Welcome to my new info page…KLINGON GAMES. These games are games that I have collected from all over the Internet. I hope to make more klingons aware of these games, and promote a little more info about living the life of a klingon.

I tried to collect as much information as I could, as correctly as I could. When available, I placed either the author’s name, or website from where I found the info. Some info, is generally available at several sites, or which I was told verbally, has no contributing info shown. If anyone who knows more about these games, spots any mistakes within, please let me know.

In service to the Empire,

SajQa’

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A traditional Klingon game in which one contestant holds both arms forward, while the other places his or her arms between the first, wrists touching. The first contestant attempts to press the arms together, while the second attempts to force them apart. Back

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Website: http://members.aol.com/JPKlingon/game/kgame.htm

1. Warriors flip a coin to see who goes first.

2. First warrior places the coin on wa' (1) or cha' (2) position and declares "wa'" or "cha'".

3. In turn the second warrior says "wa'" or "cha'", then moves the coin to the new total, and announces it.

4. Play goes back to the first warrior who does as in step 3.

5. Play goes back and forth, until the total is 10 (wa'maH). The winner announces his or her total, "wa'maH", and declares "Qapla'"! (victory).

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NOTE: The coin is always flipped to start.

ALTERNATIVE PLAY: Same as above, but the object is to avoid the total of 10. Loser declares wa'maH, and victor (who forced the other player to 10) cries "Qapla'". For variety the game should go back and forth between both forms.Back

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Rules for the game Klin Zha Copyright © 1989 by Leonard B. Loyd, Jr.

Presented by The Authorized Klin Zha Homepage at

Klin Zha is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Klingon culture, beating even the ever-popular art of Tribble-Skinning. Similar in principle to the human game of chess, Klin Zha was introduced in John Ford's novel 'The Final Reflection.' Since its publication many years ago, Klingon groups around the world have developed and refined the game to its current state. The following is a treatise on the art of playing Klin Zha, written by Mhaqz EpetaI' meQpu'yay, of the Intergalactic Klingon Empire.

KLIN ZHA

The Klingon Game of Strategy and Tactics

The concept of a simple, but challenging, game that will endure for generations is one that is present in both the Human and Klingon cultures. The game is first seen and talked about in John M. Ford's book, 'The Final Reflection.' The game itself originated long ago on Qo'noS, its true beginnings now lost among the many myths and legends of Klingon history.

The main difference between Klin Zha and the human game of Chess is that whereas Chess is more the 'civilized man's' game and reserved for those of higher learning, every Klingon worth his salt knows the ins and outs of Klin Zha. It is considered the ultimate game of mental skill and an excellent tactical exercise. Klin Zha is a game of war, and, for Klingons, the Perpetual Game - the Game of Life. Because Fate has decreed we must all play against ourselves and others to succeed, survive, and conquer, this is the perfect simulation of, and preparation for, the Perpetual Game we all play. Klin Zha Kinta, the Game with Live Pieces

The object of the game is to control the goal, either by capturing the opponents goal, or by removing all of the opponent's pieces that can take your goal. The game ends when one captures the opponent's goal, removes the opponent's goal taking pieces, or when a player finds it impossible to make a legal move.

When victory is noted, the winner says, "Zha riest'n, teskas tal tai-kleon." Translation: "A pleasant game. My compliments to a worthy opponent."

THE PIECES AND THEIR BOARD

Klin Zha uses a triangular board, marked with a triangular grid of nine triangles on each side, with a total of eighty-one spaces. There is an additional division of the board which is not used except in setting up pieces. That is the division of the playing area into three corners, or points, at the center of each side, made so as to meet in the exact center of the board. Each players arranges his pieces within one of the board's points. Action then extends out over the entire board as play proceeds.

There are nine pieces and one goal per side, the traditional colors for each side being green and gold. The pieces include: 1 Fencer,, 1 Lancer, 1 Swift, 2 Fliers, 3 Vanguards, 1 Blockader, and the Goal, the game's important 'non-piece.' A pair of spindles, two hexagonal rods, white with gold lettering, numbered on the sides 1 through 6, are also used, but a six-sided cube may be substituted for them when necessary.

