Description


Introduction:Hedu (from Old English: Hēahþu, meaning "height") is a finite game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the hexes (spaces) of a initially empty hexagonal board. It can be played on a 7–sized board for long games or a 5–sized board for short games. Each player has access to a sufficient supply of stackable pieces of their own color.



Definitions:
A stack is a maximal set of pieces located at the same space, one on top of the other. A single piece is also a stack.
The height of a stack is the number of pieces it contains.
A group is a maximal set of stacks of the same color and height that are connected to each other. A single stack is also a group.
The size of a group is the number of stacks it contains.
A region is a maximal set of one or more uninterrupted empty spaces bounded by stones of any color that fill all adjacent places.
You control a region by following these steps:



Compare the size of adjacent groups of both players. The larger group controls the region.
In case of a tie, compare the height of the larger groups. The taller group controls the region.
If the tie persists, compare the adjacent groups successively in the same way.
In case of an absolute tie, control is given to the group with more stones adjacent to the region.



The value of a region is equal to the height of the largest size friendly group that controls it.
Increase is adding pieces on top of one or more stacks.
Reduce is removing pieces from one or more stacks and taking them off the board.
A prisoner is a piece that is removed when reducing a stack and is taken off the board to be placed next to the player of the opposite color.




Turns:Black plays first, then turns alternate. On your turn, you can either pass your turn or take these actions in the following order:


Place a stack of height N of your color in an empty space, where N is not 0 and is equal to the number of adjacent regions.
Reduce all enemy stacks, and then friendly stacks, according to the number of adjacent regions each has.
Increase all stacks, both friendly and enemy, according to the number of adjacent regions each has.




End of the game:The game ends when players cannot make any placements. At the end of the game, each player counts his points by adding the value of the regions he controls, plus the number of captured prisoners, plus half a point for the player with the largest size or height group (with the same process used in region control).

The player with the highest score at the final position wins.

To balance the game, before starting, the first player places a black stack on an empty space, and the second player chooses a side. This balancing method is called the pie rule.



Notes:Special thanks to Coray Clark for his valuable input in improving a crucial aspect of the game, particularly the region control hierarchy, which prioritizes size over height of adjacent groups. Although the original idea was to prioritize height over size, the current idea works out better by providing additional means of retaliation.

–description from designer