Braunche 2023

Braunche (from Middle English: braunche, meaning "branch") is a drawless game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the intersections (points) of an initially empty hexagonal board with triangles. The recommended board size is 7 points per side, but boards of 5 or 9 are also valid. Each player has access to a sufficient supply of stones of their own color.

Definitions: A group is a maximal set of connected stones of the same color. A single stone is also a group. A branch of a group is a subgroup of connected stones within the group that occupy the points on the edge. A single stone on the edge is also a branch. The value of a group is the number of branches it contains according to the triangular score, which is calculated by adding the consecutive natural numbers from 1 to the number of branches in the group.

Turns:Black plays first and then turns alternate. On your turn, perform one of the following actions:

Place a stone of your color on an empty point. Pass your turn.

End of the game:The game ends when both players pass their turn consecutively. At the end of the game, points are counted by adding the value of all friendly groups, plus an extra half point to the player who passed his turn first.

To balance the game, before starting, the first player chooses an integer as the komi value and then the second player chooses a side. This balancing method is called komi pie.

—description from the designer