How to Play Triples

Overview

A player creates a “mill” when they line up three pieces of the same color either vertically or horizontally. We call a mill a “triple“. Three in a row diagonally does not count and if you look carefully, you will see that the lines on the playing field only connect up and down and side to side.

In Triples, the goal is to whittle your opponent down to two pieces, ensuring that she can no longer create a mill. The first player to do this wins it all. Additionally, there is another road to victory. If you can block your opponent from making a move, you have also won. However, since winning by blocking is challenging, let’s focus on the first strategy, capturing.

To decrease your opponent’s stock of pieces, you employ the mill. Creating a mill allows you to permanently capture any one of your opponent’s players from the field. When you make a mill we will automatically highlight any piece you can capture.

Starting the Game: The Placing Phase

Each team takes turns placing baseball players one at a time onto any empty plate (space) on the board (field). Don’t forget to try for a mill. Each time you make a mill, you get to take one of your opponent’s players off the field. The goal is for you to have more players before the moving phase starts.

Playing the Game: The Moving Phase

After all of the players have been placed on the field (ignoring players that were captured, if any), with each passing turn you are each are allowed to move one piece along a line to an empty plate next to it. Don’t forget you are trying to make a mill with each turn or block your opponent from making a mill.

Even if you have created a mill, you can move a piece out of that mill, and if your opponent doesn’t do anything about it, on your next turn you can move that piece back into its previous space, creating a mill again and allowing you to capture another of her players! If you’re really good, you may be able to move a piece out of a mill and into alignment with two other players, instantly creating another mill. If you form one of these, which we call double mills, your opponent will have a hard timing winning.

Hopefully, you’ll get your opponent down to two players without losing a single piece, but sometimes, sacrifice is necessary.

Keys to Winning

To win against a skilled opponent, you have to think like a skilled opponent.

Use these strategies to win.

1. Create a mill when possible – Good for you, bad for her!
2. Block any potential mill – Definitely good for you.
3. Place players to be easy to move into mills once the moving stage of the game begins.
   Don’t place your players in a way during the placing phase where you cannot make any moves.
4. Place/move players on the field in ways that block the opponent from creating two potential mills (double mill) on her next turn.
5. Place/move players on the field in ways that create two possible mills
6. Create mill possibilities that bait the opponent into laying in places that are worthless for her.

Because having one of your players removed makes the game that much harder, it’s tough to bounce back once you start losing. Therefore, defense must be your top priority. Even when you create a mill and can eliminate one of your opponent’s players from play, you must carefully decide which of his players has the most potential to immediately become part of a mill, rather than just eliminating players that free up space for you to make a mill of your own.

In the same spirit, if one of your opponent’s players successfully created mills is blocked in, don’t delete or move a piece that would allow her access to the mill or give her the freedom to move out and back into the mill. Remember that a mill for her equals trouble for you. Unless you like the challenge of playing with fewer players.

Don’t discount the fact that sacrifice does sometimes pay off. If you’re still in the placing phase, and you know that your opponent is going to create a mill one way or another, look to see if you might be able to simply re-place the piece she takes from the field on your next turn and successfully block his mill in tightly, preventing her from moving a piece out and back into it and re-creating it continually to steal more players.

Also, while placing players on the field, your first priority should be to block any chain of two players that can make a mill. However, when you can freely play without worry of your opponent coming back with a mill, place your players in spaces that increase your chances of having two places to score a mill in one turn, because your opponent can obviously not block this. Placing your players on spaces that have the highest possible number of lines attached to them is generally the best way to work toward this goal.

It is wise,  not to focus too heavily on the placing phase. It’s highly likely that no mills will be scored during the placing phase. Therefore, your priority should be to place your players in ways that allows you to easily move to a mill once you can move your players, while simultaneously using your players as roadblocks that prevent your opponent from moving her players into any sort of alignment.

Finally, understand that having “nothing better to do” can be very bad for you in Triples. One of the things that your opponents will try to do is block all of your players in but one, forcing you to make a move that only helps them. You can use this against your opponents, too, of course. There’s nothing more satisfying than being so gracious as to not completely block in your opponent, and then watch as their only remaining move opens up a path for your blocked in mill to be broken up and re-formed.

Making a Wise First Move

Place one of your players at any intersection on your first turn, and if your opponent doesn’t take it, claim the opposite intersection on your next turn. Intersections have four adjacent spaces, and players placed there can form mills in two directions. In addition, intersections are crucial points on the field. If you have them, you can have a lot of freedom of movement, as well as an easy way to block your opponent from several types of mills. Furthermore, the more intersections you grab and the more of the field you are covered, the better chance you’ll have at getting two possibilities for a mill – even by accident.

A Wise Second Move

If your opponent goes first, they will likely take an intersection, take an intersection next to your opponent’s piece, which will increase your chances of blocking it later. If possible, take another intersection on your next turn. However, don’t get carried away; by your third turn, you should start paying close attention to your defensive strategy. Don’t forget those six priorities above.