For The Win

About this board game

For The Win is a two-player abstract strategy game that plays in about 10 minutes, challenging players to connect five or more of their character tiles into a winning group.

Each player has ten tiles: two each representing Monkeys, Zombies, Pirates, Aliens, and Ninjas. To win, connect five or more of your tiles in a group, with at least one tile of every character type. Tiles may connect by their sides or corners, but every tile in the winning group must be face-up, or unactivated. The game ends immediately when a player achieves this objective.

Players take turns using either one or two actions within five action rounds. Once one player has used their actions for a round, the other player can use any remaining actions at once. Careful action management can create several consecutive moves and powerful game-winning combinations.

• Add: Place a tile on the Grid.
• Move: Move one of your tiles.
• Refresh: Flip a tile face up.
• Shove: Push a tile or a column or row of tiles.
• Activate: Use a character ability, turning that tile face down.

Each character offers a different tactical tool. The Alien pulls any Grid tile to a space adjacent to her, while the Monkey flips all tiles it touches. The Ninja moves to any unoccupied Grid space, and the Pirate blasts an adjacent tile to any unoccupied space.

The Zombie infects an adjacent tile, replacing it with a Zombie tile that has not yet entered the Grid. If all Zombie tiles are already in play, it can instead deactivate an adjacent tile. In For The Win, timing these abilities and keeping key tiles face-up are central to building the decisive connection.