Quick Start Wahoo Guide

(terms in bold are indicated in the game diagram)

Just click “Roll” (in most browsers you can just hit the spacebar). Your marbles are the red marbles. The green marbles are your partner's, so try and protect them. (You can also play the game without using partners by setting the 'Play using partners switch to 'off'). The “Roll” button appears automatically when it is your turn and you have to roll your dice. The program will tell you when you have no valid moves and if you only have one possible move, it will be made automatically.

If you have more than one valid move you must select which marble you want to move. If the marble can make a valid move it will have a yellow halo around it when the mouse pointer is over the marble, otherwise the marble can't be moved. Once you click the marble it will be automatically moved. The program will prompt you if a move involves entering or exiting the shortcut hole.

You must roll a six or a one to bring a marble from the start stack to the starting hole and you must roll a one to enter or exit a shortcut.

Using the “Options” menu you can quit your current game and start a brand new game or you can adjust the game speed.

Detailed Wahoo Rules

1. The object of Wahoo is to get all 4 of your marbles into your home area. When 'Play using partners' is turned on (the default setting) the game is played with teams (see the section 'Play Without Partners' for details on playing without partners). Your team partner is on the opposite side of the board. For your team to win both you and your partner must get all 4 of your marbles in the home area before the other team. When one team member has all his marbles in the home area he continues to roll on his turn but his partner must use the amount shown on the dice to move one of their marbles if they have a valid move.

2. To get one of your marbles from the start stack into the starting hole of your main path you must roll a six or a one and your starting hole cannot be occupied by one of your own marbles. You can have as many marbles on the main path as you like. Once you are on the main path you can move any one of your marbles the number of holes shown on the dice if the move is valid. If you only have one valid move you must make that move. If you have no valid moves you can't move any marbles. Normally you roll once per turn with the next turn going to the player on your left. If you roll a six you can move then roll again. Even if you can't use the six for a valid move you still roll again.

3. You cannot jump or land in a hole occupied by one of your own marbles. This rule also applies to your marbles in the home area. If the roll of your dice would take you past the last hole of your home area, then the move is not valid. If you land in a hole occupied by an opponent or your partner you must remove their marble and place it in their start stack. this action is referred to as "kicking". Marbles in the home area cannot be kicked.

4. To enter the shortcut hole your marble must enter from a shortcut entrance and you must roll a one. To exit the shortcut hole you must also roll a one. You can use any shortcut exit as long as it is not occupied by one of your own marbles.

Just remember, Wahoo is a game that can drive you crazy very quickly. So good luck!! and roll those sixes!

Play Without Partners

When 'Play using partners' is turned off, there are no teams. The winner is simply the first player to get all their marbles in their home area.

Playing games without partners can tend to make the games a lot longer. Not only do you have a player that's no longer trying to protect you, that same player is now aggressively trying to kick you off the board.

Options Menu

Game Speed - this changes the time between moves made by computer players. You can change this at any point in the game.

Play using partners - This is turned on by default. Changing this setting during a game will end the current game and start a new one. See the rules section for the differences on how the game is played when using or not using partners.

New Game - This button ends the current game and begins a new one.

Visit the Wahoo Blog for tips and tricks

About

Version 3.0

Welcome to version 3.0 of Wahoo. This version was created to be fully responsive to any screen size and device orientation. To make this possible, this version of the game no longer uses the simulated 3-D effect for the board, dice and marbles.

A new feature was added that allows the game to be played in a 'non-partner' mode, in response to interest by some of the players.

The algorithm used by the computer players has been improved and refined

Feel free to report any bugs or problems.

Cookies

This game uses browser cookies to save your game position and options when you leave an incomplete game or accidentally close your browser window or tab.

Feedback

Thank you for trying out the new version of wahoo.

The algorithm used to generate the dice rolls is a standard random number function. Although at times it may seem that your opponents are rolling more than their fair share of sixes, the same function is used for all dice rolls.