LYNGK
2 Players
LYNGK is played with
pieces in 6 different colors,
each representing a game of the GIPF project.
Actually, there are only 5 active colors,
for the 6th color is not a color in itself
It can be used as any of the 5 other colors.
The goal is to build stacks
consisting of 5 pieces of the 5 different colors.
Victory belongs to the player
with the most stacks of
5 pieces at the end of the game.
If you can scan the QR code above,
you can also see it on your mobile!
<Components>
- 1 game board
- 3 white mottled pieces
(ref. GIPF)
- 9 ivory pieces
(ref. TZAAR)
- 9 blue pieces
(ref. ZERTZ)
- 9 red pieces
(ref. DVONN)
- 9 green pieces
(ref. PUNCT)
- 9 black pieces
(ref. YINSH)
- 1 bag
<Set Up>
Place 8 pieces of each color
and the 3 white pieces
randomly on the board, so that each spot
(i.e. where the lines intersect) is occupied.
Line up the remaining pieces
(1 ivory, 1 blue, 1 red, 1 black and 1 green)
next to the board.
Draw lots to determine
the starting player.
The 3 white pieces must be
considered as jokers,
i.e. they have the potential
to represent any of the 5 active colors.
These joker pieces are passive.
They cannot be used to play with.
They may only be moved as part of a stack.
<Game Progress>
At the start of the game,
all the pieces on the board are neutral.
They belong to neither
of the players, meaning that,
apart from the passive jokers,
both players may use
them to make a move.
In the course of the game,
each player may claim 2 colors.
As soon as a color is claimed by a player,
the pieces of that color
are no longer neutral.
From that point forward,
only the player who claimed
that color may play with these pieces.
Players may claim a color
at any stage of the game
but only when it is their turn and before
making their move.
To claim a color,
the player must take
the piece of the desired color
next to the board and
put it in front of them,
on their side of the board.
A player may claim
only one color at a time.
Thus, it is not allowed to
claim 2 colors during a single turn.
When both players
have claimed their 2 colors,
the last (5th) color
remains neutral.
Both players may go on
playing with pieces of
that neutral color for
the remainder of the game.
Players take turns.
Each turn, a player must
move one piece or one stack of pieces.
To make a move they
may choose any piece or
stack of a neutral color
or of one of their claimed colors.
When moving a stack,
it must always be moved as a whole.
The piece on top of a stack
determines whether the stack
is neutral or belongs to
one of the players.
A move, be it with a neutral or a claimed color,
must always end in an occupied space,
thus on top of another piece or stack.
A move can end on top
of an adjacent piece or stack
and on top of a piece or stack
that can be reached in a straight line,
crossing only empty intersections.
It is not allowed to jump
over pieces or stacks.
There is an extra option for making a move,
but this is explained below
in a separate section,
under F. The LYNGK-rule.
A stack can consist at most of 5 pieces.
The key rule is that
a stack can only be built with
pieces of different colors :
2 (or more) pieces of
the same color can never be
part of the same stack.
However, 2 or even all 3 white pieces
may be part of the same stack.
As mentioned above,
a white piece is a joker and
not a color in itself.
It counts as a piece of any color
that is not in the stack.
A single neutral piece
(i.e. of a color that has
not been claimed yet)
can only move onto another
single piece of any other color.
In other words, it can
jump onto a joker piece,
onto a piece of another
neutral color or onto a piece
of a color that has been
claimed by either player.
A single neutral piece
cannot jump onto a stack.
A stack with a neutral piece
on top of it may jump onto
any single piece or onto
a stack of at most the same height.
It cannot jump onto a higher stack.
For instance, a stack of 2 pieces
with a neutral piece on top
of it can jump onto a single piece
or another stack of 2 pieces,
but not onto a stack of 3 pieces.
A single piece of a claimed
color or a stack with
a claimed color on top of
it may be moved onto
any other piece or stack.
(That is, as long as
the resulting stack is no higher
than 5 pieces and all
the pieces are of different colors).
