Yudhbhoomi
Lead Indian armies through three dice-driven fort campaigns, Rani Abbakka's included
- Set-up
- About 10 min
- Reading
- Some
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Families and friends who want a battle game set in Indian history rather than in Europe or fantasy
Think twice if You want a pure skill game like chess; the dice decide a lot
How we rate it
Learning curve. Each turn is simple (spend dice, roll, act), but range, range penalties, line of sight, wall elevation, unit differences and Power-card battles add up to more rules than Ticket to Ride. It sits with Catan at 3; the maker calls it light-medium.
Luck & skill. Five dice with up to three rolls drive every turn, and Power cards are drawn blind. Choosing when to give up dice, where to stand and which cards to commit is where skill comes in.
Interaction. It is a battle game: you attack each other's soldiers, block gates and race for treasure or the palace. In the alliance and Rani Abbakka modes you plan together and share cards.
Set-up. Fit the nine board tiles together, choose the day or night side for your campaign, sort the defence tokens, deal four Power cards each (none in Rani Abbakka) and recruit your first three soldiers. Campaign pieces, treasure or Portuguese guards, go on the marked spaces.
Reading. Power cards and unit cards carry short English text, and the rulebook is 20 pages. The dice use symbols only.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
Is Yudhbhoomi right for you?
Great if
- Families and friends who want a battle game set in Indian history rather than in Europe or fantasy
- Groups of four, who can play the recommended two-against-two alliance mode
- Solo players and couples who prefer working together, through the cooperative Rani Abbakka campaign
- Players who enjoy rerolling dice and pushing their luck, as in King of Tokyo, but with a map and tactics
Skip it if
- You want a pure skill game like chess; the dice decide a lot
- Younger children will be playing; the box is listed as 14+ and range, line of sight and the Power cards take a while to learn
- You were hoping for miniature figures; the box our link sells has cardboard soldiers on coloured stands
How Yudhbhoomi plays
Assemble the board from nine tiles: a fort with walls, gates and a palace in the middle, with a day side and a night side. Each player takes an army colour and starts from a corner camp. You recruit up to three soldiers at the start from swordsmen, swordswomen, spearmen, archers, horse-mounted swordswomen and an elephant-mounted archer, each with its own movement, range and toughness.
- Time to teach: about 20 minutes.
- Reading and language: Everything is in English. The 54 Power cards carry short instructions (Retreat, Mirror Action, Extra Turn and so on), and the soldier cards show strengths and weaknesses in words, so one confident English reader helps. The dice use symbols, and the table talk can be in any language.
All the Games with Steph: Yudhbhoomi - Teach · Steph Hodge
Choose a video · Watch right here
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Spend
Before rolling, you may give up dice: two dice recruit a soldier or buy a Power card, and all five get you three.
- 2Roll
Roll the remaining dice up to three times. Triangles move soldiers, crosses are hits, circles heal the wounded or grab treasure.
- 3Fight
Attack with Power cards face down; the defender answers with Defence cards and both reveal together. A soldier with no defence left is wounded.
- 4Win
It depends on the campaign: first to 5 victory points (Treasure), most soldiers in the palace once someone holds 5 flags (Hold the Fort), or defeat the Portuguese General together (Rani Abbakka).
The full explanation: how a game of Yudhbhoomi goes
On your turn you can first give up dice: two dice recruit a soldier and two dice buy a Power card (all five buy three of either). Then you roll the dice you have left up to three times, keeping the ones you like. Each triangle moves a soldier one space, each cross is a hit, and each circle heals a wounded soldier or picks up or drops treasure. Horses move faster and elephants slower; archers and spearmen can shoot from a distance, and from the fort walls they lose no accuracy and can't be hit from the ground, except by the elephant-mounted archer.
To attack, you name your target and can place Power cards face down to strengthen the hits; the defender answers with Defence cards face down, and both reveal together. A soldier who loses all its defence is wounded, and nobody is knocked out of the game.
