PILE One day, four brothers decided to open a rug shop. But the only shop they could afford was very small. Terminology: * Piece. One of a players pieces. * Square. A square on the board. The 'colour' of the square is the colour of the topmost piece that covers that square. Only the topmost piece counts for anything. * Area. An area is any number of squares, all sharing the same colour, connected along edges. (NOT just at corners) Setup. 1. Each player should have 3 large (3x3) pieces, 3 medium (3x2) pieces and 4 small (2x2) pieces. 2. If only two players are playing, you should use the smaller, 5x5, board. Otherwise use the full 6x6 board. Rules. 1. Each turn, place a piece on the board. 2. It must cover squares exactly. 3. It musn't hang off the edge of the board. 4. You must not cover ANY squares that are already your own colour. 5. You must not cover the whole of any other player's area. It's a good idea to cover big chunks of those areas, though. 6. You have to go somewhere, if you can. 7. If you CAN'T go anywhere, the game is over. 8. The winner is the player who has most squares showing their colour. Example Play. Notes. Having many small areas is usually better than having one single large area. Be careful - connecting your small areas together leaves you vulnerable. Don't worry about using up all of your pieces. 1x1 areas are completely safe, at least until you have to play next to them. If you don't look ahead a move or two, you may find the game ending sooner than you expect.