''"Don't miss the boat!"'' is a

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

for two to four players, with no dice or cards or element of elimination. The rules are simple enough to be mastered by a five-year-old, yet there is no element of chance, and experienced players can use sophisticated tactics and strategies to win. The game was first published by

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known as Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. It remained family owne ...

in 1965, then by

Waddingtons Waddingtons was a British manufacturer of card and board games. The company was founded by John Waddington of Leeds, England and the manager, actor and playwright Wilson Barrett, under the name ''Waddingtons Limited''. The name was changed i ...

in 1966. The title is currently owned by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

and is no longer manufactured.

Play

The board consists of a raised, cross shaped platform divided into squares on which the pieces move surrounded by a circular "canal". Each player has 8 pieces (or "men") and a boat of the same color which is located at one of "docks" at the ends of the cross. The initial position of all the pieces and boats is always the same. The winner is the first player to successfully move five of their eight pieces into their own boat. Players take turns to move one piece to an adjacent square in any direction (including diagonals). Pieces can move further by jumping over one or more of their own or opponents' pieces, making a series of jumps where possible. When a player jumps into their boat, all the boats are moved clockwise around the board, one quarter turn. As a result, players will often find their own boat moves away from the dock they have moved one of their pieces to, giving the game its name.

Comparison with other games

Although the objective of the game (moving a number of pieces from start to finish) is superficially similar to

ludo Ludo (; ) is a Abstract strategy game, strategy-based board game for two to four players, in which the players race game, race their four from start to finish according to the rolls of a single dice, die. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo ...

, there are no dice and there is no element of luck. The movement of the pieces is determined purely by the rules, as in

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; Commonwealth English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. ...

. The pieces are moved similarly to a king in chess, but the ability to extend moves by jumping over other pieces has similarities to draughts, although pieces are not eliminated during this process: it is more similar in this respect to

halma Halma (from , meaning “leap") is a Abstract strategy game, strategy board game invented in 1883 or 1884 by George Howard Monks, an United States, American thoracic surgeon at Harvard Medical School. His inspiration was the English game ''Hoppi ...

Chinese checkers Chinese checkers (US) or Chinese chequers (UK), known as ''Sternhalma'' in German, is a Abstract strategy game, strategy board game of German origin that can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners. The ...

Tactics and strategy

Players can attempt to predict the movement of other players' pieces, and the effect this will have on the position of the boats. Tactics include frustrating the predictions of other players by choosing not to jump into a boat when expected. This can even be done cooperatively with other players in an attempt to prevent another player from winning.

References

{{reflist Board games introduced in 1965 Children's board games Race games Waddingtons games Parker Brothers games