Definitions
A square is empty if it has no coins or pawns on it.
A square is adjacent to another square if it shares a side with that square. (Squares that are connected diagonally are not adjacent.)
The source square is the square that a player's pawn is standing on at the beginning of that player's turn. The pawns do not begin the game on the board, so on a player's first turn of the game, there is no source square.
On a player's turn, a path is any sequence of squares that has all of the following characteristics:
1.
For a player's first turn, the path begins with a square on the first row of that player's side of the board (including the corners). For any other turn, the path begins with a square adjacent to the source square.
2.
Each of the other squares on the path is adjacent to the square preceding it.
3.
All of the squares on the path have the same type of coin on them. (An empty square cannot be on a path.)
4.
No square on the path has a player's pawn on it (including the pawn of the player who is selecting the path).
5.
No square can be on a path more than once.
The target square of a path is the last square on that path.
When a player passes, that player's turn ends.
Play
On a player's turn, these steps must be followed in order:
1.
The player selects a path and points it out to the other player(s).
1a.
If there are any legal paths, the player may not pass.
1b.
If there is no legal path, the player must pass. That player's pawn remains on the board, and if, on a later turn, that player can form a path, they may not pass. (This is only possible in variants of the game, which can be found
below.)
2.
The player takes and keeps one of the coins on the target square. It will contribute to that player's final score.
3.
The player collects one of the coin(s) on each square of the path other than the target square and piles all of them up on the target square (on top of any coins that are already on the target square).
4.
The player moves their pawn to the top of the pile of coins on the target square. (The pawn should not be moved until after the coins are moved as specified by the preceding steps.)
Note
The locations of the coins are not secret. Players must keep their coins laid out so that other players can see what they have, and a player may count the coins on any square at any time.
Game End
The game is over when all players pass consecutively. At that time, the player who has the most money is the winner. (The coins are worth their standard monetary values.) Ties are broken in favor of the player who was the last to take a coin.
Example
An example game can be found
here.
Variants
The rules of any variant are the same as the standard rules except as specified below. More than one variant can be used in a game.
Diagonal Variant
The definition of adjacent is extended to include squares that share a corner (as well as squares that share a side).
Many Pennies Variant
Instead of 24 pennies, 24 nickels, 12 dimes, and 4 quarters, the coins used are 27 pennies, 22 nickels, 11 dimes, and 4 quarters.
Many Many Pennies Variant
The coins used are 30 pennies, 20 nickels, 10 dimes, and 4 quarters.
Mixed Change Variant
This variant allows different types of coins to be on the same square. The rules are modified in the following ways:
1.
In addition to moving coins from squares on the path to the target square, a player also moves one of the coins on the source square to the target square. The coins should be stacked with the smallest ones on the top so all of them are visible.
2.
The definition of path remains the same: All of the squares on the path must have (at least one of) the same type of coin on them.
3.
When declaring their path, a player must also specify which type of coin they are using on the path.
4.
The coin taken from the target square must be a coin of the type that the player used to create the path.
5.
The coin moved from a square on the path to the target square must be a coin of the type that the player used to create the path. (As in the standard rules, only one coin is moved from each square on the path.)
Transplant Variant
When a player collects one coin from each square on the path other than the target square, instead of piling those coins up on the target square, the player places each coin on an empty square. It is okay to place a coin on an empty square that wasn’t empty before the coins were collected. Once a coin is placed on an empty square, that square is no longer empty, so no more than one coin may be placed on a single empty square. Since the coins are moved before the pawn is moved, a coin can be put on the target square, but not the source square. (On the first turn of the game, the coins must be placed on the path, leaving one of them empty. On the second turn, coins may be placed on that empty square or on that turn’s path, leaving two squares empty.)
Transplant Variant Variant
This is just like the transplant variant, except the pawn is moved before the coins on the path are moved, but after the coin on the target square has been taken. (So a coin can be moved to the source square, but not the target square.)
Standing Still Variant
If the source square has any coins on it, the player may, instead of forming a path, leave their pawn on the source square, taking and keeping one of the coins from that square.
Greedy Variant
Instead of taking just one coin from the target square, the player takes and keeps all of the coins on the target square.
Cleanup Variant
Instead of moving one coin from each square on the path to the target square, all of the coins on the path are moved to the target square.
Empty Squares Variant
The definition of path is extended to include a sequence in which all of the squares are empty. (Creating a path where each square has the same type of coin is still allowed.) The game ends when there are no more coins on the board.