Path Direction and Midpoint

Forward is the default direction your pieces move around the board. Backward follows the same path in the opposite direction.

The direction button shows the direction currently selected for your turn.

Tile numbers update when you toggle the direction button, so the numbered path always matches the selected direction.

You may choose a different direction on different turns, but all pieces moved on the same turn must move in the same direction.

The forward path runs from tile 1, your entering tile, to tile 64, the Castle tile below your Home path. After tile 64, your piece enters your Home path and moves toward Home.

The backward path also starts from tile 1, your entering tile, but follows the board in the opposite direction. It ends at tile 69, which is your entering tile again, approached from the opposite side. After tile 69, your piece enters your Home path and moves toward Home.

Each path has advantages and disadvantages. The direction you choose will usually depend on your strategy and your opponents’ positions.

Your midpoint is the entering tile of the player directly opposite you. It is tile 35 on both the forward and backward paths.

For Green, the midpoint is Blue’s entering tile. For Blue, the midpoint is Green’s entering tile.

For Red, the midpoint is Yellow’s entering tile. For Yellow, the midpoint is Red’s entering tile.

The midpoint is an important landmark on your path around the board. A piece must pass its midpoint before it can enter the Home path and finish the game.

When a piece reaches its midpoint, it starts to glow. This glow shows that the piece has completed its midpoint requirement.

A piece must reach its midpoint before it can enter the Home path. If it has not reached the midpoint yet, it cannot enter the Home path, even if the move would otherwise reach it. Instead, the piece continues past the Home path.

If a piece is captured after reaching its midpoint, it returns to the Yard and loses its midpoint progress. That piece must reach the midpoint again before it can enter the Home path.

Reaching the midpoint awards progression score in both modes: 50 for a Guard and 100 for a Noble in Journey, or 30 for a Guard and 60 for a Noble in Brawl.

The first time a piece reaches its midpoint after leaving the Yard or being captured, its other progression checkpoints reset. For example, if G1 earns +20 progression score from passing a Castle, it cannot earn score from that checkpoint again until it reaches the midpoint; once it does, that checkpoint becomes eligible to score again. Crossing the midpoint again while its midpoint progress is still active does not award additional midpoint points or reset its progression checkpoints again.

Your Noble’s location and midpoint status also determine the combat score earned when your Guards capture opponent pieces.

There are three main path strategies for moving pieces from your Yard to your Home: forward only, backward only, and midpoint switch.

A piece using the forward only strategy stays on the forward path until it enters Home. A piece using the backward only strategy stays on the backward path until it enters Home.

A midpoint switch means a piece travels one direction until it reaches the midpoint, then switches direction on a later turn to take the other path Home.

For example, a piece can move forward to its midpoint, then move backward from the midpoint toward Home. It can also do the reverse: move backward to the midpoint, then forward toward Home.

You do not have to use the same strategy for every piece. Different pieces can follow different paths depending on your strategy and what your opponents are doing.

In Journey, your final destination is Home. Bringing all five of your pieces Home before time expires earns a completion bonus based on finishing order.

Completing Home ends your turns, but the match continues until all four players finish or the 30 minute clock expires. Final places always use total score; finishing order determines only the completion bonus.

In Brawl, Home and the Home path are less important than in Journey because combat rewards are weighted more heavily. Reaching Home still awards progression score, and your Home path remains a safe space that can be used strategically.

You cannot enter another player’s Home path. You can only enter your own, which is what makes Home paths safe spaces.

Once a piece enters the Home path, it can only move toward Home. It cannot move back out onto the regular path.

The direction button does not affect pieces on the Home path. Whether your direction is set to forward or backward, pieces on the Home path always move toward Home.

Pieces that reach Home are safe and cannot move again.

An exact roll is not required to reach Home. As long as you assign enough movement to reach Home, the piece moves into Home.

This rule applies to all paths: if a piece has more movement than needed to reach the final legal tile, it stops on that tile and any remaining movement is ignored.