Volo

About this board game

Volo is a two-player abstract strategy game played in about 45 minutes, where players place and move birds across a hexagonal board to connect them into one contiguous flock.

Inspired by the beauty of birds flying in flocks, Volo combines placement, movement, connection, and territory elements. The board contains 120 spaces, giving players room to build formations while competing for control of the available regions.

On each turn, a player either places a bird or flies one or more birds already on the board. New birds may not be placed directly adjacent to other friendly birds. Birds may fly toward other birds only when that movement enlarges an existing friendly flock, creating a careful balance between expanding your own formation and influencing the board.

• Build and maintain a connected flock of birds.
• Use flock movement to divide the board into multiple regions.
• Isolate opposing birds and potentially force them off the board.

Flocks may never be split, so players are continually pushed to add new birds to the game. This is where much of the competition unfolds: a move that divides the board can isolate an opponent’s birds. When that happens, the active player must remove the trapped birds, an outcome that can sometimes benefit the opponent.

The winner is the first player to end up with one contiguous flock, regardless of its size. Released in 2010, Volo is available through Boardspace.net for real-time or turn-based play against human or robot opponents, as well as local multiplayer and online play on iOS and Android.