Vadus 2024

Vadus (from Gothic: Waddjus, meaning "wall") is a board game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the intersections 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 in their own color.

Definitions: A group is a maximal set of connected stones of the same color. A single stone is also a group. The connection part of a group is an arbitrarily chosen minimal connected subgroup containing two edge stones. If the group does not contain two edge stones, its connection part is empty. The surplus part of a group is the stones not in its connection part. This part can also be empty. The value of a group is the difference between (i) the number of stones in its connection part and (ii) the number of stones in its surplus part (the former minus the latter).

Turns: On the very first turn, Black places one stone on any point. From then on, starting with White, the players take turns placing exactly two stones each on empty points. A player is allowed to pass instead of placing their two stones.

End of the game:The game ends when both players pass their turn consecutively, and the player with the group of higher value wins. In the case of a tie, their second-largest groups are compared, and so on until reaching a pair that doesn't have the same value.

Notes:This is the improved version of the previous Vadus, being much more organic, which was designed by Saïd Galdseid and Michael Amundsen in February 2024.

—description from the designer