Talat - Board game Huch! & Friends - Free user manual and instructions

Product type	Board game
Brand	Huch! & Friends
Model	Talat
Number of players	3 (2 with variant)
Recommended age	From 8 years (estimated)
Game duration	20-30 minutes (estimated)
Box contents	3 game boards, 27 wooden towers (9 grey, 9 black, 9 white), 1 rulebook
Product dimensions (packaged)	Approximately 30 x 30 x 6 cm (estimated)
Product weight	Approximately 500 g (estimated)
Power supply	None (non-electronic game)
Main functions	Movement and capture of towers on a triangular board, priority rules based on tower size and shape
Game mechanics	Placement, movement in straight line or diagonal, capture by larger tower or using the David & Goliath rule
Care and cleaning	Clean with a dry or slightly damp cloth. Do not use chemicals.
Safety	Contains small parts (towers). Choking hazard for children under 3 years. Do not leave parts within reach of young children.
Spare parts and repairability	Individual towers and boards can be replaced by contacting the manufacturer. Spare parts are not available in retail.
General information	Author: Bruce Whitehill. Graphic design: HUCH! & friends. Manufacturer: Huch! & Friends. Instructions available in several languages.

Frequently Asked Questions - Talat Huch! & Friends

How many players can play Talat?

The base game is played with 3 players. A variant for 2 players exists, with the addition of an imaginary player called 'Zihin'.

How does setup work?

Each player takes the 9 towers of their color. The three boards are assembled into a triangle. The oldest player starts. Towers are placed one by one on the starting lines of each player, only one tower per space.

How do you move a tower?

On your turn, a player moves one of their towers one space in a straight line or diagonally. You cannot move backward, jump over another tower, or pass on moving.

What are the capture rules?

A tower can capture an opponent's tower if it is on an adjacent space (sideways, straight, or diagonally). Capture depends on size and number of sides: a taller tower captures a tower exactly one level lower; if equal in size, the one with more sides captures the one with fewer sides. The David & Goliath rule allows a small triangular tower to capture a large hexagonal tower.

Is capture mandatory when possible?

No, capture is never mandatory. The player may choose to move another tower or not to capture.

How does the game end?

The game ends when two of the three boards are 'frozen', meaning no moves are possible on those boards. A board is frozen when no more captures or moves are possible, even theoretically.

How are points calculated?

Each opponent tower taken scores 5 points. Each tower placed on the opponent's starting line scores an additional 3 points. In case of a tie, the player who captured the highest-value tower wins.

What are the special rules for the two-player variant?

An imaginary player 'Zihin' is added with 9 grey towers. Players first place Zihin's towers, then their own. During the game, a player can move either Zihin's towers or their own. Zihin's towers score 3 bonus points if they reach an opponent's starting line.

How to maintain the game?

Clean the boards and towers with a dry or slightly damp cloth. Avoid standing water and chemicals. Store in a dry place.

Does the game contain small dangerous parts?

Yes, the towers are small parts and pose a choking hazard for children under 3 years. Supervise young children during play.

USER MANUAL Talat Huch! & Friends

Autor: Bruce Whitehill

Grafik Design: HUCH! & friends

Calat The Power of Three

Contents

3 game boards, each with
2 starting lines in the players' colours
27 towers
(9 per player, in one of 3 colours: black, white, and grey)

with he e Starting lines black grey ed

Getting started

Each player receives 9 towers of his own colour. The game boards are arranged into a triangle so that each player can comfortably reach the starting lines of his two game boards. The oldest player begins. When playing more than one game, the winner of the last game always begins the new one.

Note: If you play Talat as a two-player game, the same basic rules apply, along with the additional rules on page 6.

Order of play

1. Setup
2. Moving and capturing
3. End of game

1. Setup

Players take turns placing one of their 9 towers on the starting spaces of their own starting lines until all towers have been placed. Once all the towers have been placed, each player should have one free space left on one of his starting lines.

Note: Each space may be occupied by one tower only. You have to decide which tower you want to place onto which game board. Once

a tower has been placed on the board, it may not be moved again during the setup phase!

2. Moving and capturing

MOVING

On his turn, a player may move any one of his own towers one space forward, straight ahead or diagonally, to an unoccupied space.

small small

small small small small small small

Note: You must move on your turn; you are not allowed to pass. You are not allowed to move a tower backwards or jump over another tower. Since you may move only one of your own towers per turn, you may play on only one game board per turn. You do not have to move all your towers from your starting line.

