Lichen 2025

Lichen is a drawless strategy game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the squares (cells) of a square board. The recommended size is 12 cells per side, although boards of 10 and 14 are also valid. Each player occupies the first three rows on their side with their own stones.

This game is based on Ordo and Epaminondas.

Definitions: A lichen is a maximal set of stones of the same color connected orthogonally or diagonally. A single stone is also a lichen. A hypha of a lichen is a straight line within the lichen that contains one or more consecutive stones of the same color.

Turns:White plays first and then turns alternate. On your turn, move one hypha of your color orthogonally or diagonally through any number of empty cells in a straight line, either in a direction parallel or perpendicular to its original orientation, possibly dividing your lichen into several, as long as the moved hypha belongs to a lichen larger than those separated from it; afterwards, keep only the largest one (if there is a tie, you may choose). Apply the same rule to enemy lichens that become splitted after a removal.

If the movement is forward, it may not move backward. If it moves sideways, it must end farther from the center of the board than it was at the start. However, you may ignore these restrictions if you are making a removal.

During the movement, you may remove by crossing exactly one enemy hypha, even if there are empty cells along the path; each stone of that hypha you pass over is removed from the board, and you cannot continue moving once you have passed the last stone of that hypha.

End of the game:You win by reaching the last row with at least one of your stones or by removing all your opponent’s stones.

–description from designer