Signum (2022)

Signum is a drawless connection game for the hexhex board in the vein of Global Connection, but without markings on the board or an initial position. Play: Players take turns placing one stone of their color on any empty hex. Goal: When the board is full, the game is over and the player with the higher score is the winner. Scoring: Each stone is worth 1 point for its owner if it is part of a group connecting opposite sides of the board, and -1 point otherwise. The pie rule is used to balance the game: One player decides what the first move is, and the other player decides whether to play first or second. The titular scoring trick that ensures there are no ties (each stone is either worth +1 or -1 points) was (unbeknownst to the inventor of Signum) discovered by the inventor of Loops 9 years earlier. That game expresses it even better: Stones that are not worth a point for their owner is worth a point for their opponent. —description from the designer