Sturt's Stony Desert (2007)

The flip side of the tiles from the game Down Under (if you own Down Under, you own Sturt's Stony Desert). This is a simple connection game for 2 players only (though the rules say 2 to 4).

Try to connect your two sides of the board using the tiles with various curved paths on them.

The game has two phases. In the first phase, players take turns laying tiles with just two curves on them. These are either Y shaped forks, or two bends around opposite corners. If you let your opponent complete their path in this phase, you're doing very badly.

In the second phase, players start over-laying the 2 curve tiles with 3 curve tiles. This makes it much easier to complete a path. When one player does so, the other still has a chance to lay a 3 curve to disrupt the path. But 3 curves only go onto 2 curves. So by clever placement, you can force yourself into a path with two solutions, so your opponent cannot block both at once.

It's a remarkably simple design, but seems wide open with possible techniques. Tiles can always be placed in any orientation. The clever part is that a valid path cannot follow an oblique turn. You go round bends like a train on tracks. So by placing a fork in the correct way, I can improve my path but block yours. But when you get to lay 3 curves, you can undo the damage.

NOTE: There are no Versions listed under this Game entry, as this is played with the components of Down Under. The Versions are therefore listed under that Game entry.