コプラス (KoPlus)

User summary
コプラス (KoPlus) is an abstract game themed on far future Earth, where players compete to capture a space being known as 'KoPlus', which are Cosmic Fireflies.

A simple game played on a modular board, where you play a tile to capture the most points. However, the game gets crunchy with the rules forcing you to play the 2 tiles alternatively, and failing to connect your tiles would grant you devastating penalty points.

Meeting some conditions may grant you a powerful "consecutive play". When to launch the move is also a tough decision.

The game board is modular, and changes according to the number of players: 2 player is 3x3, 3 player is 3x4, and 4 player is 4x4 board pieces.

The name KoPlus comes from the two game pieces, pentominos in a cup shape that looks like the sound 'Ko' in katakana (コ), and a plus shape (+). Put them together and you get KoPlus!

The players take turns placing their pieces, connected to any pieces on a side. One player places in コ + コ + order, the next places in + コ + コ order, and so on. At the end of the game, if a player has been able to connect their own pieces together well, they get bonus points. But having their pieces scattered gets them negative points.

As the game progesses, players try to place their pieces to cover the scoring squares on the board. Maximum scoring is nine points in a turn, and players must make legal moves even if they won't score. The game ends when no more legal moves are open.

There is an extra move available when a player hits 20, 40 and 60 points scored. They get a right to have an extra move immediately. This not only increases their scoring opportunities, it can also help them break out of a difficult position.

The game is a mix of planning and opportunity, and has been very popular in Japan after its release at the Tokyo Game Market in Spring 2017. Game design is by GameNOWA and production design is by SukiGames. The game designer originally styled the game name in Romaji as 'COPULAS', but settled on KoPlus as a better name.

Publisher's summary
コプラスは、遠い未来の地球を舞台に、宇宙ホタルと呼ばれる宇宙生命体コプラスを捕まえるアブストラクトゲームです。
手番に1枚、モジュラーボードにタイルを置いてなるべく多くの点数を稼ぐ簡単なゲームですが、2種類のタイルを交互に置く縛りや、タイルをちょうどよく繋げないと大失点を被るルールから、終了時の盤面を強く意識して手を進める必要がある歯ごたえのあるゲームです。
条件を満たすことで使える強力な行動、「連続手番」をどのタイミングで使うかも重要なポイントです。