Herd Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• On Your Turn
• Example
• Balancing Rule
• Object of the Game
• Author's Note
• Credits

On Your Turn

1. Roll the dice.
2. Remove enemy stones in the quantity indicated by the lower die value.
3. Place your stones on any unoccupied cells (except where prohibited as described below) in the quantity indicated by the higher die value.
4. If you completely surround an enemy singleton (enemy group of size 1) - that is, every one of its adjacent cells is occupied by one of your stones - you must immediately remove it.
5. For each enemy stone you surround and capture, you must add an additional stone of your color, which could then capture more enemy stones and require you to add yet more of your stones during your turn.
6. Prohibited placement: You may not place a stone on a cell completely surrounded by enemy stones - that is, a cell whose every adjacent cell is occupied by an enemy stone. If at any time during your turn, the only unoccupied cells are such self-capturing placements, your turn is concluded.

Example

The figures show one complete turn of Red, who rolled a 5-3.

• Fig. 1a - Red rolls 5-3
• Fig. 1b - Removal - Red removes 3 blue stones.
• Fig. 1c - Addition - Red adds 5 red stones, capturing 1 blue stone.
• Fig. 1d - Extra Add - Red adds 1 extra stone, for the 1 captured blue stone.

Balancing Rule

Red, on their first turn, places the number of stones indicated by the LOWER die value.

Object of the Game

The game ends when the board is completely filled. Who has the most stones on the board wins.

Author's Note

Feel free to publish this rule sheet and to program the game of Herd. No licensing fee or royalties are expected. However, please don't change the name or the rules, and please attribute the game to me, Mark Steere. My other games can be found at marksteeregames.com.

Credits

Copyright (c) 2022 by Mark Steere