Introduction:Laido (from Proto-Germanic: laidō, meaning "way, path") is a board game for two players: Black and White. It is played on the hexes (cells) of an initially empty hexagonal board. The recommended board size is 9 cells 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.
This game is based on Vadus.
Definitions:
A group is a maximal set of connected stones of the same color. A single stone is also a group.
The path of a group is a minimally connected subgroup that contains two edge stones. If the group does not contain two edge stones, it has no path.
The surplus stones of a group are the stones that are not in its path. A group may have no surplus stones.
The value of a group is the difference between the number of stones in its path and the number of surplus stones (path minus surplus).
A hill is the set of cells at equal distance from the center: the central hill contains only the central cell; the next hill surrounds the previous one, and so on until the outermost hill, which corresponds to the edge of the board.
Turns:Black plays first, then turns alternate. On your turn, do exactly one of these actions:
Place a stone of your color on an empty cell.
Pass your turn.
End of the game:The game ends when both players pass their turn consecutively. The winner is the player with the group of highest value. In case of a tie, the next highest-valued groups are compared, and so on, until a pair with different values is found.
If all compared groups are tied, the winner is the player with fewer stones in the more central hills, comparing hill by hill from the center outwards.
To balance the game, before starting, the first player places a black stone on an empty cell, and the second player chooses a side. This balancing method is called the pie rule.
—description from the designer