Battle of LITS

About this board game

Battle of LITS is an abstract strategy game for 2 players that takes about 20 minutes to play. Inspired by the Japanese logic puzzle LITS, it challenges players to build a connected arrangement of tetrominoes while competing to reveal more of their own symbol.

The board contains cells marked with X and O. Starting with X, players take turns placing L-, I-, T-, and S-shaped tetrominoes from a shared supply. Every new piece must share an edge with at least one piece already on the board, making each placement part of the growing structure.

• No two congruent pieces may share an edge.
• Pieces of the same shape are color-coded as an aid.
• No four cells in a 2×2 arrangement may all be covered by pieces.

The pie rule adds an important choice after the opening move. Once X places the first piece, O may switch places with X instead of placing a piece, allowing the second player to choose which side to control.

Throughout Battle of LITS, each player tries to cover the opponent’s symbols while protecting their own. When no more pieces can be played, players count how many of their symbols remain visible on the board. The player with more of their symbol showing wins; if the score is tied, the player who made the last move wins.

With its shared supply, shape-based restrictions, connected placements, and competing symbols, Battle of LITS turns a compact abstract puzzle concept into a direct contest between two players.