Overview

Conspirateurs is a traditional French board game, likely invented before 1800 but after the French Revolution (1789). It resembles Halma and Chinese Checkers – players hop over friendly or enemy pieces to reach sanctuary spaces on the board edges. Players attempt to bring all their conspirateurs from a central meeting place to the 39 shelter holes on the board perimeter.

Components

• 1 board (2 pads) with a 17x17 grid
• 68 cone-shaped pieces (“cone-spirateurs”): 21 black, 21 white, 15 red, 11 blue
• Carrying case

Setup

1. The board begins empty.
2. Players choose their color and take all cones of that color.
3. Each player places one cone before them so everyone knows which color belongs to which player.

Player counts and pieces:

Players	Colors Used	Cones per Player
2	Black, White	21 each
3	Black, White, Red	15 each
4 (teams)	Black+Blue vs White+Red	11 each

Turn Structure

The game has two phases:

Phase 1: Drop Phase

• Players alternate turns placing one cone per turn on any vacant cell in the special 9x5 center area of the board (the “secret meeting place”).
• No cones may be moved during this phase.
• The phase ends when all cones have been placed.

Phase 2: Move Phase

• After all cones are placed, one player shouts a warning that they have been discovered, and the conspirateurs scatter.
• Players alternate turns moving one cone per turn.

Actions

Moving a Cone:

• Move one cone to a vacant point one step in any direction (orthogonally or diagonally) – 8 possible directions.

Leaping:

• A cone may leap over an adjacent cone (friend or foe) and land on the vacant point immediately beyond.
• Multiple leaps are allowed in a single turn: a cone may continue leaping in any direction as long as there are jumps to be made.
• Leaps are not compulsory – a player may stop at any point during a sequence of leaps.
• A jumped cone is NOT captured; there is no capturing in Conspirateurs.

Sanctuary Lock:

• If a conspirateur starts the turn already on a sanctuary, it cannot move. Once on a sanctuary, it stays there permanently.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The first player to bring all their conspirateurs to sanctuary spaces (shelter holes on the board perimeter) wins the game.

• A sanctuary may hold at most one cone.
• There are 39 sanctuary spaces on the board perimeter.

4-player variant: The first partnership to bring all their conspirateurs to sanctuaries wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• 3-player game: One additional cell (indicated on the board in green) is also considered a sanctuary.
• 4-player game: Played as partnerships (Black+Blue vs White+Red), with partners sitting on opposing sides.
• Leaping over a piece on a sanctuary is permitted.
• A player cannot move a cone that is already resting on a sanctuary.
• Black goes first in the 2-player game.

Player Reference

Phase	Action
Drop	Place 1 cone in the 9x5 center area
Move	Move 1 cone: step or multi-leap

• Board: 17x17 grid
• Center area: 9x5 cells
• Sanctuaries: 39 cells on the perimeter
• No capturing
• Once on a sanctuary, a cone is locked in place