The three campaigns are the '3-in-1'. In the Treasure campaign (2 to 4 players, about 60 minutes) the first to 5 victory points wins: 2 for each treasure carried back to camp and 1 for each enemy soldier defeated. In Hold the Fort (2 to 4, about 60 minutes) soldiers who reach the palace earn flags and lose them when defeated; once someone has 5 flags, whoever has the most soldiers inside the palace wins. Both can be played every player for themselves or as two alliances of two. In the Rani Abbakka campaign (1 to 3 players, 45 to 60 minutes) everyone works together at night, with foot soldiers only and no Power cards, to slip past the Portuguese patrols, protect Rani Abbakka and defeat the Portuguese General.
Start with the Treasure campaign on the day side. The night side adds a range penalty for archers and spearmen, and in the Treasure campaign a Difficult mode lets you take an opponent's victory flag when you defeat their soldier. Mozaic's Edition 6.5 (August 2026) adds a quick opening deployment, has the defender roll three dice in every battle and leaves wounded soldiers on the board to be healed. Owners of older boxes can download the new rule sheet from the publisher's page.
What's in the box
- 1Double-sided game board
9 tiles that fit together into a fort, with a day side and a night side (about 25 x 25 inches, says the maker) - 44Soldier cut-outs
11 per army in 4 colours: 2 each of swordsman, swordswoman, spearman, archer and horse-mounted swordswoman, plus 1 elephant-mounted archer - 32Coloured stands
8 per colour, attached to soldiers as you recruit them - 1Rani Abbakka cut-out
for the Rani Abbakka campaign - 7Portuguese army cut-outs
1 General and 6 soldiers, for the Rani Abbakka campaign - 54Power cards
- 70Defence (shield) tokens
- 8Treasure tokens
- 20Flag (victory point) tokens
5 in each of 4 colours - 5Custom dice
triangle, cross and circle faces - 1Rulebook
English, with all three campaigns
From the components list in the New Edition rulebook and on the maker's picture of the box back, which agree. The rulebook also mentions rolling in a dice tray included in the box, which the box-back list doesn't show, so it is left out here. The deluxe version swaps the cardboard soldiers for 44 miniatures, and Mozaic sells a 3D-printed dice tower separately. Mozaic says Edition 6.5 copies, with the new rule sheet, began shipping on 15 August 2026.
Where to buy
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Coverage of the New Edition is thin. We found no written review, and the main independent source is a full teach by YouTuber Steph Hodge (January 2026); the rest comes from Mozaic's rulebook, product page and videos. On paper the draw is a battle game set in Indian history, with women warriors among the units, a fort board where walls and gates matter, and a cooperative Rani Abbakka mission that also plays solo. The catches are a lot of dice luck and a fair number of rules about range and line of sight for a game the maker calls light-medium.
What people love
- An Indian history theme, with swordswomen, horse-mounted swordswomen and Rani Abbakka among the playable units
- Three campaigns in one box, including a cooperative one that works solo
- Nobody is knocked out: wounded soldiers can be healed and brought back
- The fort board makes positioning count: archers on the walls, narrow gates elephants can't pass
Common complaints
- The dice decide a lot, which will frustrate players who want chess-like control
- Range, line of sight and elevation take a game or two to sink in
- The standard box uses cardboard soldiers; miniatures come only in a separate deluxe version
6 research sources
- Reference All the Games with Steph: Yudhbhoomi - Teach (Steph Hodge, January 2026) · YouTube
- Reference Yudhbhoomi New Edition rulebook (Mozaic Games, 2022) · Mozaic Games
- Reference Yudhbhoomi New 6.5 Edition (publisher's product page, read October 2026) · Mozaic Games
- Reference YUDHBHOOMI FIRST GAME | RULES & PLAYTHROUGH (Mozaic Games, May 2023) · YouTube (Mozaic Games)
- Reference Modern strategy board games are made for Indians (Mozaic Games blog) · Mozaic Games
- Reference The designers bringing Indian culture into the world of board games (Kalpana Sunder, July 2021) · The National
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
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| Why consider it | This game Lead Indian armies through three dice-driven fort campaigns, Rani Abbakka's included | A different fit The classic dice-battle war game; Yudhbhoomi adds unit types, ranged attacks and campaigns | A different fit The same roll-up-to-three-times dice, used here to move, fight and heal | A different fit Another Indian strategy game rooted in ancient Indian history |
| Players | 1–4 | 2–5 | 2–6 | 2–4 |
| Best with | 4 | 3-5 | 4-6 | 3-4 |
| Play time | 45–60 min | 1–3 hrs | 30 min | 30–90 min |
| Age | 14+ | 10+ | 8+ | 14+ |
| Rules | Medium | Medium | Easy | Medium |
| Indian edition | Available | Available | Imported | Available |
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Questions people ask about Yudhbhoomi
What are the three games in Yudhbhoomi's 3-in-1 box?
