Unlur

About this board game

Unlur is a two-player abstract strategy game with a playing time of about 20 minutes, played on a hexagon-shaped tessellation of hexagons with eight hexagons on each side.

This is a game of unequal forces: each player has a different winning objective. Black must connect three non-adjacent sides, forming a Y, while white must connect two opposite sides. Because Black’s goal is harder, Black receives a head start through the opening placement rules.

At the beginning, neither player has an assigned color. Players alternate placing black pieces on empty hexagons. At any point, either player may pass to become Black when they believe enough black pieces are on the board. The other player then becomes White, places a white piece, and the game continues with each player placing pieces of their own color.

• Black wins by connecting three non-adjacent sides.
• White wins by connecting two opposite sides.
• Black loses by connecting two opposite sides without forming a Y.
• White loses by forming a Y without connecting two opposite sides.

That unusual victory structure makes timing central to Unlur. Players must weigh the advantage of shaping the opening position against the responsibility of taking the more demanding Black objective, while also watching how their own connections may create a losing pattern.

The winner of the 2002 Unequal Forces Game Design Competition, sponsored by About Board Games, Abstract Games Magazine, and the Strategy Gaming Society, Unlur offers a compact contest built around connection, asymmetry, and carefully judged decisions.