Rules

Rota

Rota is a traditional ancient Roman board game and a distant cousin of tic-tac-toe, built around the same simple challenge: creating a line of three pieces. Unlike tic-tac-toe, however, Rota keeps the game alive after the first moves, because players can move their pieces around a wheel-shaped board. Its modern name comes from the Latin word rota, meaning “wheel”, while its original Roman name is not fully certain. Boards for the game have been found carved into stone in Roman sites, showing that it was likely a popular and easy-to-play pastime for people across the Roman world.

Rules

Decide who goes first. Watch out the first player has the advantage. Player 1 places his token on any point on the Rota wheel. Player 2 places her token on any empty point. Players take turns moving one token into an adjacent empty spot. You may move along the curved edge, or along a straight line.
You may not jump your token or your opponent’s token or knock it off its spot. You may not skip a turn.

Play continues until one player has achieved three-in-a-row.
Unlike tic tac toe, Rota never ends in a tie.

Aim of the game: Be the first player to line up three tokens in a row.

Set-up:

Decide who will play first.
Keep in mind that the starting player has a slight advantage.

How to play

Player 1 places their token on any point of the Rota wheel.
Player 2 then places their token on any unoccupied point.
After that, players take turns moving one token at a time to a neighbouring empty point.

Movement rules:

A token may move:
- along a curved line, or
- along a straight connecting line
Tokens cannot jump over another token.
Tokens cannot push or remove another token from its place.
Players must move on every turn — skipping is not allowed.

Winning the game: The game continues until one player forms three tokens in a row.

Important note: Unlike tic-tac-toe, Rota always has a winner, the game does not end in a draw.

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