They are three campaigns that use the same board, soldiers and dice. Treasure (carry treasure back to your camp) and Hold the Fort (control the palace) are for 2 to 4 players, either every player for themselves or as two teams of two. Rani Abbakka is a cooperative mission for 1 to 3 players, inspired by the 16th-century queen of Ullal who fought the Portuguese.
Can I play Yudhbhoomi alone?
Yes, but only the Rani Abbakka campaign. You command Rani Abbakka and six foot soldiers against Portuguese patrols, guards and a General that the rules move for you. If a patrol spots your troops or Rani Abbakka falls, you lose.
Is Yudhbhoomi like chess?
Only a little. Soldiers of different types move on a grid and positioning matters, but every turn is driven by dice and secret Power cards, and up to four people can play. Expect more luck and more table talk than in chess.
What age is Yudhbhoomi for?
14 and up, says Mozaic's own Edition 6.5 picture, and the listing behind our Amazon.in link agrees; an older video from the maker suggested 9 and up. The battles are not graphic, but the rules on range, line of sight and Power cards suit confident readers, so younger children usually need an adult on their team.
What changed in Yudhbhoomi Edition 6.5?
Edition 6.5, from August 2026, gives every army 15 movement points to deploy before the first turn, has the defender roll three dice and play cards in every battle, and leaves defeated soldiers on the board as wounded, to be healed by their own side. The rest of the original rulebook still applies, and Mozaic offers the new rule sheet as a download for older boxes.
Game facts
- Designed by
- Phalgun Polepalli, Shwetha Badarinath
- Publisher
- Mozaic Games (DICE Toy Labs Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru)
- In India
- Mozaic Games, the Bengaluru publisher (DICE Toy Labs Pvt Ltd)
- First published
- 2022
- Players
- The box says 1 to 4 players, but it depends on the campaign. Treasure and Hold the Fort are for 2 to 4 (the 2-versus-2 alliance mode needs exactly 4), and only the cooperative Rani Abbakka campaign can be played solo, by 1 to 3 players.
- Barcode
- 8908016014085
- Language
- Some English – Everything is in English. The 54 Power cards carry short instructions (Retreat, Mirror Action, Extra Turn and so on), and the soldier cards show strengths and weaknesses in words, so one confident English reader helps. The dice use symbols, and the table talk can be in any language.
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.
- Mozaic Games - Yudhbhoomi New 6.5 Edition
- Mozaic Games - Yudhbhoomi New Edition rulebook (PDF)
- Mozaic Games - Yudhbhoomi Edition 6.5 rule sheet (PDF)
- Mozaic Games - About us
- Mozaic Games blog - Modern strategy board games are made for Indians
- YouTube - Yudhbhoomi Treasure Campaign how to play (Mozaic Games)
- YouTube - All the Games with Steph: Yudhbhoomi - Teach
- Wikipedia - Abbakka Chowta