Amazons
Move a queen, shoot an arrow, and box the computer in. Last to move wins.
How to play Amazons
You are White and move first. On your turn, click one of your four amazons to see where it can go, then click a highlighted square to move it there. An amazon travels like a chess queen, any distance in a straight line but never jumping. After it lands you must shoot an arrow: click one of the highlighted squares and that square is burned forever, blocking all future movement and arrows. Burned squares and both players' amazons block queens and arrows alike. Slowly wall the computer off; the player who has no legal move on their turn loses. Use the 2P button to pass-and-play a friend.
A young classic from Argentina
Amazons is one of the few great abstract games with a birth certificate. Walter Zamkauskas, an Argentine games inventor, created it in 1988, and it first reached the public in the puzzle magazine El Acertijo in the early 1990s under its Spanish name, El Juego de las Amazonas. It spread through the abstract-games world fast, because it does something chess and checkers don't: nothing is ever captured, and yet the board slowly strangles one of the players. Mathematicians took to it just as quickly. A position naturally breaks into separate walled-off regions whose moves can be counted one by one, which makes it a favourite example in combinatorial game theory, and computer scientists have shown that playing it perfectly is a genuinely hard problem.
The game is really about territory
Every turn does two things: one of your four amazons flies like a chess queen, and then it shoots an arrow that burns a square shut forever. Neither amazons nor arrows can jump anything. Since the loser is simply whoever runs out of legal moves, the whole contest is a fight over space. Arrows are walls. You win by fencing off more empty room for your amazons than the computer can keep for its own. Beginners look for attacks; the game quietly punishes them for it. There's nothing to attack. There's only room, and who owns it.
How to think about it
- Count squares, not captures. If your walled-off side holds twenty empty cells and the computer's holds twelve, you can simply outlast it: it runs out of moves first.
- Shoot arrows to divide, not just to block. A single arrow that splits one open area into two can hand you the bigger half outright.
- Don't strand an amazon. A queen sealed alone in a tiny room can only shuffle a few times before it becomes dead weight, and you're effectively playing three against four.
- Mind the shape of your rooms. An awkward, twisty pocket can yield fewer real moves than its square count suggests, because one amazon has to walk it a single square at a time.
Opening and endgame, in plain terms
Early on, push toward the centre and keep all four amazons mobile. A queen in the middle of an open board reaches far more squares than one shoved into a corner, and in Amazons reach is everything. Use your first arrows to start carving the board into regions, aiming your cuts so the enemy amazons end up sharing cramped pockets while yours sit in wide open ones. A concrete habit that helps: after each computer move, ask which single arrow would most shrink the space its amazons can reach, and weigh that against grabbing space of your own. Trapping two enemy amazons in the same region is a quiet triumph, since they'll waste each other's air.
Once the walls are mostly up, the game turns into a filling puzzle. Spend your enclosed territory one square at a time, moving an amazon a single step and burning a square you'll never need, so you always have one more move in the bank than your opponent. Rushing here is the classic throwaway mistake: a long queen move inside your own territory can burn through squares you'll want later. Slow, stingy steps win filled endgames. The counting itself is simple once the regions are sealed. If your pockets hold eleven usable moves and the computer's hold eight, you can even afford a couple of clumsy ones and still be the last player standing. Do that count a few moves before the walls close, though, because if the numbers come out against you, your final arrows need to steal a square or two while stealing is still possible.
Playing it here
You're White and you move first. Click an amazon to see its legal moves, click a highlighted square to fly there, then click again to shoot the arrow; the burned square blocks movement and arrows for both sides forever. Easy is a fair teacher, Medium punishes stranded amazons, and Hard will beat you on territory counting until counting becomes a habit of your own. Use the 2P button to pass and play a friend on the same board, which is the best way to feel how brutal a well-timed dividing arrow really is.
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Amazons: frequently asked questions
How do you win at Amazons?
There is no capturing. Each turn you move an amazon and then shoot an arrow that permanently blocks a square, shrinking the open space. You win when your opponent is completely boxed in and cannot make a legal move on their turn.
Does the arrow have to be shot every turn?
Yes. A full turn is always a move followed by a shot from the amazon's new square: you cannot move without shooting, and the arrow flies like a queen (any distance, no jumping) to an empty square.
Can I play a friend instead of the computer?
Yes. Tap the 2P button for local pass-and-play on one device, and tap it again to return to the computer opponent with Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty.
How do you actually win at Amazons?
There are no captures. You win when your opponent has no legal move on their turn, which comes down to boxing them into less space than you hold. Think of it as a race to control more empty squares.
Do I have to shoot an arrow every turn?
Yes. After an amazon moves it must shoot an arrow from its new square, and that square is burned forever, blocking all future movement and arrows for both sides.
Can amazons or arrows jump over pieces?
No. An amazon moves like a chess queen in a straight line but can't leap anything, and arrows travel the same way. Other amazons and burned squares block both movement and shots.
What should I aim for in the opening?
Keep your amazons central and mobile, and start using arrows to carve the board into regions. The goal is to seal yourself into the larger open area while penning the computer into a small one.
Why do mathematicians care about Amazons?
Because late positions split into independent walled-off regions whose moves can be counted and added up, it became a favourite study case in combinatorial game theory. Analysing it is also computationally hard, which keeps it interesting to computer scientists.
Can I play against a friend?
Yes. Tap the 2P button to pass and play locally instead of facing the computer, taking turns to move and shoot on the same board.
Is Amazons free to play?
Yes. Amazons is completely free on Inkplay, with no download, no sign-up, and no in-game purchases. Open the page and play instantly on desktop or mobile.
Can I play Amazons unblocked?
Yes. Amazons runs entirely in your browser with no download, install, or plugins, so it loads instantly and keeps working even on school or work networks where bigger game sites get blocked.
More games to play
In the mood for more? Try Chess, Tic Tac Toe, Connect Four, Reversi, or browse all board games and the full games list on Inkplay. Amazons also appears in 2 Player Games, Strategy Games.