Gawi 2023

Gawi (from Gothic: gawi, meaning "land, region") is a drawless territorial game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the intersections (points) of an initially empty hexagonal board. The recommended board size is 9 points per side, but boards of 7 or 11 are also valid. Each player has access to a sufficient supply of stones of their own color.

Definitions: A group is a set of connected stones of the same color. A single stone is also a group. A liberty is an empty point adjacent to a group and is said to be obstructed if an enemy stone occupies it or is adjacent to it. A smothered group is a group with all its liberties obstructed. A territory is one or more connected empty points. You own a territory if all the stones connected to it are of your color. An incursion is a player's placement into the opponent's territory. An incursion is minimal if it causes exactly one enemy group to be removed.

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 where it is not smothered, then remove from the board all smothered enemy groups. You cannot make a minimal incursion if your opponent has just made a minimal incursion anywhere on the board. 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 up friendly territory and captured enemy stones, plus awarding an extra half point to the player who passed their turn first.

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

NotesThe minimal incursion rule was taken from some territorial games of Luis Bolaños Mures.

–description from designer