About Agon
Agon, better known in English as Queen's Guard, is the 1842 abstract strategy game that introduced the hexagonal board to the world. Two players race across 91 hexes arranged in six rings, each escorting one queen and six guards towards the throne at the centre. If you want to play Agon online, the movement rule takes seconds to learn: one step per turn, sideways or inwards, never back out.
The depth comes from what those steps cost. No piece is ever removed, so the game is a pure contest of tempo, decided by pincers that send a committed guard all the way back to the rim and by the trap waiting for anyone who rings the throne before their queen arrives. Play Agon online against the computer and find out how much planning fits inside a game with one legal kind of move.
Play Agon vs AI
Play Agon online against the computer and learn the game at your own pace. Choose a difficulty that matches your level, then work on the habit that decides most games: counting how many steps each side still needs to finish its formation.
Practise the pincer that resets an enemy guard, the fences a pair of your own pieces can build across a straight line, and above all the arrival order that keeps you clear of the empty throne forfeit.
How to play Agon
The goal of Agon is to seat your queen on the central throne with all six of her guards on the hexes around her.
Each side starts with a queen and six guards on the outer ring. On your turn you move one piece one step, sideways within its ring or inwards to the next ring, never outwards, and only the queen may enter the throne. Trapping an enemy piece between two of yours in a straight line sends it back to the rim on its owner's next turn. Ring the throne without your queen on it and you lose.
Improve by learning strategy
Agon strategy is about tempo rather than material. Nothing is ever taken off the board, so the winner is whoever wastes fewer turns getting into formation and forces the opponent to waste more.
Bring your queen home before you close the ring, hunt for pincers against guards that have already committed deep, and read the three straight lines through a cell before you step onto it. Learn practical Agon strategy tips you can use in your very next game.
Frequently Asked Questions
You win by moving your queen onto the central throne hex and filling all six hexes around her with your own six guards. Both halves are required. A queen on the throne without her full ring has not won, and a full ring without your queen on the throne loses the game immediately.
Similar games you might like
If you enjoy Agon, you will probably like these other abstract strategy board games.
Learn, Play, and Have Fun!
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