THE STRATEGOGAME FIELD GUIDE
How to Play Stratego — Step by Step
Learn how to play Stratego by completing one small task at a time: prepare a legal army, choose a useful first move, then resolve a single encounter. You do not need to memorize every officer before starting. This walkthrough follows the actions in our browser preview, with a three-minute captioned lesson and a written alternative. Keep the full rules reference for disputed moves rather than reading it straight through before your first turn.
Start with the suggested army, click Start Game, then select a red piece and a highlighted destination. Your first goal is to learn a lane, not sacrifice your strongest officer.
- How to play Stratego without an account?
Open the homepage, choose VS AI, keep or edit the suggested forty-piece army, and press Start Game. You control Red and move first. To play a person, both players sign in, then create a room with an invite link or use automatic matchmaking. AI practice remains untimed; online games allow thirty seconds per turn.
Local previewFull explanation ↗- Which three mistakes should a beginner avoid?
A higher officer rank does not allow a longer move. An ordinary attack does not remove a Bomb. A Spy defeats a Marshal only when the Spy attacks first. Check those three conditions before selecting a target.
How to play Stratego: the three-minute walkthrough
Watch the original lesson below, or read its complete transcript immediately after it. It shows the board, setup, a first move, battle outcomes and the three most useful corrections for beginners. The diagrams are teaching positions, not a recorded match against a hidden opponent. Pause whenever you want to try the same action on the homepage.
Original diagram walkthrough · 3:00 · English narration, captions and complete transcript. Download video
Read the complete video transcript
0:00 — Find the Flag
Your goal is to capture the enemy Flag. Each player has forty pieces, but their identities start hidden. You can also win if your opponent has no legal move. Begin by learning one route, rather than trying to identify the entire army.
0:20 — Prepare your four rows
Arrange all forty pieces in your four home rows. The middle starts empty. Six Bombs and your Flag will stay fixed after setup. The suggested formation is legal already. Swap two friendly pieces to customize it, then press Start Game. Red moves first.
0:40 — Make one legal move
Click a red soldier and then a highlighted destination. Most soldiers move one square horizontally or vertically. They cannot move diagonally, jump another piece or enter a lake. A high rank means a strong fighter, not a longer movement distance.
1:00 — Use the Scout's reach
The Scout can move any clear distance along one row or column, and attack at the end. A long move identifies it as a Scout. It cannot turn a corner or cross water. Try an open lane before sending a valuable officer into the unknown.
1:20 — Resolve an ordinary battle
Attacking means moving onto an enemy square. Both identities are revealed for the battle. A stronger officer usually wins. A winning attacker takes the target square; a winning defender stays. If the ranks are equal, both pieces leave. The attack finishes your turn.
1:40 — A Bomb usually stays
An ordinary soldier attacking a Bomb is removed, and the Bomb stays. A Miner is the exception: it removes the Bomb and occupies that square. Do not repeat the same test with a second officer. Bombs cannot move or attack, so plan a legal Miner route.
2:00 — The Spy must attack first
The Spy defeats the Marshal only when the Spy attacks first. If the Marshal attacks the Spy, the Marshal wins. Other ordinary soldiers beat the Spy. Keep this special piece available for the right encounter, rather than spending it to test an unrelated unknown defender.
2:20 — Remember what you learned
After combat, enemy faces turn hidden again in this preview. Use the public battle log, then follow the survivor as it moves. A moved piece cannot be a Bomb or Flag. The computer remembers public evidence too, but cannot inspect your unrevealed ranks.
2:40 — Play a complete practice match
Capture the Flag to finish the match, or leave the opponent without a legal move. Repeated back and forth movement is restricted. This preview also has a threefold position draw as a house rule. After a loss, change one opening idea and try again.
Step 1: choose a mode and understand the goal
For a first attempt choose VS AI. You control Red, the beginner computer controls Blue, and you move first. Its pieces show question marks because discovering their ranks is part of the challenge. To win, capture its Flag or leave it without a legal move. A higher piece count by itself does not determine the winner.
