by Jonathan Leistiko.

A pen-and-paper game for two territorial space-makers.

Object

Claim territory by splitting the board to your advantage.

You Need

• A different color pen for each player, plus a neutral color.
• Blank paper

Set up

Set the paper where both players can reach it. Draw two large intersecting circles in the middle of the page in the neutral color like this:

Put a dot in your color the middle of one of the two outside regions. Let your opponent do the same in the other vacant region. It should look like this:

Randomly select a player to go first. If you're first, draw a star in your color in the corner of the paper.

Play

On your turn, put a dot of your color anywhere in an unlocked region. After you do, if there are three dots in that region, draw a circle in your color. This circle must follow the following rules:

1. The circle you draw must split the region with three dots in it onto two regions - one with one dot and one with two.
   
2. The circle you draw must include play space that was not yet enclosed by a circle.
   
3. The circle you draw must intersect exactly two other circles.
   

Note: Your circles should be circular. They don't have to be perfect, but try your best. If you really need a rule, your circles should not be more than twice as long as they are wide (Yes, I know that's an ellipse.).

After you draw a circle, one or more regions on the board may become impossible for future players to split with a circle. "Lock" each region that's impossible to split by coloring it in.

• If you have more dots in a locked region than your opponent, color it in with your color. It's worth one point for you.
• If your opponent has more dots in a locked region than you, let them color it in with their color. It's worth one point for them.
• If you're tied with your opponent or if neither of you have dots in a locked region, color it in with the neutral color.

Two more rules:

• You may not put a dot in a locked region.
• You may not put a dot in an area if it will be the third dot and it will be impossible to draw a circle that splits that region that follows rules 1 to 3 above.

​Ending the Game and Winning

If a player has five or more points at the end of a round and it's the end of the first player's turn, the second player gets a final turn. Otherwise, the game ends.

The player with the most points wins. If it's a tie, the player who added the most circles to the board wins. If there's still a tie, play another round (each player gets one more turn).

Variants

Advanced Scoring: The game ends when at least one player has claimed five locked areas and both players have had an equal number of turns. You get one point for each region you've claimed, plus one point for each flat border between two regions you control.

Origin and Credits

Big thanks to Neil T, for playtesting on Dana's birthday cruise and to C, Jeremy, and Shea at the Voss Media Boardgame Cafe Gamesmith designers' club for last-minute playtesting.