Adaptoid

About this board game

Adaptoid is a two-player strategy game that lasts around 20 minutes, pitting evolving armies against one another on a 37-space hexagonal board.

Each player controls a supply of white or black adaptoid bodies: plastic discs with laser-cut sockets for adding matching legs and claws. An adaptoid’s capabilities change throughout the game according to the number and type of appendages it carries, creating a constantly shifting contest for survival.

Every turn is divided into three phases:

• Movement: Move one adaptoid up to as many spaces as it has limbs. Pieces cannot pass through occupied spaces, but moving onto an opposing adaptoid initiates a capture.
• Growth: Either spawn an empty adaptoid next to one of your existing pieces or add a leg or claw to an adaptoid already on the board.
• Feeding: Check every enemy piece for starvation. An adaptoid needs empty space around it equal to its number of limbs, so a crowded creature may be removed.

Captures are resolved by comparing claws. The adaptoid with more claws survives, while the other is removed. If the totals are equal, both pieces are removed and each player scores a point. Starved and captured pieces return to their owners’ supplies for future use.

In Adaptoid, careful growth can make a creature stronger, but additional limbs also increase its need for grazing space. The game ends when a player reaches five points through captures and starvation, or when one army has been completely eliminated.