If you move a tower onto an opposing player's starting line, the tower remains in that space unless captured or capturing sideways (see below).

CAPTURING

You can capture an opposing tower if it is standing either directly or diagonally in front of one of your towers, or is on either side of it, depending on their sizes and shapes, as explained below:

1. A tower can capture any tower that is one level smaller. Therefore, the largest towers can capture any medium sized tower, but not the smallest towers. A medium-sized tower can capture any small tower.
2. If two towers are the same height, the tower with more sides can capture the tower with fewer sides. Therefore, towers with six sides can capture towers with four sides or three sides, and four-sided towers can capture three-sided ones.
3. Thus, a tower cannot capture another tower of the same height with the same number of sides.
4. The David-and-Goliath rule: The small three-sided tower can capture the largest six-sided tower.

When you capture a tower, place the captured tower in front of you. Your tower remains on the space that had been occupied by the captured tower.

graph TD
    A["small"] --> B["hexagon"]
    B --> C["medium"]
    C --> D["hexagon"]
    D --> E["large"]
    F["small"] --> G["medium"]
    G --> H["hexagon"]
    H --> I["medium"]
    I --> J["hexagon"]
    K["medium"] --> L["hexagon"]
    L --> M["medium"]
    M --> N["hexagon"]

small small medium medium

Capturing is possible Capturing is not possible

small medium small

small medium

The three-sided tower is safe Black can capture Grey

large large

medium large

Grey can capture Black Black can capture Grey

Note:

You do not have to capture an opponent's tower. You are not allowed to capture one of your own towers. A tower on a player's starting line can still capture or be captured if it is next to an opponent's tower.

3. End of game

When no more captures are possible on a board, the board is "frozen" and players are no longer allowed to move their towers on that board. (That means, of course, that towers you had hoped to move into your opponent's starting spaces to score may be stopped short of their goal.) When two of the three boards are frozen, the game is over.

small large small 2 small 1 medium medium

The board is frozen. Towers 1 and 2 are too far apart for tower 1 to capture tower 2, even if the two move toward each other.

3 large 4 large 5 small large small 1 2 large medium

The board is frozen. Tower 2 can no longer capture tower 3, since the tower is too far away. Tower 3 and tower 4 cannot capture tower 1, since the tower is two levels smaller.

small large large X large large small

Tower 1 could theoretically still be captured by tower 2 (David-and-Goliath rule). In order for that to happen, tower 3 would have to move to the space shown by the blue arrow. If tower 1 moves forward to the X, the board is still not frozen, since 1 could theoretically move forward again along the diagonal to the space next to 2. Since the board is not frozen, tower 1 can, instead, move straight forward (not diagonally) into grey's starting area to score. Then the board would be frozen.
Note: If it is still theoretically possible for a tower to be captured on a board, play can continue on that board, even if it means that towers are only moving and not capturing.

Scoring

Every captured tower, irrespective of its shape or size, is worth 5 points. Every tower that ends up on an opponent's starting line is worth an additional 3 points. The player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, towers are compared. Whoever has captured a tower that ranks higher than those of the other tying player(s), wins the tie. If players are still tied, everybody's a winner!

Calat for two

The game proceeds as described above with the following changes:

Setup

First, the towers of an imaginary third player, the „Zihin" (Arabic for "spirit") are placed on the game board by both players. Taking turns, both players place any one of the Zihin towers on one of the two starting lines of the same colour until 8 Zihin towers have been placed on the game board. The ninth Zihin tower is taken out of the game! In turn, each player now places his own towers, one by one, on one of his own two starting lines, just as in the standard game.

Moving and capturing

The player who places the last tower on the game board begins. Then you take turns. Moving and capturing is just the same as in the three-player game.

On your turn, you have the choice of moving a tower or capturing:

• on the board between you and the Zihin, using your own tower;
• on the board between the Zihin and your opponent, using a Zihin tower;
• on the board between you and your opponent, using your own tower.

Note: Captured towers are placed in front of the player who has captured them, regardless if they were captured with his own tower or with a Zihin tower.

You may not capture your own towers with Zihin towers.

Scoring

Scoring is the same as in the standard game. An additional three points are awarded for each Zihin tower on the opponent's starting line.

Author: Bruce Whitehill

Graphic design: HUCH! & friends

Translation: Birgit Irgang, Bruce & Sybille Whitehill

Acknowledgements: The author wishes to thank his wife Sybille for her advice, playtesting and translation of the game instructions into German.

Manufacturer:

petlite petlite

petite petite petite petite petite