Frasvel 2024

Frasvel (from Proto-Germanic: Fraswelganą, meaning "to absorb" or "devour") is a stalemate game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the hexes (cells) of an initially empty hexagonal board. The recommended size is 5 cells per side, but boards of 4 or 6 are also valid. Each player has access to a sufficient supply of stackable pieces of their own color.

Definitions: A stack is a set of pieces located in the same cell. A single piece is also a stack. The color of a stack is the color of its top piece, indicating its owner. The height of a stack is the number of pieces it contains. A group is a set of stacks of the same color and height that are connected to each other. A single stack is also a group. To absorb is the process by which a friendly stack removes one piece from each enemy group touched during its move, adding those pieces to its own color.

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

Optionally move a stack of your color in a straight line a distance equal to its height, either through empty cells or by jumping over friendly stacks. The stack may not touch any enemy group of greater height. During the move, the moved stack must absorb all stacks of enemy groups it touches through empty cells, starting from the first empty cell it moves to. Each enemy stack may lose only one piece, even if its group is touched more than once in a single move. The moved stack and all stacks of friendly groups of equal height it touches during its move increase in height by as many pieces as enemy stacks are absorbed. If your stack cannot absorb, it cannot move. Place a stack of your color with height 1 in an empty cell not adjacent to more friendly stacks than enemy stacks.

At the end of your turn, the moved stack must absorb at least one enemy group and if you cannot place, you must move.

End of the game:The game ends when, after optionally moving and absorbing, a player cannot place a stack of their color; in this case, that player is the winner.

To balance the game, before starting, the first player places a black stack in an empty cell, and the second player chooses a side. This balancing method is called the pie rule.

—description from the designer