Iro

About this board game

Iro is a two-player strategy game for 2 players, designed for games of around 30 minutes. Race one of your pieces across a shared, color-based board and reach the row closest to your opponent to win.

Each player begins by arranging six tiles into a six-space-wide rectangle four spaces deep. Every tile contains a 2×2 grid with blue, red, green, and yellow spaces, and the row nearest each player must contain one space of each color. Players then place 12 of their 16 pieces on their two closest rows, keeping the other four pieces in reserve, before revealing their layouts and joining the tiles into an eight-row board.

The colors shown on each piece determine how it can move. On your turn, choose between two options:

• Swap: Exchange one of your pieces on the board with a piece from your reserve.
• Move: Move one piece between one and three spaces orthogonally or diagonally, following the colors shown on that piece.

A piece may land on a color only as many times as that color appears on it. You can pass over spaces occupied by your own pieces, but you cannot finish your movement there. Landing on an opponent’s piece sends it to that player’s reserve and immediately ends your movement.

With its combination of restricted movement, reserves, captures, and board positioning, Iro creates a compact tactical contest in which every color matters. Plan routes through the colored grid, decide when to exchange a piece, and push toward the opponent’s starting row before they reach yours.