Donuts
Donuts Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 double-sided tiles of 3x3 squares
- 30 double-sided donuts (vanilla and chocolate)
Setup
Randomly assemble the 4 tiles to make a 6x6 square gameboard. Each player takes 15 donuts. Flip your donuts over to show your color.
Each square of the board carries a line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) that shows a direction of play.
Place the Donuts
The first player places one of their donuts on the square of their choice. The line on the square where you place your donut indicates the direction your opponent must play.
Your opponent then places one of their donuts on any empty square in that direction. As before, the chosen space indicates the direction for the next placement. Players take turns playing this way.
Example: Eric plays in A, which shows the direction in which Emma must play. Emma places her donut in B, which gives a new direction to Eric. He can place his next donut on one of the 4 available squares in this direction.
Disobedience
If all the squares in the direction required by your opponent are already occupied, disobey and play on the empty square of your choice.
Example: Emma plays her donut on A. Since no free squares are in the shown direction, Eric can place his donut wherever he wants.
Insertion
An insertion occurs when you place one or more donuts of your color between two of your opponent's donuts. In this case, flip over your opponent's two adjacent donuts that are bookending your donut(s), making them your color.
Example: Eric places his donut in A. Emma does not see the trap set for her and follows the direction given to place herself in B. Eric takes the chance to move to C and perform an insertion. He then flips the 2 adjacent vanilla donuts to his color.
An insertion can involve several directions at the same time. For each direction subject to the insertion, flip your opponent's surrounding donuts.
Example: Emma places her donut in A. Eric plays at B. By then placing in to C, Emma makes a double insertion and flips the adjacent chocolate donuts from two different directions!
An insertion is also performed when you insert multiple donuts between opposing donuts. You convert the adjacent donuts to your color.
Example: Eric places his donut in A. Emma places hers in B. Eric takes the opportunity to move to C and make an insertion thanks to his other donut already on the board.
Important: If you place your donuts around your opponent's, yours do not flip. Only insertion causes flipping!
Example: Emma place her donut in A. Eric then moves to B but doesn't flip the vanilla donut to the right because it's not an insertion.
Winning the Game
As soon as you have 5 donuts of your color in an orthogonal or diagonal line, you win the game!
Example: With 5 vanilla donuts aligned, Emma wins the game!
If nobody has won by the time all 30 donuts are on the board, then the player with the single largest orthogonally contiguous group of donuts wins.
Example: Emma has 6 donuts (vanilla) in her largest group. Eric's largest group contains 8 donuts (chocolate). Eric is the winner.
If you are tied, the game ends in a draw.
Memory Aid
To remember the location of the last donut played, place a second donut of the corresponding color on top of it. After playing, the next player picks up this donut, turns it over and places it on top of the newly played donut, etc.