Brandubh is a two-player strategy game from the tafl family, played on a 7×7 board.
- One player controls 8 attackers (black pieces), who move first.
- The other controls 4 defenders and 1 king (white pieces; the king is marked with an "X").
- All pieces move like a chess rook: any number of squares orthogonally, without jumping over others.
- Captures occur by flanking an enemy piece between two of your own pieces (or against a corner).
- The king is unarmed and cannot take part in captures.
- Only the king can enter corner squares. Reaching a corner wins the game for the king.
- The king is captured by surrounding him on all 4 orthogonal sides (or 3 on the board edge).