To face a person, both players sign in and choose Match an opponent. Create a room and share its private link, or use automatic matchmaking. Each player sees only their own army and public battle information. Once both players arrive, preparation allows two minutes; unready players are removed at zero. After both are ready, each turn allows thirty seconds. At zero, the server makes a random legal move. This clock is a website rule; AI practice has no timer.
Step 2: prepare forty pieces, then commit
The suggested Red formation is already legal. You can use it unchanged, shuffle the army, or click two of your own pieces to exchange their positions before starting. Keep your Flag and six Bombs in mind: these seven pieces will not move once play begins. Every one of the forty pieces must occupy your four home rows.
For manual placement, open Edit your formation, clear the army, select a type and click an empty home square. The remaining count prevents adding an extra Marshal or a seventh Bomb. Finish every type before starting. In online rooms both players prepare their own hidden armies before choosing Ready to play. If you want more varied openings later, the setup guide provides eight legal diagrams and explains their costs.
Step 3: make a move that teaches you something
Click a movable red soldier, then one of the highlighted squares. Try the Scout on A4 in the starter layout: with a clear A-file it can travel to A5 or farther. Moving only to A5 does not reveal it as a Scout; a longer move does. The point of this first action is to test the interface and keep a useful route open.
A normal officer moves one square along a row or column, never diagonally. The middle lakes are impassable. If a piece has no highlighted destination, another piece or lake may be blocking it; a Bomb or Flag will never have legal moves. After your move, wait for the computer’s reply. In online play, your opponent sees the confirmed move on their own board; the turn clock then switches sides.
Step 4: read a battle before choosing the next one
Clicking an enemy destination is an attack, not an extra step before attacking. Imagine your Sergeant 4 meets a Miner 3: the Sergeant survives and occupies the enemy square. If two Sergeants meet, remove both. If your Sergeant attacks a Bomb, only the Sergeant is removed. A Miner is the soldier you need for that Bomb.
Use the battle log to notice which piece survived, then follow it when it moves. Do not assume a question mark erases what the battle taught you. In this preview its face becomes hidden again. The computer also remembers information that was legitimately revealed, but it does not receive the ranks of your untouched hidden army.
The first three mistakes to avoid
First, do not read an officer’s number as its movement allowance. Marshal 10 is strong, not fast. Second, do not test a suspected Bomb with a valuable officer: an ordinary attack leaves the Bomb in place. Third, do not send your Spy into a Marshal that is about to attack it. The Spy wins that matchup only by attacking first.
One useful habit catches all three mistakes: before clicking a target, ask whether the path is legal, what you actually know about the defender, and what survives if your guess is wrong. This is a better opening objective than trying to win in a fixed number of moves. Losing a practice game is useful if you can identify which unknown piece or blocked route changed your plan.
Step 5: recognize the ending and choose your next lesson
The match ends immediately when a Flag is captured. It also ends if the player to move has no legal action; having stationary Bombs left does not prevent that loss. Our preview additionally declares a draw after three identical full positions, a local house rule. New Game starts a fresh match; Reset Game also clears the current one, including its battle log.
Once the controls feel natural, change your starting layout in the setup guide or read the full rules for edge cases. If your physical set has different figures or fewer pieces, compare its edition on the variants page. Junior, fantasy-themed and travel boxes should be learned from their own leaflets rather than forced into the forty-piece format used here.
Sources and edition notes
The rule facts below were checked against these references. The examples, formations, diagrams, video and printable explanation on this site were written for this guide.
- Jumbo: Original / 65th Anniversary rules ↗Classic forty-piece army, movement, battles and the optional Battle Cards edition. Our examples are independently written.
- PlayMonster: Stratego Original rules ↗Publisher reference for Original and its edition-specific additions. Extra box contents are not automatically part of a classic army.
A complete match teaches more than memorizing every hidden possibility.
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