1. Tonkin is played on a board consisting of a symmetrical pattern with 45 intersections. Lines indicate permitted moves.

2. Each player selects 10 BEADs the colour of their choice. All BEADs start off the board.

3. Players decide who starts by rolling a dice.

1. In turns, each player places a BEAD onto an empty play space, trying to fill a row of three, five, or seven.

2. Once all the BEADs are on the board, players take turns to move their BEADs to an adjacent empty space, along the lines indicated, trying to fill a row of three, five, or seven BEADs or block their opponent from filling a line.

To win the game, a player must completely fill a row of three, five, or seven BEADs.

Tonkin is a two player game that covers the crucial period of the French-Indochina War fought between the Viet Minh and France from 1946 -1954. The game focuses on the intensive years from 1950 - 1954 in the northern part of Vietnam, called Tonkin, and Laos. It is a game of high interactive play where both players have a set of ten operation points and a number of supply dumps.