Trouble Rules

How do you play Trouble?

Trouble is a race to move all four of your pegs around the board and into your matching Finish area. Press the Pop-O-Matic bubble to roll the die, choose a peg, and move it along the track.

The catch is that opponents can land on your pegs and send them back Home. A comfortable lead can disappear with one unlucky encounter.

These Trouble game rules cover the classic version, including the Retro Series 1986 Edition. Some newer boards change the rules for rolling a 1, entering Finish, and using special spaces.

Get your pegs ready

The Trouble board game supports 2–4 players, with four pegs per player.

Choose a color and place all four matching pegs in your Home area. Each player pops the die once; the highest number goes first. Turns then pass to the left.

Before starting, distinguish these three areas:

Home and Finish are different places. Being sent Home means starting over, while reaching Finish brings you closer to winning.

Taking a turn: pop, choose, move

A normal turn consists of one pop and one legal move. Rolling a 6 gives you another pop.

1. Press and release the bubble. Let the die settle.
2. Check which pegs can move. A peg in Home needs a 6 to enter play.
3. Choose one peg. Use the entire roll for that peg; you cannot divide it between pieces.
4. Move clockwise. Count every space along the track, including occupied spaces.
5. Resolve the landing. Bump an opponent if you land on their peg, or enter Finish if the move allows it.
6. Pop again if you rolled a 6. Otherwise, the next player takes their turn.

If you have no legal move, leave your pegs where they are. You still receive the extra pop associated with a 6.

Leaving Home requires a 6

Use a 6 to move one peg from Home onto your Start space. That uses the roll: you do not also move that peg six spaces.

You then pop again and use the new result.

Example: All your pegs are Home. You pop a 6 and place one on Start. Your bonus pop is a 4, so you move that peg four spaces clockwise.

If you do not pop a 6 while all your pegs are Home, your turn ends. Classic Trouble does not give you three attempts to get started.

What can you do with a 6?

Once you have pegs in play, a 6 gives you a choice:

• Bring another peg from Home onto Start.
• Move a peg already in play six spaces, if the move is legal.

Afterward, pop again. Under these classic rules, another 6 gives you another bonus pop.

Getting more pegs onto the track creates options. Moving an existing peg may instead let you bump an opponent or reach safety.

What if Start is occupied?

If an opponent occupies your Start space, bringing out a peg bumps that opponent Home.

If your own peg occupies Start, you cannot bring another peg out onto it. Use the 6 for another legal move instead, such as moving the blocking peg forward.

Bumping: landing matters, passing does not

When your peg lands exactly on an opponent’s peg, send that peg back to its matching Home area. Yours stays on the landing space.

The bumped peg must qualify to leave Home again with a 6.

You cannot stop early to bump someone. If the die shows 5, the chosen peg must move all five spaces.

Example: An opponent is three spaces ahead. A roll of 3 bumps them; a roll of 4 passes them and lands one space beyond.

Reaching Finish takes an exact roll

After traveling once around the board, a peg enters its own colored Finish lane. It cannot begin another lap or enter another player’s Finish area.

In classic Trouble, you need an exact count to land in an available Finish space. You do not have to enter the nearest space first if your roll legally reaches one farther along.

For example, if the next four spaces along your peg’s route are Finish spaces 1, 2, 3, and 4, a roll of 3 can place it in Finish space 3, provided that space is empty. A roll of 5 would overshoot and cannot be used for that peg.

Pegs already inside Finish may move farther along the arrows by exact count. They cannot land on another of your pegs.

Once in Finish, a peg is safe: opponents cannot enter that lane to bump it.

How do you win Trouble?

The first player to get all four pegs into Finish wins. Getting one peg around the board is only part of the race.

There is no points system or bonus for bumping the most opponents. Your objective is to finish your own four pegs first.

If the group wants to continue, the remaining players can play for second and third place.

Classic Trouble versus newer editions

Trouble has been released with different boards and rule sheets. If the rules you remember do not match your set, check its product number and included instructions.

Hasbro’s guidance for the A5064 edition specifically says that when you roll a 1, you cannot move, but other players bring a peg from Home to Start if their own peg is not blocking that Start.

Use one edition’s instructions throughout the game rather than combining whichever rules are most convenient.

Simple strategy for a better race

The die controls your options, but choosing which peg to move still matters.

Keep Start clear. An empty Start lets you bring another peg out when you roll a 6. Leaving your own peg there reduces your choices.

Get several pegs moving. With more pieces on the track, you are less likely to waste a roll because your only active peg cannot move.

Compare a bump with forward progress. Sending back a peg close to Finish may be valuable. Chasing a distant opponent can be less useful than securing one of your own pegs.

Check Finish before moving elsewhere. An exact roll may be your chance to get a vulnerable peg off the shared track.

Avoid blocking yourself near the end. Moving a peg deeper into Finish can open a landing space for the next one.

Trouble rules at a glance