MANNERS OF PLAY

The Spindles are thrown, determining first and second placement of pieces. The winner of the throw decides who will place first and second. To set up and move first reveals your thoughts and is a disadvantage.

First, one player sets up his entire set of pieces within one of the 'points' of the board. Then the other player does the same within one of the two remaining points, leaving the third point open. The action of the game will expand out into the third point as play progresses.

After both sides have placed their pieces, the Goals are placed with their 'carrier' pieces.

The player who placed first, moves first.

A piece is captured when an opponent's piece moves into its square.

The game is ended when one: captures the opponent's goal with a Fencer, Lancer, or Vanguard; removes the opponent's Fencer, Lancer, and Vanguards; makes it impossible for the opponent to make a legal move.

MOVEMENT OF THE PIECES

THE FENCER (1): The squad leader. Quick, agile, the strongest piece on the field. Moves 1, 2, or 3 unobstructed spaces in any direction and combination.

THE LANCER (1): A mounted warrior with heavy shock attack, but not much maneuverability. Moves 1, 2, or 3 unobstructed spaces straight in any direction.

THE SWIFT (1): Moves rapidly to the attack. The Commando. A hero-type for quick strike harraying actions. It, like the Fliers, cannot carry the Goal, but can attack the Goal-carrier. Cannot attack any adjacent square, but can move 2, 3, or 4 spaces in any direction and combination.

THE FLIERS (2): Warriors equipped with anti-gravitational units for long range forays on the battlefield. The only unit that can jump over pieces. Cannot carry the goal, but may attack the Goal-carrier. Moves 3, 4, 5, or 6 spaces in any direction.

THE VANGUARDS (3): The forward patrol - advance field troops. Stodgy, foot-slogging front line infantry. Moves 1 space in any direction.

THE BLOCKADER (1): A warrior carrying a field portable force-field generation of limited range, to protect areas of the battlefield from missiles or ground assault troops. The Blockader moves 1 or 2 unobstructed spaces in any direction, and no Enemy piece can come within 1 space of the Blockader, nor may the Blockader move within 1 space of any enemy piece. The Blockader cannot carry the Goal, nor may another piece carrying the Goal move within its protective area. NOTE: Opposing Blockaders may not move within 2 spaces of each other.

THE GOAL (1): The game's important "non-piece." It does not represent a soldier, but instead stands for the Klingon's personal goal - the spirit and ideal of military cunning and accomplishment - the Klin itself. The Goal is represented by a small disk and cannot move by itself. It can be carried about by a warrior or even abandoned on a space by a piece that moves away. When left unattended on a space, the Goal does not pose an obstruction to the movement of the warrior pieces.

The Goal cannot be carried by the Fliers, or Swift, nor may it be carried within the protected area of the Blockader.

Remember, this is a Klingon game. You must expose and flaunt your spirit of combat and valor, not hide it without honor. True Klingon courage and militarism must constantly present an open challenge to an opponent. Back

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A collection of dice games commonly played in the Klingon Empire

By Korloch Tai Riskadh

This is a short collection of dice games played by members of the Klingon Empire. Although there are many Klingon dice games using dice with many different face configurations, the ones presented here so far are limited to four-sided dice, simply because they were the easiest to get a hold of at the time, that weren't the commonly known and widely used six-sided dice. This collection was not actually started with the intent of being a compilation of dice games. Rather, it was to simply be the rules for just a few simple games that could be played in bars or similar environments while in uniform at cons or other events for fun. Additionally, I thought it would help add to atmosphere of being in uniform, as that every culture we've encountered so far has had some form of dice/gambling games evolve, particularly among the warriors, sailors, and other bar patrons. Have fun with them, and may you win lots of bloodwine and latinum. Qapla’!

