How to Play
Rules and beginner guides for classic games such as chess, checkers, sudoku, mahjong and solitaire. 5 articles.
Checkers Rules: How to Play Draughts and Win
The rules of checkers (draughts) explained simply, from setup and jumps to kings, plus how Russian and international draughts differ and beginner tips.
· 4 min read
How to Play Chess: A Beginner's Guide
Learn chess from zero: the board, how each piece moves, check and checkmate, castling, en passant, promotion, draws and five opening tips.
· 5 min read
How to Play Sudoku: Rules and Solving Techniques
Learn sudoku's one rule and the solving techniques that crack easy to hard puzzles: scanning, naked and hidden singles, pencil marks and pairs.
· 4 min read
Mahjong Solitaire Rules: How to Match Tiles and Win
How mahjong solitaire works: which tiles are free, what matches with what, the 144-tile set, Mahjong Connect and triple-match variants, and tips.
· 4 min read
Solitaire Types Explained: Klondike, Spider, FreeCell
How five common solitaire games differ, with the setup, the rules and how hard each one is, so you can pick the right one to play.
· 5 min read
About how to play guides
The How to Play guides teach the rules of classic games from the very first move. Each guide starts with the goal of the game, walks through the setup and the moves in order, and ends with beginner tips and free browser versions you can try on Gameziko.
Classic board, card and number games have rules that are decades or centuries old, so what you learn here works the same on a website, in an app or on a real board. Where an official rulebook exists, such as the FIDE Laws of Chess, the guide follows it and points out common house rules that differ.
The fastest way to learn is to keep a guide open in one tab and a game in another. Read the setup and movement sections, play a few games against an easy computer opponent, then come back for the special rules: castling and en passant in chess, forced captures in checkers, free tiles in mahjong solitaire.
How to Play: frequently asked questions
Which classic game is easiest to learn first?
Checkers and Klondike solitaire are the easiest classic games to learn first. Checkers has one type of move plus jumps, and Klondike only asks you to build cards in alternating colors. Chess and sudoku take longer because they have more rules or need more planning.
Do online versions use the official rules?
Most online versions of chess, checkers, sudoku and solitaire follow the standard rules, but some change details such as whether captures in checkers are compulsory or how many cards Klondike draws. Each How to Play guide on Gameziko notes the common variations to look for.