Dropper 2023

Rules.

1. The game is played on an 8x8 board, but it can also be played on boards of different sizes.

2. The first player places 1 stone at their discretion on the empty board.

3. The second player places 2 stones according to a protocol in 2 moves: 1Drop - 1Free. Drop move: the player places their stone in place of an opponent's stone, moving that opponent's stone to a free adjacent square that is diagonally or orthogonally adjacent. Free move: the player then places their own stone in a free square that has no stones adjacent diagonally or orthogonally.

4. Players take turns placing their 2 stones according to the 1Drop - 1Free protocol on the board until it is no longer possible to place Free moves. At that point, players proceed only with Drop moves.

5. When placement possibilities are exhausted, the groups sizes for each player are counted. The player with the largest group wins, in the event of a tie, the size of the second largest group is counted and so on.

"Groups" refer to a single stone or a set of stones of the same color adjacent orthogonally.

—description from the designer