Yutnori Rules: Extra Throws, Captures and Shortcuts
In yutnori, where your piece stops matters as much as how far it moves. Landing on an opponent can capture it; landing on a teammate can let your pieces travel together; stopping at an eligible junction opens a shortcut on your next move. Passing through those spaces does not have the same effect. Learn that distinction, plus the two throws that earn another toss, and this Korean board game becomes much easier to follow.
By Kpop From Seoul · Sources and photo permissions checked October 10, 2026. This guide explains the five basic throws; check your set’s instructions for added rules.
What do you need to play yutnori?
Yutnori (윷놀이) uses four throwing sticks, a board and four pieces per side. A piece is called a mal (말); the board is a malpan (말판). The aim is to bring all four pieces around the course and out through the finish. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Korean guide describes the equipment and winning condition.
The Seoul municipal culture guide places the game in the traditional period from Seollal, the Lunar New Year, to the first full moon of the lunar year. For a first game night, concentrate on reading the sticks and choosing where to move.
Read the five basic throws
Each stick has a flat side and a rounded side. Count the flat faces pointing upward after the throw. Zero flat faces is a special result worth five spaces, not zero.
| Flat faces up | Result | Move | Throw again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do · 도 | 1 space | No* |
| 2 | Gae · 개 | 2 spaces | No* |
| 3 | Geol · 걸 | 3 spaces | No* |
| 4 | Yut · 윷 | 4 spaces | Yes |
| 0 (all rounded) | Mo · 모 | 5 spaces | Yes |
*These results do not earn an extra throw by themselves. Capturing an opponent can still earn one.
The National Folk Museum’s children’s explanation confirms the five movement values and the extra throw for yut or mo. The Korea Society’s English teaching handout shows the flat/rounded combinations on printed page 44 (PDF page 17).
Landing and passing are different
The ministry’s guide explicitly allows pieces to pass over other pieces. To capture, your move must finish on the opponent’s occupied space. Use the stopping point to ask what happens next:
| Where it lands | What that allows |
|---|---|
| An opponent’s space | Capture that piece, removing it from the board, and earn another throw. |
| Your own piece’s space | The pieces may travel together on later moves. This is often shown by stacking them. |
| An eligible route junction | Take the shorter route on the next move. Passing the junction does not let you turn halfway through a move. |
The Korea Society handout, printed pages 44–45, explains grouping after landing on your own piece and taking a shortcut after stopping at an eligible junction, including the center. The ministry confirms passing and capturing. Follow your board’s routes; not every large circle opens a shortcut.
Try a two-space practice move
An opponent is one space ahead; the next space is empty. With gae, move two spaces to the empty space: no capture. With do, land on the opponent and capture it. This practice example applies the ministry’s landing rule.
For your first practice round, say the result, count aloud, then inspect the landing space together. Our teaching suggestion is to try one capture and one junction stop before worrying about a winning strategy.
Agree on added rules before the first toss
The ministry also describes modernized sets with optional special rules. Before playing a particular kit or app, check its instructions for any backward-move result, penalties for throws outside the play area, and how it handles overlapping extra-throw bonuses. These are questions to settle with your group; the five-result table is not a complete rulebook for every version.
If the Korean labels are new to you, our Hangul beginner guide explains how letters form syllable blocks. Use the short labels in the throw table for practice, or browse more Korean culture guides.
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