🔮 How to play Peg Solitaire (Senku)

By Miguel Arechaga

Peg Solitaire, also known as Senku, is a board puzzle as simple as it is addictive: a board full of pegs and a single hole. With patience and a good eye, the goal is to remove pegs by jumping until only one piece remains. Here are the rules and how to avoid getting stuck.

What is Peg Solitaire?

It's played on a cross-shaped board with 33 positions. It starts full of pegs except for the center hole. The challenge is to remove pegs by jumping until you leave just one, ideally in the center.

Rules and how to play step by step

1. A peg can jump over an adjacent one (horizontally or vertically) if there's an empty hole right behind it.
2. The jumped peg is removed from the board.
3. You can't jump diagonally or over two pegs in a row.
4. Keep jumping until no moves are left. You win if you end with a single peg.

Strategy to end with one peg

• Think in jump chains: sometimes a single peg can chain several jumps if you set up the holes right.
• Avoid leaving pegs isolated in the corners of the arms: they tend to end up stranded, unable to move.
• Work toward the center and keep the board balanced, without fully emptying one side.
• If you get stuck, restart and try attacking the area that gave you trouble from a different angle.

A classic that trains the mind

Peg Solitaire is an excellent exercise in spatial vision and forward planning: each jump changes the possibilities for the next ones. It's perfect for quiet, focused moments, just like a sudoku.

🏆 Best results ranking

Peg Solitaire has its own global ranking: your best result, with fewer pegs left on the board, is saved. Go to Ranking, the 🕹️ 1 Player tab, choose "Peg Solitaire" from the dropdown, and compare your score with other players, synced to your account. For your result to count you need a free account on MundoSudoku (just a username and password, no email required): you can play without one, but without logging in your score won't be saved to the ranking.