1. Tabula is played on a 12-by-2 rectangular board.

2. Tabula requires 3 dice.

3. Each player selects 15 BEADs of the same colour. BEADs start off the board.

4. Players decide who begins the game by rolling a die.

1. In turns, each player rolls the dice and moves their BEAD (or BEADs) starting from the space to the players left and then counter-clockwise around the board.

2. Players can choose to use each of the 3 dice on different BEADs. Players do not need to use the full number of moves of a single die but forfeit any moves not taken.

3. If a player lands on a square that is already occupied by their opponent’s BEAD, the opponent’s BEAD is removed from the board and must start again.

4. A player cannot land on a square that is already occupied by more than one of their opponent’s BEADs, these BEADs are safe.

5. A player’s BEADs cannot leave the board until all their BEADs are in the final quarter of the board.

6. If a player’s BEADs is captured from the board by their opponent after they have started exiting the board, they must move the captured BEAD back into the final quarter of the board before they can move any more BEADs off the board.

7. Players must roll the exact number for their BEADs to leave the board.

To win the game, a player must move all 15 of their BEADs off the board.

1. Tabula was the Roman form of the game played today as backgammon. It was called tabula, which means 'table' or 'board', because it was played on a special board.

2. It was most popular as a gambling game, Tabula was often called or classified as alea, which means 'gambling'. Alea actually referred to gambling in general, including dice (Tesserae) games.

3. According to the Etymologiae by Isidore of Seville, tabula was first invented by a Greek soldier of the Trojan War named Alea.