The Game of Fives

A variant of games where you need to build a line of pieces to win. In this game you must be first to create a line of five pieces. Each player starts with 20 discs in his own colour. Players alternate to place pieces on to the board. The game ends when any one player has a winning line. However, if no-one has a winning line after all 40 pieces are on the board, players must move one of their own pieces one square. If no-one wins after five such moves, it is a draw. The pieces are circular discs with a vacant centre and a winning player scores as many points as printed on the board, which can easily be seen throught the middle of the piece. Scores are pegged on a sort of cribbage board. Essentially a 2-player game, the rules suggests variants for more players, one of which is a Five Drive. This goes back to the fashion for Whist Drives, i.e. a number of tables playing side-by-side, maybe in a village hall or similar.