Yut Nori

Cast the four sticks, gamble on the diagonal shortcuts, and race all four of your horses home.

How to play

Yut Nori is a traditional Korean race game played by casting four flat sticks. The result tells you how far to move a horse around a square ring of stations, and the first player to bring all four horses home wins.

• Cast four sticks: Do=1, Gae=2, Geol=3, Yut=4, and Mo=5 (all round-side up).
• Yut, Mo, and capturing a rival each grant another cast.
• Select a cast value, then a horse to move it; horses on the same square stack and move together.
• Land exactly on a corner or the centre to cut across a diagonal shortcut; land on a rival to send it back to start.

Game modes

• Vs Computer: play the CPU on Easy, Medium, or Hard.
• Hot-seat: two players take turns on one device.
• Online: create an invite, join with a code, or quick-match.

Controls

• Desktop: click 'Cast the sticks', click a cast value, then click a horse or its destination.
• Phone & tablet: tap to cast, tap a value, then tap a horse to move it.

Tips & strategy

• Aim to land on corners so you can take the diagonals and shave whole laps off the route.
• Stack horses to move them together, but remember a single capture sends a whole rival stack home.
• Chase captures and big casts — each one buys you a bonus throw to press your lead.

Origins

Yut Nori is a traditional Korean race game played for many centuries, above all at Seollal, the Lunar New Year, when families gather to throw the four wooden yut sticks together. More than a pastime, the casts were once read for fortune and for the harvest to come. It remains one of Korea's best-loved folk games.

About Yut Nori

Yut Nori is a classic Korean stick-throwing race traditionally played at festivals, full of shortcuts and swings of fortune. This is an original, free browser recreation with three computer levels, hot-seat, and online play — no download or sign-up.

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