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Trefoils is another old Klingon dice game originating in bars among sailors and warriors. This game is a basic game, using only three dice. In this game, the players all take turns rolling the dice to see who can get the most matching points pointing up in a round. The one with the most points wins the round. If there is a tie, the tied players move on to another round, continuing in this fashion until someone wins.

Kai, K'vin, K'peK, Korloch and Karchang are all playing Trefoils. Kai rolls first, (It's good to be the captain!) and gets three red points up. K'vin rolls and get three blue points up and a yellow point up. K'pek rolls and gets a red point, a green point, and a blue point up. Korloch rolls and gets three green points up. Karchang rolls and gets two yellow points and a red point up. Kai, K'vin, and Korloch all move onto the next round. The three warriors all roll again, this time K'vin and Korloch both get one point of three separate colors pointing up, while Kai gets two points of one color and one point of another color pointing up. Kai wins.

The dice traditionally used with this game are four-sided dice with each corner of the dice a different color. Each of the four colors used match the four colors used in the trefoil. Two other commonly used sets of dice are actually carved in the shape of the trefoil. One set is relatively thin and intended to land lying down, the point closest to the center being counted as 'up'. With these dice, the yellow disk is actually ignored, considered more decoration than an actual point. The second set is a bit thicker, the idea being that it can land on any side with a point facing upwards, or lie flat indicating the disk is pointing 'up'. These two sets are quite popular due to their novelty compared to the traditional four-sided dice used, which are shaped like pyramids.Back

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Hunting Party is actually a game that evolved out of the current rules of play for Arena Warriors. The rules allow more imaginative players to move outside of the arena. It is very similar to games played on old Earth called role-playing games. In a group of players, one acts as a referee and main antagonist. He presents imaginary situations for the other players to overcome, usually through teamwork. Originally these scenarios started out as animal hunts, hence the name of the game, but have come to include all matter of situations. Everything from individual combat, modern combat, survival tests, and animal hunts. Complete series of these adventures that are related by a common theme are called campaigns, and are often the focus of tournaments. In this form of the game, instead of using the dice for attacks against each other, the players use the dice to attack foes the referee creates for them to fight. They also use the dice to determine the result of various feats of skill, physical prowess, and pure simple luck. The rules tend to vary from referee to referee and group to group, so no actual rules set is provided here. However, it should be enough for any group to get started by noting that all rules know so far are nothing but variants of the original Arena Warriors game rules. Back

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In this game, Klingons use dice to represent warriors fighting in a combat arena. In the game, four-sided dice represent the warriors locked in combat. The four colors of the trefoil are used with the dice to represent different types of attacks made by each warrior. Each color represents not only a different value of a warrior, but also a different type of attack the warrior can make. Each type of attack is associated with a value.

Players would start by assigning values to each color and writing them down on their scrap of paper. Each player could assign a value of one to four for each color, but each value could only be assigned once. Hence, only one color would have a value of four, another would have a value of three, the third would have two, and the last color a value of one. One warrior would then roll the die and all players would compare values for the color of the top point. Lower values lose to the higher values, while equal values don't affect each other.

When a player's warrior loses a round, it 'takes a hit'. When a player takes a hit, they reduce the value for that color by one point. When the value for that color is reduced to zero, it can take one more hit and then is scratched off the player's scorecard. Once a color is scratched off of a player's scorecard, their warrior takes hit on his next highest color. After all players are finished updating their scorecards, the next round begins with another warrior rolling the die. Usually players huddle around the playing area, and the players taking turns in a clockwise rotation to roll the die. When all of a warrior's colors have been scratched off of his scorecard, he has fallen and is out of the game. Play continues until only one warrior is left and is declared the winner.

