Bounders

Bounders is a territorial game played on a hexagonal board of side length 7 or 9, and some light and dark stones. Players decide who goes first, and alternate turns. Each turn, players put a stone of their color on an empty space, adjacent to an equal number of light and dark stones.

When no more moves are available, the game is scored. Players get points for surrounding territories: for each empty region, the player with more stones bounding that region is awarded points according to the number of empty spaces there. Regions next to an equal number of light and dark stones are not counted. The player with the higher total score wins.

There are also two advanced rules that are used in case of serious tournament play, to ensure a competitive experience. First, this involves deciding who starts via the pie rule, in which the first player places one stone and gives their opponent a one-time opportunity to swap sides. Second, players use a slightly more nuanced scoring system, in which the following scores are compared until a winner is determined:

Awarded the higher total score
Awarded points from the largest single territory
Awarded points from more distinct territories
Played fewer stones
Offered the pie

Bounders was designed by Alek Erickson in March 2024. The game was inspired by Mark Steere's game Hadron and Markus Hagenauer's game Cairo Corridor, and accidentally bears some similarity with Luis Bolaños Mures's game Quinten and Phil Leduc's game Midgard.

—description from the designer