Gygès

About this board game

Gygès is a two-player abstract strategy game that plays in about 15 minutes, challenging you to guide neutral rings across an interconnected board and reach your opponent’s throne.

Inspired by the legend of King Gygès’ ring of invisibility, the game replaces traditional ownership with a shared set of pieces. Each player begins by arranging six rings on their starting line: two single rings, two double rings, and two triple rings.

On your turn, you must move one of the rings closest to you, advancing line by line as your front ranks clear. A ring moves exactly as many spaces as its height—one, two, or three—following the board’s connectors in any direction. It cannot pass through occupied spaces or reuse the same connector during a turn.

• Empty landing spaces: Landing on an empty space ends the move.
• Chain jumps: Landing on another ring lets you jump again using the height of the ring you reached.
• Bumping: Instead of jumping, you may bump the encountered ring to a new empty space within the allowed positional limits, then take its place.

Because every ring is neutral, advancing a piece deep into enemy territory can give your opponent a useful tool on their next turn. The changing movement possibilities make each route a tactical puzzle, where a carefully placed ring can open a path—or create a sudden threat.

The game ends immediately when a player completes their entire move on the opponent’s throne space. Success in Gygès depends on planning, calculated risk-taking, and the clever timing of chain movements and repositioning. It won the 1985 Concours International de Créateurs de Jeux de Société.