Description

Valaturna (from Proto-Germanic: Walaturna, meaning "ruling tower") is an abstract board game for two players who play on an initially empty hexagonal board.

Objective:
The objective of the game is to build the highest stack of pieces possible.

Components:
– A hexagonal board with 7 intersections per side.
– A set of black stones and one set of white stones.

Definitions:
– A stack is a set of one or more pieces stacked at the same intersection, the size of a stack is the number of pieces it contains.
– A chain is a set of one or more stacks connected to each other in a straight line.
– A flank is a setup where two friendly stones in a straight line (along one of the six cardinal directions) are the same distance from one or more symmetrically shaped stack chains.

Turns:
Black plays first, then alternate. On your turn, perform these actions in the following order:

1. Place a size 1 stack of your color on an empty intersection that sees a friendly stack in a straight line through empty intersections.
2. Place a piece of your color on top of all flanked enemy stacks during your placement to capture them by increasing their sizes.

End of the game:
The game ends when it is no longer possible to capture the opponent's stacks, the player with the highest stack winning. In case of a tie, the one with the second highest stack wins and so on. However, a player will most likely give up seeing that he cannot build a stack higher than the opponent's.

To make the game fair, before the game starts, the first player places two starting stones, one black and one white, on any empty intersection on the board, the second player chooses the sides. This balancing method is called the two-stone pie rule.

—description from designer