Brandubh – The Old Irish Board Game

Brandubh (Irish for “black raven”) is a small board game from the Tafl family, a 7x7 cousin of the Viking game "Hnefatafl", for the Gamebuino META

The Game
Black attacks and tries to catch the king. White defends and tries to bring the king to a corner.

Modes
You can play against the CPU on three levels (Easy, Medium, Hard) and choose your side, or play against a friend on the same Meta. In two-player mode the sides swap after every game, and the score is kept until you go back to the menu. When a game ends, the LEDs light up in the color of the winner.

Rules
Black always moves first.
All pieces move in straight lines like a rook, as far as they like, but cannot jump over other pieces.
A piece is captured when it is trapped between two enemy pieces. This only counts for the piece that just moved.
A corner or the empty throne also counts as an enemy when it is next to a piece.
The edge of the board does not capture.
The king is armed and can capture, too. He is captured like every other piece.
Only the king may stand on the corners and the throne. Other pieces may cross the empty throne.
White wins when the king reaches a corner. Black wins by capturing the king. A side that cannot move loses.

Controls
D-Pad: move the cursor. A: select a piece / move it. B: cancel.
Hold B long during a game: back to the menu.

(C) 2026 B0wMaN