Nakatta Pro 2026

Nakatta Pro is a two-player game played on a square board of any size, initially empty. The top and bottom board edges are colored black. The left and right edges are colored white.

The two players, Black and White, take turns placing their own stones onto unoccupied points, one stone per turn, starting with Black. Passing is not allowed, but if you don't have an available placement, your turn is skipped.

Players are not allowed to form any of these glyphs (patterns):

Hard corner: 2×2 area with two diagonally adjacent stones of the same color, one stone of the other color and one empty point. Desolate attachment: 2×3 area including an empty 2×2 square, a black stone and a white stone. Bend: 2×3 area with two stones of the same color in opposite corners, a stone of the other color in another corner and no other stones.

The goal for each player is to form an orthogonally (horizontally and/or vertically) interconnected path of stones of his color connecting the two board edges of his color.

Design notesI was exploring a certain design avenue when a completely unrelated concept jumped out and ambushed me. At first I didn't take it seriously. But I soon realized this new game was not a sideshow. It was the main event. It was the long undiscovered Middle-earth between Nakatta and Minefield.

Luis Bolaños Mures made a significant contibution to Nakatta Pro, rephrasing the rules by using prohibited glyphs, instead of the awkward "You can't form A unless it's part of B" language I had originally used. Luis’s interpretation of Nakatta Pro not only expressed the rules more cleanly. It also slightly simplified the game. Win-win.