Learn senet
Pick a lesson. Each step sets up the board, and you make the move yourself.
Step 1 of 3
Seven pieces a side
Old Kingdom paintings show seven pieces a side, not five. Look: fourteen pieces placed alternately on the first 14 squares.
Sawah rules and expert rules: what's the difference?
Before you play, you choose the rules. Sawah rules are the base and the easiest start; the expert rules change one or two things taken from named scholars. Here is every difference, who proposed it and what it does to the game — and each set has a short lesson that teaches you the difference hands-on.
- For beginners
Sawah rules
The easiest start — recommended
The base
These are the rules every other set is measured against, and the ones used online and in the daily puzzle.
Who proposed it?
We chose them from the best-known scholarly attempts: Timothy Kendall's count of the sticks (four dark = 5), Gustave Jéquier's guard of two and wall of three, the piece in the water returning to square 15 as in museum reproductions, and bearing off from 28, 29 and 30 with a 3, 2 and 1 as the religious texts suggest.
What does it change in play?
Five pieces each on the first ten squares: a medium-length game with rules that are easy to learn.
Kendall 1978 · Jéquier · Piccione 1980 - For experts
Old Kingdom: seven pieces
A longer game with seven pieces
What changes from Sawah rules?
- Seven pieces a side instead of five, on the first 14 squares
Who proposed it?
Old Kingdom paintings show seven pieces a side — among them the painting in the tomb of Hesy-Re — and the archaeologist Timothy Kendall built his 1978 rules with seven. From Dynasty 18, five became the norm.
What does it change in play?
Pieces start on the first 14 squares, so the game is longer, and guards and walls are easier to make with more pieces.
Piccione 1980 · Kendall 1978 (via Damian Walker's summary and the Ludii project) - For experts
Jéquier: dark = 6
The rare throw hits harder
What changes from Sawah rules?
- Four dark sticks count 6 instead of 5
- Extra throws on 1, 4 and 6 instead of 1, 4 and 5
- No direct way off square 26: a piece goes through 28, 29 or 30
Who proposed it?
The Swiss Egyptologist Gustave Jéquier made a reconstruction around 1930 in which four dark sticks count 6 instead of 5, with extra throws on 1, 4 and 6. The guard of two and wall of three in Sawah rules come from him.
What does it change in play?
A 5 never comes up, so a piece cannot leave square 26 directly but goes through 28, 29 or 30. The rare 6 (about one throw in 16) is a big leap early on.
Jéquier c. 1930, via Damian Walker's summary of Botermans and others, and the Ludii project - For experts
Both together
Seven pieces and dark = 6
What changes from Sawah rules?
- Seven pieces a side instead of five, on the first 14 squares
- Four dark sticks count 6 instead of 5
- Extra throws on 1, 4 and 6 instead of 1, 4 and 5
- No direct way off square 26: a piece goes through 28, 29 or 30
Who proposed it?
Both changes at once: seven pieces as in the Old Kingdom, and Jéquier's count of the sticks. A mix we chose for players who want the biggest challenge — not a set any one scholar proposed.
What does it change in play?
The longest and hardest: more pieces, and no direct way off square 26.
Sawah's choice, combining two documented rules
Show the full comparison table
| Rule | Sawah rules | Old Kingdom: seven pieces | Jéquier: dark = 6 | Both together |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pieces | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| Setup | Squares 1–10 | Squares 1–14 | Squares 1–10 | Squares 1–14 |
| Four dark sticks | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Extra throw | 1, 4 and 5 | 1, 4 and 5 | 1, 4 and 6 | 1, 4 and 6 |
| Leaving square 26 | With a 5 | With a 5 | No direct exit | No direct exit |
| Proposed by | Sawah, from the best-known reconstructions | Old Kingdom paintings, and Kendall 1978 | Gustave Jéquier, c. 1930 | Sawah, for experts |
All of these are modern reconstructions, because the original rules are lost. Online play and the daily puzzle always use Sawah rules so everyone plays the same game, and some journey gates have rules of their own.
The original rules are lost; these are "Sawah rules", a scholarly reconstruction with its sources on the rules page.