Loupe 2024

Loupe (from Middle English: Loupe, meaning "loop") is a game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the intersections (points) of an initially empty hexagonal board with triangles. The recommended 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 stones of the same color connected to each other. A loop is a subgroup of stones within a group that forms the shortest possible closed path around at least one empty point or enemy stone, so that no additional stone can be removed without breaking the closed circuit of the loop. A group without loops is an empty group. The surplus part of a loop is the stones that are not in its loop. This part can also be empty. The value of a group is the difference between (i) the number of stones in its shortest loop and (ii) the number of stones in its surplus part (the first minus the second).

Turns: On the very first turn, Black places one stone on any empty point. From then on, starting with White, players take turns placing exactly two stones, one by one, on empty points not adjacent to more enemy stones than friendly ones. A player is allowed to pass instead of placing their two stones.

End of the game:The game ends when both players consecutively pass their turns. To determine the winner, there are two modalities to choose from:

Simple modality: The player with the highest-valued group wins. In case of a tie, the values of their second-highest groups are compared, and so on, until a pair with different values is reached. Compound modality: The player with the highest score wins. The score is calculated by adding up the values of all the groups.

—description from the designer