Jerboa is a strategy game played with a single type of piece per player (such as checkers or chess pawns) on a board of 36 or 64 squares. It has some features in common with checkers, but is more complex, and unlike checkers, it cannot end in a draw.

The 36 square board is a 6x6 grid. The 64 square board is an 8x8 grid.

On the 36 square board, each player starts with 12 pieces filling his nearest two rows. On the 64 square board, each player starts with 24 pieces filling his nearest three rows.

Play is by turns, each player make one move or one capture sequence during his turn.

All pieces move forward vertically or diagonally one square to an empty square. Pieces can also move by hopping in one of the three forward directions any number of consecutive adjacent friendly pieces to the next empty square. For example, a piece on c1 might hop friendly pieces on d2 and e3 to land on f4. Pieces can never move backward or sideways unless as part of a capturing move (see below).

Pieces capture in all eight directions. Capturing is not compulsory; a player may always choose to either move or capture. Only the continuing part of a jumping capture is compulsory

Pieces capture by jumping or leaping. Jump capture is like the familiar checkers capture -- the piece jumps over and thereby captures an adjacent enemy piece and lands on an empty square immediately beyond. Jumping captures can be made vertically, horizontally, and diagonally forward and backward -- a total of 8 directions. Jumping captures are multiple and a piece that can continue to jump must do so. To leap, a piece moves a line of enemy pieces and lands on the empty square immediately beyond, capturing the enemy pieces. Leaping captures can be made vertically, horizontally, and diagonally forward and backward -- a total of 8 directions. Leaping capture is not multiple and a single leaping capture ends the player's turn.

The first player to move a piece to his opponent's first rank so that it cannot immediately be captured is the winner. The Zillions-of-Games implementation will report this as a checkmate because the piece is in effect checkmating an invisible king. A player also wins if he captures all of his opponent's pieces, or if his opponent is blockaded and has no legal move.