Example of Play: Five warriors, Kai, K'vin, K'pek, Korloch, and Karchang are playing Arena in a bar. All five start by assigning the values of their warriors and writing them down on their napkins, since the napkins aren't being used anyhow. When they finish, the five warriors look like this:

Yellow Green Blue Red

Kai 1 2 3 4

K'vin 4 3 2 1

K'peK 1 4 3 2

Korloch 3 4 1 2

Karchang 1 2 3 4

Kai rolls the die first; it comes up with a red point. Both Kai and Karchang have 4s for their red values, while K'vin, K'peK, and Korloch all have lower values. All three warriors reduce their red values by one, with K'vin's red value reaching zero. One more attack and K'vin will have to scratch red off of his scorecard completely. K'vin rolls the die next, and it comes up with a green point. Korloch and K'peK both have fours, while Kai, K'vin and Karchang all have lower values. All three of them have to lower their green values by one. K'peK rolls the die, and again it lands with the green point up. Again Kai, K'vin, and Karchang have to lower their green values by one point. This time, Kai and Karchang's values are reduced to zero; one more and they have to scratch green off of their scorecard. Korloch rolls the die and it comes up with a red point up. Again Kai and Karchang have 4s, so they have nothing to worry about. K'peK and Korloch both reduce their red values to zero. K'vin scratches red off of his scorecard. Any further die rolls that come up red will go against his blue score, since it is the next highest score. Karchang rolls the die and it comes up yellow. Kai, K'peK, Korloch, and Karchang all have to reduce their values by one, Korloch's going to 2 and Kai, K'peK, and Karchang's values going down to zero.

This is an old game among Klingons, and has evolved several times. Its original form represented arena combat and used only a single die and is the one presented above. Originally a bar game among warriors and sailors, the game also developed a following among Klingon children, who would gather in small groups to play the game. In some instances, the gatherings were so large that they were organized into smaller groups for tournaments. Two popular rules evolved from this practice. The first rule was that the winner of a battle could add one to the value of any one color of their choice. The second rule allowed for team play. Players were able to organize themselves into small teams of four to compete against other teams.

The most current incarnation of this game uses many more dice and does away with the need for paper. In this variant, players maintain their own collection of dice. Instead of one die, they use several groups of dice, one group for each color. Another difference is that the dice usually have each corner numbered one through four. The starting values are the same; each warrior can begin with only one color of each value one through four. Another difference is how initiative is handled. While the original version of this game didn't really use an initiative test, this variant does. This version of the game also handles combat a little differently.

When opponents roll dice, they roll all the dice of the selected group, and compare the values on each die. As with the original version, lower values lose to higher values, while equal values cancel each other out. In cases where a warrior uses more dice than his opponent in a roll, the extra dice can be used to fill in for cancelled dice, or, if no dice have been cancelled, used as another attack that is automatically successful.

Play starts with all players rolling an initiative check. The winner of the initiative test gets to determine the order in which the three remaining colors are rolled (green/blue/red, green/red/blue, blue/green/red, etc.). Each of the three remaining colors is considered a round. This variant of the game also uses the tournament rules, although there is one change. As a warrior earns points to add to his color values, those points can be added to dice as well. The player has the choice of storing points and using them to add a die to a color of his choice. Another variant of this rule is that he gets to keep one die from the highest color of his last defeated opponent.

The colors used in this game relate to the values of a warrior and the types of attack associated with each value. Yellow is the color of Duty and represents initiative. It is a warrior's sense of duty that motivates him into combat. Green is the color of Loyalty and represents physical attacks. It is the loyalty of a warrior's body that allows him to attack his opponent. Blue is the color of Honor and represents mental attacks. A warrior's mind keeps his honor in focus at all times and prevents him from acting cowardly in battle. Red is the color of Courage and represents attacks against a warrior's spirit. A warrior's spirit fuels his courage, allowing him to face any opponent. Back

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The purpose of this game is to collect the four values of a warrior in the order of Duty (Yellow), Loyalty (Green), Honor (Blue), and Courage (Red). Warriors each take turns rolling four-sided dice, each corner a color representing it's corresponding value, and try to get all four values, in order, within the least number of rolls. Each warrior's turn lasts until they get all four, counting each roll to see how many rolls it takes. The warrior with the lowest number of rolls wins the round.

