What is Fia?

The full Swedish name is Fia med knuff. 'Fia' is a short form of the girl's name Sofia, and 'knuff' means push or shove - so the title literally promises pushing. The game has been a staple of Swedish family shelves for generations, the way Mensch ärgere Dich nicht is in Germany or Ludo in Britain.

• Enter on a one or a six. Two numbers open the yard instead of one, so you are rarely stuck waiting - a friendlier start than needing a six.
• No safe squares. Any token on the track can be pushed home from any square.
• No stacking. A square holds one token, full stop - not even two of your own.
• No three-sixes penalty. A six still earns an extra roll, but a hot streak is never punished here, unlike in Classic Ludo.

The two games are near twins: both strip away safe squares and stacking, and both skip the three-sixes rule. The real difference is the door out of the yard. Fia opens on a one or a six; Mensch ärgere Dich nicht demands a six and forces you to move when you can. Fia games therefore start faster and stay a little less cruel, while staying just as capture-heavy in the middle.

1. Use the easy entry: bringing out a fresh token is often safer than advancing a lone runner into traffic.
2. With no safe squares, distance is your only shield - count what enemy rolls can reach you.
3. Push whenever it is cheap. Every capture rewinds an opponent's whole journey.