Treat each direction as a shared move
A turn is not movement for only the active player: every token is considered in the chosen direction, and another token or blocked cell can stop its next step. Before moving, check whether the result opens a scoring lane for you, improves the opponent’s route, or leaves a token blocking a useful cell.
Layout 1 makes an opening UP move affect both sides
On the no-blocked-cell starting layout, choosing UP advances four tokens by one cell: all three Player A tokens and Player B’s center token. The two Player B tokens already on the top edge cannot move farther up. No token reaches a goal on this move, but the shared board has already changed for both players.
Turns change a shared 5 × 5 board
Players alternate directional choices while both colors remain active on the same board. A token moves at most one cell when that destination is open; reaching a matching goal scores a point and removes that token. This makes a move’s value depend on the opponent’s position as well as your own.