Setup

Choose a board layout. Note that layouts larger than 3 may take a long time to play.

Gameplay

To start, Red covers any space.

From then on, starting with Blue, players take turns.

Pie Rule

On their first turn, Blue has the option to skip their turn and change colors. The existing Red marble will be treated as their own. The pie rule can only happen once per game.

Your Turn

On your turn, you must cover an empty space. You must form the smallest group of connected friendly marbles possible.

• Example: If you can place a marble in isolation, which makes a friendly group of size 1, you must do that.

After placing a marble, you must remove all friendly groups that are smaller than the new group.

• Example: If you form a group of size 3, you must remove all friendly groups of sizes 1 and 2.

End of Game

The game ends when the board is full. The player with the most marbles on the board wins.

Note that a tie is impossible.