Halma (from the Greek word meaning "jump") is a board game invented in 1883 by an English surgeon, George Howard Monks. The name Hoppity was also used in attempts to expand into less-educated demographics.



Halma 2-player setup
Playing equipment consists of a checkered board, divided into 16x16 squares. Pieces are typically black & white for two-player games, and of various colors or other distinction in games of four players.





Summary
The game is played by two or four players on opposing corners of the board. The goal of the game is to transfer all of one's pieces from one's own camp into the camp in the opposing corner. Each turn, a player either moves a single piece to an adjacent open square, or jumps over one or more pieces in sequence.


Rules of play

Set up
The board consists of a grid of 16 by 16 squares. 
Squares are adjacent horizontally, vertically or diagonally. 
A game may be played by two or four players. 
Each player's camp consists of a cluster of adjacent squares in one corner of the board. These camps are delineated on the board. 
For two-player games, each player's camp is a cluster of 19 squares. The camps are in opposite corners. 
For four-player games, each player's camp is a cluster of 13 squares. Each of the four corners of the board is a camp. 
Each player has a set of pieces in a distinct colour, of the same number as squares in each camp. 
The board starts with all the squares of each player's camp occupied by a piece of that player's colour. 

Objective
The objective is to cause all one's own pieces to occupy the opposing camp: the diagonally opposite camp to one's own. 

Play sequence
Players randomly determine who will take the first turn. 
Each player's turn consists of moving a single piece of one's own colour in one of the following plays: 
One move to an empty square: 
Place the piece in an empty adjacent square. 
This move ends the play. 
One or more jumps over adjacent pieces: 
An adjacent piece of any colour can be jumped if there is an adjacent empty square on the directly opposite side of that piece. 
Place the piece in the empty square on the opposite side of the jumped piece. 
The piece which was jumped over is unaffected and remains on the board. 
After any jump, one may make further jumps, or end the play. 
Once a piece has reached the opposing camp, a play cannot result in that piece leaving that camp. 
If the current play results in having every square of the opposing camp occupied by one's own pieces, the acting player wins. 
Otherwise, after each players turn, continue with the next player to the left taking a turn. 

Comparison to other games
The mechanic of jumping pieces is reminiscent of draughts or checkers but differs in that no opposing pieces are ever captured or otherwise withdrawn from the board nor is jumping compulsory. 
Similarities between Halma and Chinese Checkers are not coincidental. Chinese Checkers was originally published in 1892 as Stern-Halma (German for "Star Halma") and later renamed upon marketing to the United States to appear more exotic. The name is misleading, since the game has no historical connection with China, nor is it a Checkers game.