Example of Play: Three warriors, Kai, K'vin, and K'peK, are playing Values. Kai goes first because he's the captain of the ship. K'vin and K'peK just look at each other and shrug their shoulders, not wanting to challenge their captain. Kai rolls his dice and on the first roll he gets a Yellow (Duty), two Greens (Loyalty) and a Red (Courage). On his second roll, he gets a Blue (Honor) and three Greens. On his third roll, he gets a Red. Kai's score for this round is 3. K'peK goes next, asserting that because he's an engineer and K'vin is only a Marine, that he's more important to the ship. K'vin relents, savoring a few choice thoughts about explosives and opening a few doors for K'peK in the future. K'peK rolls, and gets a Yellow, a Blue, and two Greens. His next roll he gets a Yellow, two Blues, and a Red. K'peK grins because his score is only 2, and it's gonna take some major luck for K'vin to beat him. K'vin quickly makes a face and rolls the dice. To everyone's surprise, K'vin gets a Yellow, a Blue, a Green and a Red all on the same roll. Grinning from ear to ear, K'vin collects his winnings and heads to the bar for a victory mug of Bloodwine.

Klingon warriors traditionally play this game using dice with four sides and four corners. Each corner of the die is colored to represent one of the four values. The colors are yellow for Duty, green for Loyalty, blue for Honor, and red for Courage. Quite often, warriors will display their dice with the red point up, and the yellow point behind the blue and green ones. In some poorer areas of the Empire, and on other worlds where traditional dice are not available, numbered dice are used instead. These dice use the numbers one through four to represent the values in order. Most often, in the case of numbered dice, the dice are of the colors yellow, green, blue, and red, to maintain a link to the feel of using traditional dice. Back

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Shields, a game in which you stand arms length from your opponent and with your feet together. Palm to palm you attempt to force your opponent to move their feet. Back

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Traditional Klingon game involving a half-meter hoop and a spear. The hoop is rolled between various stakes planted into the ground, and the object is to throw the spear through the center of the hoop. Upon successfully scoring in this manner, it is traditional to shout "ka'la'!" The game is intended to hone skill necessary for the traditional Klingon hunt.Back

(Hoops)

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How far can you toss a what??

Targ Toss, involves taking a beanbag (or some other object) and seeing how far you can toss it on a measured field. The one who tosses the farthest, wins Back

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In this game, two opponents face each other. Each of them stands on or in a circle approximately 24" across. Each opponent is armed with a padded mace.

With the cry of "tagh" the object of the game is to nock your opponent off of their circle. For safety reasons, warriors can not draw their weapons past 100 degree mark. (no roundhouse hits)Back

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Competitors had to run across a pre-set course to retrieve a bomb (softball). Then run to the reactor core (a cardboard box) and race back. Along the way you can set up surprise attacks, such as a sneaky Romulan who will try to shoot opponents (with a Super Soaker).Back

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You have 5 tribbles that you need to throw through some holes in a piece of plywood 15 feet distant. The second round is 30 feet and 3 tribbles. Continue till you have first, second, and third places. Back

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Who can tell the biggest load of bull!Back

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The Cry of the Warrior involves making a statement in Klingon, as loud and as long as you can with one breath. You then hurl yourself into the pool in an attempt to make as large a splash as possible. Back

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From the beginning of time, the children of Klingon warriors were required to train for battle. Knowledge in the use of weapons, both offensive and defensive, was paramount for survival and training was started at an early age. Straight competition in the use of hand weapons--one against one, or basic target practice--was adequate. but it did not teach young warriors how to fight for greater good of the clan. For this type of training, games were often used to teach not only skill with weapons, but also how to work together as a fighting unit. One such game was called naghqet, which literally translated means Rock Run. For this competition, two teams of seven to ten players would take the field. (The numbers of players and the size of the field would vary, depending on the age of the players and the level of competition). All members but one of each team would be armed. The last member, usually the smallest, quickest and most agile of the team, called the Runner, would be unarmed and thus basically defenseless, except for his or her own skill at avoiding blows from the opposition team members.

