Pond
Pond Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Materials
13 Light Pieces, 13 Dark Pieces, and 1 Game Board
Objective
Place, move, and transform pieces to score sets of matching symbols. Score 10 of your own pieces to win!
Setup
A game of Pond begins with an empty 4x4 board. Each player gathers 13 starting pieces of one color. Together, these pieces are called your spawn. All pieces in your spawn begin as Eggs. Keep your spawn on the table between yourself and the board, ensuring that it is clearly visible to both players.
How to Play
On your turn, you must complete the following three steps in the same order: First, perform an action with one of your own pieces. Then, develop all adjacent pieces. Finally, score any sets that have been created as a result.
The player with the light pieces takes the first turn. Thereafter, dark and light take alternating turns, continuing until at least one player has scored 10 or more of their own pieces. Then, the player with the most scored pieces wins the game. If the score is tied, the game ends in a draw.
You must always perform an action on your turn. If you are unable to perform any actions on your turn, you lose the game. This outcome, called elimination, can be the result of an empty spawn and/or a board with no available moves.
1. Perform an Action
To begin your turn, you must perform one of the following actions of your choice. You may only perform an action using one of your own pieces. Each symbol has its own unique action type.
Place an Egg from your spawn onto any unoccupied space on the board. Eggs are the only pieces that can be added from your spawn onto the board. Eggs cannot move.
Move a Tadpole one step (horizontal or vertical) to any unoccupied space. Diagonal lines are never used.
Move a Frog one or two steps in a straight line (horizontal or vertical) to an unoccupied space. When moving two steps, a frog may "hop" over another piece to reach its destination.
2. Develop Pieces
After you perform an action with a piece, develop each other piece (regardless of color) that is now orthogonally adjacent to the active piece. Diagonal adjacencies are never used.
To develop a piece, change its symbol by rotating the piece onto its side. Development always proceeds by the same repeating pattern: An Egg becomes a Tadpole, a Tadpole becomes a Frog, and a Frog becomes an Egg. Such is the circle of life.
3. Score Sets
Finally, after pieces have been developed, any resulting sets are scored. A set is a horizontal or vertical line of three or more matching symbols, regardless of color. When a set is scored, remove from the board all pieces that contributed to the set. Each player takes their own pieces from the set and places them in their scoring area, located next to the board to each player's left. If multiple intersecting or adjacent sets are created simultaneously, all contributing pieces are removed and scored at once.
Example Turn #1: A Simple Score
Here, the player with the light pieces places a new Egg onto the board. Once placed, this new Egg will be orthogonally adjacent to the three highlighted pieces.
After placing the new Egg, the player develops the orthogonally adjacent pieces. The newly placed Egg does not develop itself, and the diagonally adjacent pieces aren't developed.
Now that all necessary pieces have developed, a set of three Eggs has been created. These three pieces are removed from the board, scoring two pieces for light and one piece for dark.
Example Turn #2: Don't Forget About Development!
In this scenario, the light player sees an enticing opportunity to "hop" their Frog into a new position, landing snugly between two existing Frogs and creating a set.
Unfortunately, the light player forgot to account for the development step! The highlighted pieces, including the two Frogs, develop simultaneously. No sets are created this time.
Example Turn #3: Scoring Multiple Sets At Once
On this crowded board, the light player spots an exciting scoring opportunity, and uses their action to move a Tadpole into position.
After the three adjacent pieces are developed, multiple different sets are created, including a four-piece set. Remember, sets can be larger than three pieces.
The horizontal set and the vertical set are scored simultaneously. All pieces from both sets are removed from the board, scoring four pieces for light and two pieces for dark. Great play!