Bound
Bound Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set-up
To play, you will need a printed version of the board, and two sets of four pieces, be they stones, coins, or counters from another game.
The older player places their four pieces on four of the five forks around the outer ring.
The younger player places their four pieces on the central pentagon, each one on a fork opposite one of the older player's pieces.
Diagram: The initial position of the pieces.
The Game
The older player takes the first turn. Thereafter players alternate.
On your turn, move one of your four pieces along a single edge to an empty adjacent fork.
You must move a piece.
A piece is bound if it is surrounded on all three sides, by any combination of players' pieces.
Diagram: The orange piece at the top of the board is bound because all three of its adjacent forks are occupied.
If, at any time, one of your opponent's pieces is bound, you have won the game.
Stalemates
If a sequence of moves returns the pieces to an exact configuration in which they have been before, the next move cannot be the one that would begin the sequence again.
Diagram: a stalemate sequence in six panels, A to F.
- A to B: Blue begins by moving a piece from the top left (A) to the top (B). Orange moves towards the now-empty fork (C).
- C to D: Blue's piece at the top can be bound by Orange next turn, so Blue must move it (D).
- D to E: Likewise, Orange's piece is now threatened, so they too must retreat (E).
- E to F: This sequence of four moves has returned the pieces to exactly the same positions as before (A), so Blue's next turn cannot be to again move that piece to the top of the board (F).
Note: the source's caption for the bound rule reads "if is surrounded"; the word "it" is supplied here as a fix for the missing word.
Strategy Tips
Below are two emergent strategies, firstly a pair of powerful defensive structures and then a method of penning in your opponent's piece.
Turtling. Diagram. Both Orange's four stones and Blue's three stones in the top right have formed shapes in which every stone cannot be bound.
Netting. Diagram. As Blue attempts to free their piece, it becomes clear that there is no way out.