When a player completes
a stack of 5 pieces and
the top piece is in a color
they have claimed,
they must remove the stack
and put it on their side of the board,
at all times visible for their opponent.
A removed stack is worth
one point at the end of the game.
When a player completes
a stack of 5 pieces with a neutral color on top,
then the stack remains on
the board as an obstacle.
This stack does not count as
a point for any of the players.
It is not allowed to pass,
unless a player has no
more possible moves.
If a player cannot make a move anymore,
the other player must continue
to play until that player, too,
has no possible move.
In the event that a player
who has passed gets the opportunity
to make a move again, the player must do so.
<The LYNGK-Rule>
In the text that follows,
single pieces and stacks are
simply called “pieces,”
since the LYNGK-rule is the same for both.
The LYNGK-rule may only
be applied when playing
with a claimed color.
The rule states that pieces
of one and the same claimed
color are connected,
but only under the condition
that they can be moved towards
each other with a regular move.
A player can use pieces of
that claimed color to make
a double move, or even a triple or quadruple move,
by using them as links towards
other pieces on the board.
As such, pieces of each claimed
color can be seen as a network
of multiple moves—
to which the opponent has no access.
Apply the rule as follows :
you may move a piece
of a claimed color towards
another piece of that color,
but it may not be put on top of it;
instead you use the reached
piece as a LYNGK-point,
meaning that you must make
a second move from there.
Thus, from the reached piece
you must continue your move
towards an adjacent piece or
towards a piece that can be
reached in a straight line.
The piece you make your move
with must be placed on
top of this piece if the color(s) allow it.
However, if this second piece
is yet again of the same claimed color,
you must make a third move
from that point, and so on,
until the moved piece reaches
a piece on which it can land.
It is not allowed to use
a joker piece as a LYNGK-point.
It is not allowed to use a LYNGK-point more
than once within a single turn.
When using a stack as a LYNGK-point,
only the color of the top piece matters. The
other colors in the stack are not relevant.
<How to Finish the Game>
The game ends when the last
possible move has been made.
The winner is the player with the most
stacks of 5 differently colored pieces.
In case of a tie, the winner is the player
with the most stacks of
4 pieces on the board.
If that still does not determine who wins,
then count the stacks of 3 pieces, and so on.
Eventually, if even the number of
single pieces is equal,
the game ends in a tie.
<Variant>
Recommendation
: play this variant only when you
have enough experience with
the game as described above.
That is and remains the standard game.
However, this variant was in the running
until the final rules of LYNGK
had to be locked in.
Games played this way are often shorter
because of an added special twist.
The twist is a sudden-death feature :
a player who completes a stack of
6 pieces wins the game at once.
Without experience, the sudden-death may result
too often in a coincidental win, i.e.
a sudden opportunity to win without
having played for it.
However, it would be a pity to
completely withhold it, and for that reason
it is offered here as a variant.
Players shall respect the rules as
described for the standard game,
but with the following additional stipulations :
Stacks of 5 pieces must remain on the board.
A joker piece now has a double function :
besides being used as a piece
in any of the 5 other colors
(as in the standard game),
it also represents the color “white”, i.e.
a color in its own right.
Note : although a joker piece is also
representing a color in this variant,
it remains a passive piece.
The color white cannot be claimed,
nor may it be used to make a move with.
A joker piece may still only
be moved as part of a stack.
Obviously, to make a stack of 6 pieces
a player needs at least one joker piece
in the stack with pieces of the 5 other colors.
This one joker piece must represent
the color white in the stack,
but, as in the standard game,
a second and even third joker piece
may be used to replace missing colors in the stack.
The player who succeeds
in making a stack of 6 pieces,
with one of his claimed
colors on top, wins instantly.
If it happens that a player
completes a stack of 6 pieces with
a neutral piece on top,
it does not count as a win.
In case there are no more moves
and neither of the players succeeded
in making a stack of 6 pieces,
then the player with the most stacks
of 5 pieces on the board wins the game.
If that does not determine the winner,
then count the stacks
consisting of 4 colors, and so on.
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