Salpakan
The Filipino Game of the Generals. Every piece hides its rank, and the arbiter settles every clash in silence.
How to play
Hidden armies
Each side hides 21 pieces across its three home rows of a nine-by-eight board. Your opponent never sees your ranks, and you never see theirs until the game ends.
Arrange and ready up
Shuffle for a fresh random deployment or place each piece yourself, then mark ready. The battle begins once both sides are set.
Silent challenges
Every piece moves one square forward, back, or sideways. Moving onto an enemy piece opens a challenge the referee resolves in silence: the higher rank survives, equal ranks fall together, and you never learn what beat you.
Chain of command
Both armies field the same twenty-one pieces, wearing the badges shown here. Higher ranks beat lower ones, and the Spy and the Flag at the end are special pieces that sit outside this ladder.
- ★5Five-star General
- ★4Four-star General
- ★3Three-star General
- ★2Two-star General
- ★1One-star General
- COLColonel
- LTCLieutenant Colonel
- MAJMajor
- CPTCaptain
- 1LTFirst Lieutenant
- 2LTSecond Lieutenant
- SGTSergeant
- PVTPrivate×6
- SPYSpy×2
- FLGFlag
Spies and privates
The Spy quietly eliminates every officer from Sergeant to five-star General, and even the Flag. Its one weakness is the humble Private, and that twist decides most games.
Take the flag
Capture the enemy flag, or march your own flag to the far edge. If an enemy piece sits right beside your flag as it arrives, they get exactly one move to catch it. Resigning ends the game immediately.
Pick your general
Face AI, which commands the opposing army without ever peeking at your ranks, or invite a friend to a private table with a QR code.