Pushing a Stone

Players may push an opponents stone(s) if they

have more stones in a line than their opponent.
If a stone is pushed off of the board it is returned to the opponents pool.

Sixteen Stone
Designed by Gary Boyd
2 Players
10-15 minutes
Components:
8 Red Stones
8 Blue Stones
5x5 Grid Board
Sixteen Stone is an abstract game played on a
5x5 grid. The objective of the game is to remove your opponents stones from the board
by either pushing them off the board or by
capturing them.
Each player takes 8 stones in red or blue. The
red player goes first. Players alternate placing
their stones on any of the open cells of the
grid. Once all stones have been placed, the
game begins.

Stones may be pushed diagnonally.

As the game progresses, pieces will be removed and placed into the players pool. Pieces
in a players pool are useful later in the game.
Starting with the red player, players take turns
peforming several actions. Players may perform each of the following actions once per
turn in any order:
Push
Move
Sacrifice
On their first turn the first player may perform
either a push or move but not both.

3 Stone may push 2 stones. Players must have

a stone to push. Players may not push their
own stones.

If a player moves a stone into a position

where it surrounds an opponents stone on
two opposing sides, they may return that stone
to their opponents pool and replace it with
one from their own pool. This is referred to as
capturing.

Pieces pushed off the board are returned to

the players pool.
Moving a stone
In addition to pushing, players may move one
of their stones to any adjacent cell that is open.

This move will result in the capture of 2 blue

stones as the red stone moving causes both to
be surrounded on opposing sides.

A stone may be moved diagonally as well as

orthogonally.
A piece is not captured if it moves voluntarily
into a position between two opposing stones.

Sacrifice a stone
Players may remove one stone from their pool
permanently to take one additional move or
push action that turn. This is referred to as
sacrificing.
Note: Sacrificing stones should be considered
carefully because it reduces your available
pieces for the rest of the game.
Additional Rules & Clarifications
Players may perform each of the three
actions during their turn. It is possible for a
player to push, move, and sacrifice to push
or move again in a single turn.
Players may only push an opponents stone.
A player may never push one of their own.
In order to push, there must be a stone to
push.
Stones which are pushed are pushed one
cell in the direction of the push. If they are
pushed off the edge of the board, they are
placed in back into their pool.
While pushing, if one of your stones moves
into a position not previously occupied by
one of your stones and surrounds an opponents stone, you may capture that stone.
If you push an opponents stone into a position between two of your stones, you may
capture that stone.
When you capture an opponents stone, the
stone you replace it with cannot be immeddiately used to surround another stone.
Stones must be moved in order to capture.
When you capture an opponents stone,
it is returned to the opponents pool and
must be replaced with a stone from your
pool.
If all a players stones are on the board,
that player may not capture an opponents
stone. Players must be able to replace a
stone with one of their own to capture it.
A stone which is voluntarily moved into a
position between two opposing stones is
not captured.
3

A stone pushed into position between two

opposing stone is captured.
The stone in the red box is not captured
because it was already surrounded when
the push began, even though a blue stone is
moving into a capturing position.
End Game Conditions
If either player is reduced to a single stone, the
game ends immediately and that player loses
the game.
If any player concedes defeat, the game ends
immediately and the opposing player is the
winner.