Pompeii is a game of pushing, swapping, and positional attainment played on a variety of board designs that emphasize corners and "choke points." The object is to move all of your pieces into your opponent's starting positions (the "home zone").
 
Pieces move horizontally or vertically any number of available spaces. A piece can push any number of pieces of either color until a wall is reached. If the pieces being pushed are initially spaced out, they will be compressed together when pushed. A piece can also swap with an adjacent enemy piece. (Zillions will prompt you if a move could be either a push or a swap.) You may not push or swap an enemy piece that moved on the previous turn or is in your home zone. Such a piece is considered "fixed." There is no capturing.
 
You also win by trapping an opponent piece in its home zone. This occurs when you place two of your pieces in your opponent's home zone on both sides of an opponent piece in a corner. The trapped piece is completely immobilized.
 
The game presents many tactical choices. You can: double up your pieces so that a single move pushes multiple friendly pieces; occupy corners and choke points that impede your opponent's progress; move a piece quickly into your opponent's home zone, where the fixity of the piece creates an obstacle; or quickly move all of your pieces out of your home zone, leaving occupation of your opponent's home zone for the endgame. The appropriate tactics may vary according to the board design.