Description

Aquifer is a Hex variant which attempts to find a consistent turn protocol to replace the pie rule; the game is balanced despite that each turn consists of the same options. In the spirit of Slither, the designer is proud to present yet another connection game in which movement is utilized to solve a specific design problem while providing unique and puzzling tactics as well. The name Aquifer refers to how each player's initial group is the wellspring from which all their other groups originate. Draws are impossible in Aquifer.

Rules

Materials: Any Hex board size 10x10 or larger and an unlimited supply of stones in two colors.

Objective: Connect your two designated sides, Top and Bottom for Black and Left and Right for White with an unbroken chain of pieces.

Gameplay: Starting with Black, on their turn players alternate either placing a stone of their own color that, if possible, must be adjacent to a like-colored stone already on the board. Or alternatively moving one or more of their stones according to the following conventions:

The player selects a group (connected set of like-colored stones) to move stone/s out of. Other friendly stones within the group are sacrificed, by flipping them to the opponent's color, to give the stone/s sliding movement, each sacrifice adds a particular direction of movement to one of the stones being moved. Any number of stones can be sacrificed from the group (which aren't the moving stones of course) except for 1; the group must still exist at the end of the turn. The stones may move in any combination of their purchased directions. At least one of the stones must land adjacent to no other stones. When moving, stones can move over friendly stones but not over enemy stones.

-description from designer