I was able to reproduce the rules almost precisely, but for two things. Similar to dwarfs, trolls may move further in order to capture if at the end of a line of trolls. When a troll moves, their player may choose to capture any dwarfs on the eight squares surrounding their new location. Trolls are moved like chess kings, one square in any direction as long as they do not land on another piece. A dwarf can always capture a troll on an adjacent square, but in order to capture one that is (for example) three squares away, the dwarf must be at the end of a line of three dwarfs. In order to do this, they must land on a square containing a troll, by moving no further than the number of dwarfs arranged in a straight (orthagonal or diagonal) line. Alternately, they may attempt to capture a troll. The game is fairly simple: it consists of an octagonal board, fifteen squares by fifteen squares, with a triangle of fifteen squares removed from each corner, and fourty pieces: eight trolls and thirty-two dwarfs.Įach player moves a piece in turn, beginning with the dwarfs.ĭwarfs are moved like chess queens, any number of squares in any direction as long as they do not pass through another piece.

I chose ‘Thud’, also known as ‘Hnaflbaflwhiflsnifltafl’, a boardgame based on one mentioned in Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ series. As a project for our third-year scripting module at University, we were required to replicate a boardgame.

Thud the discworld board game