Instructions Ataxx

Objective of the Game

Ataxx is a strategic board game for two players. The objective is to control the board with as many of your own pieces as possible, capturing more opponent pieces along the way. The game ends when the board is completely filled with pieces or when neither player can make a legal move.

Game Components

• A square board that typically measures 7x7 squares. There are smaller and larger variations available, sometimes with obstacles.
• Each player starts with two pieces on the board, diagonally placed in opposite corners.

Basic Rules

1. Setup: Each player begins with two pieces of their color placed diagonally in opposite corners of the board.

2. Gameplay: Players take turns making moves. Each move can be one of the following:

3. Cloning: A player can clone a piece from an adjacent space (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) onto a free adjacent space. This means placing an additional piece on the free space.

4. Jumping: A player can move one of their pieces to a free space that is up to two squares away (in any direction, including diagonally). The original piece is moved to the new space without leaving a piece behind.

5. Capturing Opponent Pieces: Whenever a player places a piece on a free space, all directly adjacent opponent pieces are converted to the player's color. This applies to both cloning and jumping moves.

6. End of Game: The game ends under the following conditions:

7. The board is completely filled with pieces.
8. A player cannot make a legal move.

9. A player has no pieces left on the board.

10. Scoring: The winner is the player with the most pieces on the board when the game ends.

Strategic Considerations

• Aggressive Play: It can be effective to make aggressive moves to quickly spread across the board and turn the opponent's pieces early in the game.
• Blocking Tactics: Try to limit your opponent's movements to constrain their play area and minimize their options.
• Cloning vs. Jumping: Strategize whether it's wiser to clone (to have more units) or to jump (to achieve better board positioning).

Ataxx requires strategic thinking, forward-planning moves, and a good sense of when to apply defensive or offensive tactics. Enjoy the game!