Yut Nori

Yut Nori is a Korean race game for 2 or 4 players. Each team races 4 pieces (말 — horses) around the cross-shaped board back to the start.

1. Throw the sticks (윷 던지기): Click "윷 던지기" to throw four wooden sticks. The number of flat sides showing up determines how far you move — Do (1), Gae (2), Geol (3), Yut (4), Mo (5).
2. Move a piece: After throwing, select one of your pieces to move by the result value. Pieces that are not yet on the board enter from the start node.
3. Yut & Mo — throw again! Landing Yut (4) or Mo (5) earns you an extra throw. Use each queued move for a different piece.
4. Shortcuts: The three corner nodes (top-right, top, top-left) open diagonal shortcuts through the centre of the board — a faster route home.
5. Capture (잡기): Land on an opponent's piece to send it back to start — and earn another throw!
6. Stack (말업기): Land on a friendly piece to stack — both move together as one unit.
7. Win: First team to move all 4 pieces off the board wins.

Full rules guide & cultural history →

Yut Nori (윷놀이) is one of Korea's oldest and most beloved traditional games, played especially during Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok (harvest festival). The four wooden sticks — called yut — are thrown into the air and the pattern they land in determines how many spaces a player's horses (말) may advance.

The game's cross-shaped board represents the cardinal directions, and the shortcuts through the centre reflect pathways through the cosmos. Each throw result is named after livestock — Do (pig), Gae (dog), Geol (sheep), Yut (cow), Mo (horse) — a reminder of the game's deep agrarian roots. The throw results were once used to predict the harvest for the coming year.

Families across Korea gather around the Yut Nori board during holidays, making it one of the most culturally significant games in the Korean tradition, with origins traced to the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC – 668 AD).