Wunchunk (2019)

Wunchunk is an abstract strategy game for 2 to 4 players that is played on a "hexhex" board (a hexagonal shaped board made of hexagonal cells). Recommended playing sizes are boards with 5 to 8 cells per side. Players take turns placing stones on a hexhex board, until the board is full or until all players pass consecutively. Groups of like-colored stones are "chunks" if they contain two or more stones; single stones are merely "crumbs." The winner is the player with the fewest CHUNKS in his/her color of stones at the end of the game. In the case of a tie in the number of chunks, the tied player with the "fewest smallest groups" wins. That is, tied players compare their number of CRUMBS; the player with the fewest crumbs wins. If the number of crumbs is also tied, then players compare their number of groups consisting of exactly two stones; the player with the smallest number of size-2 groups wins -- and so on up through the various sizes (size-3, size-4, ...) until the tie is broken. (In the two player game, an "all the way up" tie is mathematically impossible so long as the players did not prematurely pass; eventually the tie will necessarily be broken as players compare larger and larger groups. In the multi-player game, an "all the way up" tie is theoretically possible but non-existent in practice.) On his/her turn, a player is allotted a number of stones equal to his/her current number of chunks. (The initial board configuration begins -- Othello-like -- with each player having one chunk already on the board. See the "Starting Configuration" posting in the rules forum for details.) A player may play any number of stones from 0 (a pass) up to his/her allotted number. A player may play any color of stone (even an opponent's color); multiple stones can be any color or color mix. In the two player game, in order to offset the first player advantage, the PIE rule applies: After Player 1 plays his/her very first stone, Player 2 then decides whether to play a stone to the board or switch colors with Player 1. (If "switch colors" is chosen, then the player who was formerly Player 1 is now Player 2, and immediately plays a stone as his/her turn #1 move.) Honors Wunchunk won 3rd place in the Best Combinatorial 2-Player Game Contest of 2019 Example This forum posting gives an example of a Wunchunk endgame, which shows the above rules in action. -description from designer