The Royal Game of Ur is a two-player race game from ancient Mesopotamia, played on a board of twenty squares. Boards for it were found in the Royal Cemetery at the city of Ur, in what is now southern Iraq, and date to about 2600 to 2400 BCE. Each player races seven pieces along their route and off the board, throwing four pyramid-shaped dice to see how far to move. Rosettes give extra throws, the shared middle row is where pieces get captured, and one lucky square in the middle is safe. A game usually takes 15 to 30 minutes. Play it free in your browser with a friend on one device or against the computer.
How to play Royal Game of Ur
- Each player has 7 pieces that start off the board. White’s row is drawn at the top (or on the left on a phone held upright), Black’s at the bottom (or on the right).
- On your turn, throw the four dice. Each one has a marked tip; your roll is the number of marked tips facing up, from 0 to 4. A 2 comes up most often.
- Move one piece exactly that many squares: enter a new piece onto your row, or move one that is already on the board.
- Your route runs 4 squares along your own row, then 8 squares down the shared middle row, then 2 squares back on your row, and then off the board.
- You can’t land on your own piece. Landing on an opponent’s piece in the middle row captures it, and it goes back to the start.
- Landing on one of the five rosettes gives you another throw. A piece on the middle rosette is safe and can’t be captured.
- A piece leaves the board only with the exact number. On a 0, or when no piece can move, your turn passes.
- The first player to bear off all 7 pieces wins.
The Royal Game of Ur rules explain the board, the dice and every rule in full, with the house rules some players add.
Prefer to watch? See the 7-minute video on the Royal Game of Ur rules page.
Play Royal Game of Ur on one device
Pick With a friend on the setup screen, type two names and decide who goes first. You both use the same phone, tablet or computer. Tap Roll (or the dice below the board, or beside it on a phone held upright) to throw, then tap the piece you want to move. Its destination lights up; tap it, or tap the piece again, to make the move. Your waiting pieces sit in a stack in the gap of your row, and the pieces you bear off collect in the stack next to it, so you can always see how many are left.
With the optional pass screen switched on, the game shows whose turn it is before the next player sees the board. Your game is saved after every move, so you can close the page and carry on later from the same position. The Undo button takes back your last move, and the dice come out the same when you play again, so undo can’t be used to throw for a better number. After the first visit the game also works offline.
Play against the computer
Choose vs Computer to play alone. You can take White or Black and pick a level:
- Easy plays mostly random moves but usually grabs a capture when one is there. Good for learning the route and the rosettes.
- Medium looks at every move it can make and picks the one that leaves its pieces furthest along and safest, with a strong liking for rosettes.
- Hard thinks several turns ahead. It weighs every throw you could get next and your best answer to each, then plays the move with the best average result.
The computer throws its own dice, and a short note on the board says what happened: a 0, a capture, or an extra throw from a rosette.
Quick tips
- Take the middle rosette whenever you can. It is safe, it gives an extra throw and it blocks the shared row for your opponent.
- Count behind you. In the middle row, an opponent’s piece 1 to 4 squares behind yours can capture it, and 2 squares behind is the most likely throw.
- Keep two or three pieces in play so that every number has a good use and a 4 is not wasted.
- Rosettes on your own row are safe stepping stones: square 4 at the start and square 14 near the end both give another throw.
Want to win more often? The beginner tutorial for the Royal Game of Ur covers rosette control, when to capture and how to keep your pieces safe. If you like dice and racing, try Backgammon, which shares the idea of hitting single pieces, or Ludo, another race home with captures. More games where the dice decide your moves are in the dice games collection.