Oli 2022

Oli is a drawless connection game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the intersections (points) of an initially empty square grid (board). The top and bottom edges of the board are colored black; the left and right edges are colored white.

Black plays first, then turns alternate. On your turn, cover a 1×1, 1×2, 1×3 or 2×2 empty area of the board with stones of your color.

At the end of your turn, for any two diagonally adjacent stones of your color there must be another stone of your color adjacent to both, and there must be no 2×3 patterns of two empty points, two black stones a knight's jump away from each other and two white stones a knight's jump away from each other. Passing is not allowed, but, if you have no legal moves available, your turn is skipped.

You win if there is a chain of orthogonally connected stones of your color touching the two opposite board edges of your color.

To make the game fair, White will have the option, on their first turn only, to swap sides with Black instead of making a regular move.

-description from designer