A round rock, the size of a full grown warrior’s head and weighing between 12 and 18 pounds (again, depending on the age of the players and the level of competition) would be placed in the middle of the field. (Legend has it that when this game was first played, thousands of years ago, the actual head of an enemy warrior was used as the game token and thus the rock is still the size and shape of a warrior's head). The object of the games is for the runner of one team to carry the rock across the field and deposit it in a hole at the opponent's end of the field. Meanwhile, the runner of the other team is trying to stop the runner with the rock, take it away from him and take it down the field to place it in the opposite hole. (This is where the term "Stuff it in your hole", or simply "Stuff it" originated). The armed members of the game try to protect their own runner, while at the same time trying to stop the opponents runner from scoring, as well as eliminate as many of the opponents armed members as possible and are thus in constant battle from the start of the game, until the very end.

The runners, while unarmed, may use any forcible means available to stop the opponents runner and place the rock in the other team's hole. Once the rock has been successfully placed in the opponents hole, the game is over. While this may sound like a simple activity, games sometimes go on for hours before a winner is declared. Timeouts are taken only if a runner is so badly injured that he, or she can no longer negotiate the field. The team is then given about 30 minutes to repair the damage to their runner and if the runner can not take the field at the end of the timeout, the game is forfeit. Consequently, members of each team must take great pains to work together in an effort to protect their own runner. In a usual game, about half of each team--usually the front three, called Warders--are armed with swords and shields. Behind them is the second line of defense, usually two warriors called Staffers, armed with 6 foot long spears, or staves. The final member of the team--the final line of defense, the Guard--is frequently the largest and/or strongest member and as his name implies, guards the hole.

His weapon is usually a long staff with either several weighted lengths of thick rawhide or chain at one end (again depending on the level of competition). By swinging this weapon, he can trip up the oncoming runner from a distance if need be, to keep him from scoring and give his own runner a chance to come in and retrive the rock. While the guard will usually aim for the runners legs, to trip him up before he reaches the goal, in games at a higher level of competition, the flailing chains will sometimes be aimed at the runners head or neck, especially if the game has become intense. A typical game of naghqet is played in this fashion. The players take the field that is split down the middle and has a hole at each end. The rock is placed in the center of the field and the teams line up on their own sides, with the runners facing off on either side of the rock. Only the runners are allowed to touch the rock during the game. When the game begins, the runners attack each other, each trying to knock the other runner out of the way, or preferably out of the game and thus obtain possession of the rock.

The warders of both teams also attack each other, in an attempt to eliminate them from play and give their own runner more room in which to work. The staffers move up in defensive positions, to protect their runner if he should come up with the rock and make a break for the opponents goal and to block the other team's runner, if he should move toward their goal with the rock. As the runner with the rock weaves through the opponents playing field heading for the goal, the other runner, as well as the opponents armed members attempt to stop him, while the runner's team members try to protect him from injury and at the same time attempt to clear a path to the goal. Play will frequently flow back and forth across the field numerous times during a game and the team who can eliminate the most of their opponents armed warriors and protect their runner most efficiently has the best chance to win. It is a violent sport and injuries are frequent and sometimes permanently damaging. Younger players are allowed to wear a minimal amount of padded protective gear, but older players and adults play the game in normal battle dress. Clan teams that are repeatedly successful will often play together for years and frequently travel to outlying areas of te Empire to meet teams from other regions in serious and frequently deadly competition. Games such as naghqet help train the young warrior for battles he may face as an adult and helps to keep the adult warrior's skills sharpened and focused. If you are interested in seeing humans actually playing a variation of this game, there is a video available for rent at most video stores called, The Blood of Heroes, which shows that a form of this Klingon games has traveled through both time and space and is even played in Earth's distant future. Back

Hope you enjoyed the games. Now, get out there and play!