Playtak House Rules

• Standard rules for Tak can be found here:
  • USTA Rules
  • Greater Than Games - How to play Tak [video]
• White always moves first, though they place a Black stone on their first move.
• Games may be played with komi, meaning that if the game ends in a flat count, black has a number of virtual flats added to their flat count, so that black may win or draw with fewer flats. The size of the komi is adjustable.
• If neither player plays a stone or flattens a standing stone for 25 moves, the game is ruled a draw.

Portable Tak Notation

• PTN or Portable Tak Notation is a method of recording games and describing moves using text.
• You can learn about the game notation here:
  • USTA - Portable Tak Notation
  • Simmon - Portable Tak Notation [video]

Controls

• Desktop

  • Left-click and drag to rotate the board.
  • Scroll wheel to zoom in and out.
  • Left-click a piece in your reserves to select it. Left-click on it again (or right-click) to rotate it to make it a wall.
  • Left-click a square on the board to place the selected piece or to pick up a piece or stack.
  • Right-click and hold on a stack/piece to hide pieces on all other squares (helps to see stack clearly).

• Mobile

  • Touch and drag to rotate the board.
  • Two-finger pinch to zoom in and out
  • Tap a piece from your reserves to select it. Tap it again to rotate it to make it a wall.
  • Tap on a square on the board to place the selected piece or to pick up a piece or stack

• General Notes

  • If any of the above controls don't work, it means that the control is invalid for the current move.
  • Current player to move is indicated by highlighting their name in the left pane.
  • Selecting the undo move in the left pane will require your opponent to also click it to approve it.
  • Selecting the offer draw in the left pane will require your opponent to also click it to accept it.

Play Locally

• From the login page select "Play Scratch"
• Select "New Game" and navigate to the "Play Scratch" tab. From there, select your board size and hit "Play Scratch"

Play Online

• Login to server by clicking "Login" button, signup and then login.
• Click on "New Game" in the menu to start a new game or accept another player's seek by selecting it in "Join game" menu.
• Click on one of any ongoing games from "Watch" menu to watch an ongoing game.

Board Settings

• Click on the "Settings" Icon to change the board style, piece styles and other options.
• You can set a board overlay to customize the look of the board. You can download the template here. Board Overlay Template
• You can also change the color and the texture of the border, the border texture can use any image but may need to be adjusted to fit correctly.