It is designed for two players, each controlling an army, and a neutral arbiter (sometimes called a referee or an adjutant) to decide the results of "challenges" between opposing playing pieces that have their identities hidden from the opponent.
It simulates the "fog of war" because the identities of the opposing pieces are hidden from each player and can only be guessed at by their location, movements, or from the results of challenges.
Certain strategies and tactics, however, allow both sides the chance of securing a better idea of the other's plan as the game progresses.
Players can also speak or gesture to their opponents during matches, to create a false impression about the identity of their pieces or their overall strategy.
When the flag successfully reaches the opponent's back rank, it has to survive one more turn without being challenged before it can declare a victory.
However, any player may propose a draw at any time; the opponent can either decline, so play continues, or agree, and thus the game ends in a tie.
The player's set of pieces represents 21 soldiers (combatants) with a hierarchy of ranks and functions.
The playing pieces are identical-sized plastic or metal flat rectangles bent or molded at a 90-degree- or 80-degree angles.
The game is played on a rectangular board with 72 plain squares arranged in 8 ranks and 9 files.
For example, the Black player in the illustrated example has deployed 21 pieces in Ranks 6, 7, and 8, leaving the squares A8, B8, C8, G8, H8, and I8 open.
The two middle rows (fourth rank from each player's edge of the board) are initially empty at the start of the game and represent "no man's land" or "unconquered territory" that the contending pieces can occupy or leave vacant, depending on each player's strategy.
The arbiter must not reveal the ranks of the pieces to the opposition, nor can he give any verbal or non-verbal clues about the rest of the board layout.
If a Flag reaches the opposite edge or farthest rank of the board, the opponent has one turn left although it is not announced.
Loss of high-ranking pieces, especially of the Killers, usually stops an offensive action and forces a player to change plans or to go on the defensive.
Once numerical balance or superiority is achieved, or if he can outflank the defenders, a player should be able to shift back to offensive Flag-rushing or Flag-hunting operations.
Try to keep one or more reserve forces available for various contingencies and to provide multiple tactical options or changes in overall strategy.
Rules are very similar except: In 1980, Ideal released The Generals Electronic Strategy Game.
The plastic pieces have selected notches on their bases, which depress certain indentations in the electronic arbiter's twin slots.
[5] Unlike the original version of the game, if a player's Flag reaches the back row in The Generals Electronic Strategy Game, that player wins, even if an opposing piece occupies an adjacent square on the back row.
To cite an example, a software app downloadable on the Google Play Store for Android smartphones (with touchscreens) called Game of the Generals Mobile was released on November 19, 2020, by Mawkins Entertainment.
In 1988, three college senior students from the Philippines, Paul Q. Gozon, Paterno A. Lim, and Hector C. Santos, authored a groundbreaking thesis using Turbo Pascal.
Their work focused on creating a computerized version of the game, aiming to emulate human intelligence in decision-making processes.
This thesis has since served as an inspiration for future generations of students and researchers, highlighting the potential of technology to simulate complex cognitive tasks.
[6] Finally, Generals inherently requires a third-party arbiter to maintain the game's uncertainty all the way to the endgame.