What Are the Rules for Playing “Pegs and Jokers”?
“Pegs and Jokers” is a board game that up to eight players can play. Players begin with five pegs that they try to move to their home areas.
The game rules state that players must divide into two teams of equal numbers. Players must sit alternately, with each player sitting between two rivals. The board has as many edges as there are players: a game with six players requires a hexagon board. Each edge holds the start and the home locations of one player.
Each player has five cards at the start and must hold their cards in a way that the other players can’t see them. In a clockwise order, players pull one card from the deck, play one of their cards, and move as many times as the power of the card they played. Players cannot skip turns, even if it’s more advantageous to not play.
After completing a full lap around the board, a peg may only enter the home area if it’s standing in front of the entrance. Pegs cannot move into the home areas of other players. When a peg moves on top of a rival peg, the rival peg must return to its start area. However, when a peg moves on top of a partner’s peg, the partner’s peg may immediately move to the entrance of its home area.
Playing a joker allows players to move a peg into any spot occupied by another peg, partner or rival. A jack, a queen, a king or an ace is required to move out of the start area. When playing an eight, players must move a peg backwards by eight steps. The first team to move all pegs into their home areas wins the game.
