Players: 2-4 players, ages 6 and up

Playing time: 15-30 minutes

Materials: A "hexhex" board, i.e. a hexagonal shaped board composed of hexagonal cells (various sizes are possible; 6-8 cells per side is recommended); and playing pieces in two to four colors. (To play all permutations of player numbers and board sizes would require approximately 75 pieces in one color, 75 pieces in a second color, 50 pieces in a third color, and 40 pieces in a fourth color.)

Basic idea: In Archipelago, players try to create more islands (i.e. groups of two or more adjacent pieces) than opponents create.

RULES

A group ("island") is a connected set of two or more same-colored stones. (Thus, single stones do not count as a group.) Each player is the owner of one color of stone. A group in a given color will count toward its color-owner's score, regardless of whether the color-owner or an opponent created that group.

Players are allowed two stone placements per turn, with one exception: the first player plays just one stone on his/her very first turn. A player’s two stones can be ANY color (i.e. on your turn, you needn't play any of your own color of stones if you don't wish to; you can play any set of colors or any mix of colors in a single turn).

Additionally, a player is permitted to play an extra stone (of any color of his/her choice) for every opponent who is strictly ahead of him/her in the current group score; each player's "group score" = the number of distinct groups currently on the board in his/her color.

When the board is full, or when all players have consecutively passed their turns, the game ends. The player with the most groups wins. In case of a tie, the winner is the tied player with the highest bonus score total. (Bonus scores are awarded on the game's scoring track; arriving earlier than one's opponents to a new group score grants one a higher bonus.)

For games with 3-4 players, the following "Frozen Irrelevance" rule is recommended:

o Frozen Irrelevance: When the board arrangement is such that a player's current rank (e.g. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd) is unalterable by any further play from any player, then that player's rank has assumed its final form, and he/she is "frozen" from further play. That is, he/she takes no further part in the game, and the game play continues on with just the non-frozen players.

For a complete set of rules and examples turns, see the Files section of this webpage.

Games