A Game of Trouble: The Rules that Will Get You Out of Trouble

Trouble Game

What goes through your mind when you hear the word “trouble?” Your reflexes would probably tell you to get out of it in a snap. But trouble can also be fun, or at least in the case of the game of trouble.

Known as Kimble in Finland and Frustration in the United Kingdom, Trouble is a board game where two to four players compete against each other by moving pieces of colored pegs according to the roll of a die.

The first to send all four pieces around the board to the HOME will win the game.

A little history of Trouble

The Kohner brothers originally developed the game of Trouble, which followed the concept of the German game “Mensch argere dich nicht” and the English game “Ludo.” These two games were also based from the classic Indian game “Pachisi.”

Trouble was first manufactured by Irwin Toy Ltd. and later by Milton Bradley, which is now part of Hasbro. It was launched in the United States in 1965 and became an instant hit among board game lovers.

Milton Bradley also created a similar game named “Headache” and Hasbro created “Sorry!” that follows the same mechanic as Trouble but uses cards instead of dice.

In the United Kingdom, a bi-annual world championship of Frustration, its version of Trouble is held on the Isle of Wight for two days. Some of its famous players include football coach Andrew Rimmer, actor-presentor Simon O’Brien and travel author Tim Moore.

The rules of playing Trouble

To play the game of Trouble, you will need two to four players and a specialized board with a pop-die roller called a “POP-O-MATIC” and 16 plastic playing pegs. Your goal for this game is to move all four of your colored pegs from HOME to FINISH while trying to send your opponents’ pegs back to HOME.

The game setup

To begin the game, each player chooses 4 pegs of the same color and places them in the same color in the HOME part of the board.

If there are only two players, you can choose to play with two sets of pegs to make the game more exciting.

To determine who starts the game, each player will press the POP-O-MATIC to roll the die. Whoever pops the highest number will go first and the numbers on the die of other players will determine the sequence of play.

The game play

According to the sequence of players, each player will take turns in popping the die and moving the peg if possible.

On your first turn, you have to get the number 6 on the die to be able to move one of your pegs from HOME to START.

If you get other numbers, you won’t be able to move your pegs and wait for your next turn. Here are some very important rules to remember:

  • If you get the number 6, move one of your pegs to START and pop the die again. Move the peg on the playing track clockwise according to the number of spaces indicated on your die. Make sure to count every space, whether it is full or empty.
  • Remember that every time you pop the number 6, you either get the chance to move a new peg from HOME to START or move a peg that’s already on the playing track. You also get an additional pop where you can move any of your pegs as long as they’re already on the playing track.
  • To beat your opponents, you should aim to get your peg on the space that’s already occupied by your opponent’s peg. If that happens, you get to steal that space from your opponent and his peg needs to go back to HOME and start all over again.
  • If another peg is occupying your START space when you hit a 6 and you want to move your peg out of HOME, your opponent’s peg will be sent back to HOME so you can move yours to START. But if your own peg is on the START space when you hit a 6, you won’t be allowed to bring a new peg out. Instead, you will use that 6 to move a peg that’s already on the playing track.

Finally, when your peg has already moved once around the track, you can already put it on the FINISH line by hitting the right number required to get it into that space.

The first player to move all his four pegs into the FINISH line will win the game.

Are you ready to have some fun?

The game of Trouble is definitely not as troublesome as others think. In fact, it is one of the most fun board games out there that a lot of people have been hooked on it.

As long as you follow the rules, you’ll surely have the best time with your family and friends.

Image source: WikiMedia, By Liimes at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0