Strategic Reserve 2025

Strategic Reserve is a two-player game of skill and luck. It's played on a 6x6 square board, initially set up with 6 red and 6 blue checkers, arranged in a square of alternating colors.

You begin with 6 checkers of your own color in your "reserve" - basically a bunch of checkers on the table on your side of the board. Checkers that you place on the board come from your reserve.

Two dice are used - one purple and one green. A dice roll defines one square on the board. The purple die value is the horizontal coordinate. The green die value is the vertical coordinate. Horizontal coordinates span from your left column to your right column. Vertical coordinates span from your near row to your far row.

PlayBegin your turn by rolling the dice. Remove zero or more enemy checkers, based on the dice roll (explained below), and return them to your opponent’s reserve. Then place a checker on the board.

The object of the game is to empty your reserve. When you remove the last checker from your reserve, you win.

HitsA group is a group of at least one orthogonally (horizontally or vertically) interconnected, like-colored checkers. A group is never a subgroup of a larger group.

If your dice roll hits an enemy group, remove that group, return it to your opponent's reserve, and place a checker onto any unoccupied square on the board. If you hit a friendly group with your dice roll, remove all enemy groups adjacent to your friendly group, return them to your opponent's reserve, and place a checker orthogonally adjacent to your friendly group. If you don't hit any groups with your dice roll, place a checker onto any unoccupied square on the board.

Design notesI’ve long wanted a game with dice mapping to a single square on the board. I finally solved the problem with Strategic Reserve.