Yut nori, the game of the New Year
Families and whole villages across Korea play yut nori from Seollal, the Lunar New Year, until Jeongwol Daeboreum, the first full moon. It is loud, lucky and very much alive.
A living heritage
Records of the game appear in historical documents including the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, and many trace it back further, to the Three Kingdoms period. In September 2022 Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration named yunnori a national intangible cultural heritage. It named no individual keepers, because it is a tradition that people all across the Korean Peninsula share.
The sticks
The four yut are sticks split lengthwise, each with one flat side and one round side. Count the flat sides that land face up:
| Throw | Flat sides up | Move |
|---|---|---|
| 도 do | 1 | 1 step |
| 개 gae | 2 | 2 steps |
| 걸 geol | 3 | 3 steps |
| 윷 yut | 4 | 4 steps, and throw again |
| 모 mo | 0 (all round) | 5 steps, and throw again |
| 빽도 back-do | only the marked stick | 1 step back |
The throws are often linked to farm animals, from the pig for do up to the horse for mo. The pieces are called mal, "horses".
How it's played
- The board has 29 stations: a square of twenty with two diagonals crossing in the middle. Horses start off the board, enter next to the start corner and run counterclockwise.
- Land exactly on a corner and your next move cuts across the diagonal. Stop exactly on the centre and you head straight for home.
- Land on your own horse and they travel together as one. Land on your opponent and their horses go back to the start, and you throw again.
- A horse finishes when it moves past the start corner. The first side to bring all four horses home wins.
Choices this version makes
- Two sides with four horses each. At home, yut nori is often played in teams.
- You throw all your bonus throws first, then use them in any order on any horses. A catch gives one more throw.
- A back-do with no horse on the board is lost. A horse moved back from the first station waits on the start corner and leaves on its next move.
- House rules differ from family to family. These are common ones, not the only ones.
Your own house rules
Under Rules on the home screen you can pick a ready-made set or switch rules on and off to match how your family plays:
- Horses each: two, three or four. Fewer horses make a quicker game.
- Back-do: marking one stick so that it alone means a step back is a popular modern twist. Without it, that throw is an ordinary do.
- Start corner is home: in some homes a horse that lands exactly on the start corner, often by a lucky back-do, is home at once.
- Carry horses together: carrying (eopgi) is part of nearly every game, but you can switch it off so that each horse runs alone.
- A catch earns a throw: most families give one; some don't.
Sources
- Korea.net (26 Sept 2022): Traditional board game named intangible cultural heritage
- Wikipedia: Yunnori
- Korea Culture Now: Yutnori, Korea's Lunar New Year board game, explained