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Teeko: a quick & fun party game

Takes 2 minutes to learn, 1 minute to play, and a long time to master.

Teeko is an incredible board game. It's devilishly simple, yet full of complex strategy. Ben Orlin [1] describes Teeko as

"sweet, snackable, and intermittently spicy, like a bowl of honey-roasted nuts where one in thirty has an invisible coating of wasabi."

Rules

  1. Tostadas is played on a 5x5 board, and each player has 4 pieces of one color. You can use a chessboard or some notebook paper for the board, and you can use colored dice, checkers, chess pawns, or other (relatively small) household materials for the pieces.
  2. You win as soon as your pieces form a winning position. There are two types of winning positions:
    • 4 same-color pieces connected in a straight, continuous line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal).
    • 4 same-color pieces that form the corners of a square. This square can be 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, or even 5x5, but cannot be "tilted".
  3. In the first stage of play, alternate placing down your pieces with your opponent. You can place pieces on any unoccupied square. Once all 8 pieces are on the board, move to the second stage of play.[2]
  4. In the second stage of play, move any of your pieces onto an adjacent square. Your pieces can move diagonally, horizontally, or vertically, but they cannot jump over or capture any pieces. Continue to alternate moves with your opponent until someone wins. You may not skip your turn.

The Beauty of Teeko

There's a surprising depth of strategy for how simple the game rules are. Go grab a friend and play a quick game! I swear it's really fun, and it's a little more intellectual than your typical party game.

  1. I discovered Teeko thanks to Ben Orlin's excellent book Math Games with Bad Drawings. Would recommend—it's a good read. ↩︎

  2. You can win even in the first stage of play, although it's rare. ↩︎