly next to you, jump straight over it to the square behind.
4. Step diagonally when blocked. If a wall or the board edge is behind that pawn, step diagonally to either side of it instead.
5. Or place a wall. Instead of moving, place a wall two squares long between squares to slow an opponent down. Walls cannot overlap or cross, and every wall you place comes from your limited supply.
6. Never trap anyone. Every pawn must always keep at least one open route to its goal. A wall that would seal anyone in is not allowed.
7. Race home. Balance moving and blocking. Save walls for the moment an opponent is about to break away, and reach your goal first to win.

Placing walls

• A wall is two squares long and sits in the groove between squares, horizontally or vertically.
• Walls cannot overlap, cross another wall in the middle, or stick out of the board.
• Once placed, a wall stays for the rest of the game. When your walls run out you can only move.
• The golden rule: every pawn must always have at least one open path to its goal. The app turns a wall red when it would trap someone.

Game modes

• Classic

  Race to the opposite side of the board. Two to eight players, with team play for four, six and eight.

• Corners

  Start in a corner and cut across to the shaded zone in the opposite corner. Up to four players.

• Summit race

  Everyone lines up on the same bottom row and races for the top edge. Walls hold back whoever is leading.

• King of the hill

  Start on the edges as usual, but the only goal is the centre square. First pawn onto it wins.

• Blitz

  Classic rules with half the walls. Online and on Wi-Fi every turn gets a 15 second clock.

Teams and bigger tables

With 4, 6 or 8 players you can play in teams. Teammates share the win, and a well placed wall can shield a teammate as well as block a rival. Empty seats can be filled with bots, so a game never waits for a missing friend.

Computer opponents

Practise against 6 levels: Beginner, Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert, Impossible. Hints and undo are available only in solo and pass and play games, never against real people online.

Strategy tips

• Count paths, not squares. The player with the shorter shortest path is winning, whatever the board looks like.
• Do not spend walls early. A wall is worth most when it forces a long detour right before an opponent breaks away.
• Build corridors. Two walls in a line can turn a short route into a long one.
• Watch the jump. Standing face to face lets the other player leap past you.
• Keep one wall in reserve to answer a surprise shortcut.