Zebra

About this board game

Zebra is a 20-minute flip-and-write game for 1–4 players, in which you create a distinctive stripe pattern while competing for the highest score. With 18 cards and a separate pad of small sheets, every turn challenges you to make the most of your available space.

To begin, each player receives a sheet and a pen. On each turn, reveal one card to show a polyomino shape. All players draw that shape in open spaces on their own sheet, choosing which of four patterns will fill it. The shape may be rotated or flipped, but it cannot share an edge with another shape using the same pattern.

Every placement affects both your pattern scores and your total coverage, so each decision matters. You may also choose to pass, filling an unfilled enclosed space created by other shapes with circles instead. If you neither draw a shape nor pass, mark an open space with an X; receiving three Xs ends your game.

• Flip cards to reveal a new polyomino shape each turn.
• Use four different patterns while keeping matching patterns separate.
• Rotate and flip shapes to fit them into your open spaces.
• Pass to fill enclosed spaces with circles, or risk receiving an X.

The game ends when all players have filled their sheets or received three Xs. Then, each player scores their sheet using the four patterns’ unique scoring descriptions, while also subtracting points lost from circles. The player with the highest total score wins.

In Zebra, careful placement and pattern management turn a small sheet into a personal arrangement of stripes. Plan around the shapes revealed by the cards and pursue the scoring opportunities that best fit your design.