Foundation is an abstract two-player game in which players place their pieces onto a grid board. Points are scored according to the number of existing pieces in contact with the piece already played, irrespective of color. Additionally, the four corner spaces and the central square are marked with a dot; pieces played over these dots score one extra point.
Each player has 14 pieces: straights, zig zags, "U" shapes, and corners of varying sizes. The pieces must be placed right side up, which is indicated by a groove carved into the top of the pieces. This often leads to difficult decisions needing to be made as to how to get the majority of your pieces onto the board while maximizing the points scored for each piece and also preventing your opponent from getting his pieces onto the board.
Scoring is recorded using wooden pegs and one track for each player with 0-9 & 0-50 holes in the border of the board. For each piece left at the end of the game, two points are deducted from a player's score.