Manalath (2012)

Manalath (from lat. "manus", referring to the five fingers of the hand) is an abstract game for two players from the growing family of Yavalath-like games. Unlike Yavalath however, it was designed by humans.

Material:

• a hexagonal hex gameboard with 5 spaces on the side
• 30 white, 30 black pieces

(a Yavalath set)

Rules: Two players (White and Black) take turns. In their turn, players choose a piece of any(!) color and place it on an empty space. A piece may not be placed such that a group of more than 5 pieces is created.

If there is, at the end of your turn, …

- a group of 5 of your colour, you win.
- a group of 4 of your colour, you lose.

If both conditions are present at the end of your turn, you lose.

If you cannot make a legal move (which is rare) the game is ended, but still the final state has to be examined: if you are neither in a winning nor a losing position, the game ends in a draw.