In unusual cases, it is possible to draw, for example, when both players' flags are protected by bombs and each player has one remaining piece which is not a miner. It is possible to have ranked pieces that are not moveable because they are trapped behind bombs. The game can be won by capturing the opponent's Flag or all of their moveable pieces. They are shown as lakes on the battlefield and serve as choke points to make frontal assaults less direct. Two zones in the middle of the board, each 2×2, cannot be entered by either player's pieces at any time. : Movement, 11 A player must move a piece in their turn there is no 'pass.' In the original rules, a player may move or strike, but not both. The right to move first does not significantly affect game play (unlike chess).

Players alternate moving red moves first. Gameplay Computer software version of Stratego Such pre-play distinguishes the fundamental strategy of particular players, and influences the outcome of the game. Players may not place pieces in the lakes or the 12 squares in the center of the board. The ranks are printed on one side only and placed so that the players cannot identify the opponent's pieces. Before the start of the game, players arrange their 40 pieces in a 4×10 configuration at either end of the board. Typically, color is chosen by lot: one player uses red pieces, and the other uses blue pieces. A few versions have wooden boxes or boards.

Some versions have a cardboard privacy screen to assist setup. More modern versions first introduced in Europe have cylindrical castle-shaped pieces. The pieces are small and roughly rectangular, 1 in (25 mm) tall and 3⁄ 4 in (19 mm) wide, and unweighted. The early sets featured painted wood pieces, later sets colored plastic. The game box contents are a set of 40 gold-embossed red playing pieces, a set of silver-embossed blue playing pieces, and a folding 15 + 1⁄ 2 in × 18 + 1⁄ 2 in (39 cm × 47 cm) rectangular cardboard playing board imprinted with a 10×10 grid of spaces. This description is of the original and classic games many variant shapes and colors of pieces and boards have been produced in the decades since. It has been licensed to manufacturers such as Milton Bradley, Hasbro and others, as well as retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Target stores, etc. The United States trademark was filed in 1958 and registered in 1960 to Jacques Johan Mogendorff and is presently owned by Jumbo Games as successors to Hausemann and Hotte, headquartered in the Netherlands. The name Stratego was first registered in 1942 in the Netherlands. strategus) for leader of an ancient (especially Greek) army: first general. Stratego is from the French or Greek strategos (var. The International Stratego Federation, the game's governing body, sponsors an annual Stratego World Championship. There are also variant pieces and different rulesets. There are now two- and four-player versions, versions with 10, 30 or 40 pieces per player, and boards with smaller sizes (number of spaces). The game is a slightly modified copy of an early 20th century French game named L'Attaque (' The Attack'), and has been in production in Europe since World War II and the United States since 1961.

Stratego has simple enough rules for young children to play but a depth of strategy that is also appealing to adults. The objective of the game is to either find and capture the opponent's Flag or to capture so many enemy pieces that the opponent cannot make any further moves. Each player controls 40 pieces representing individual officer and soldier ranks in an army. Stratego ( / s t r ə ˈ t iː ɡ oʊ/ strə- TEE-goh) is a strategy board game for two players on a board of 10×10 squares.

1999 stratego instructions