Flume (2010)

About this game

Flume is an extremely simple game for two players. Start with a Go board lined with a perimeter of green stones (painted on). The players, Red and Blue, take turns adding stones of their own color. If you add a stone which forms 3 or 4 connections (orthogonal adjacencies) with neighboring stones of any color (red, blue or green) add another stone while it's still your turn. And so on. Your turn concludes when you add a stone which forms 2 or less connections with neighboring stones. The object is to have the most stones on the board after it has been filled with stones. Flume gameplay is strongly related to Dots and Boxes gameplay.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Strictly 2 players — no more, no fewer.
• Rules load. At 2.5/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 5 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.