Gamehelppontedeldiavolo

For tips on how to play ponte del diavolo, see Tips_PonteDelDiavolo

Rules

Overview

• The object of the game is to form groups of islands linked by bridges.

Definitions

Island

Four orthogonally adjacent tiles of the same colour.

Sandbank

Fewer than four orthogonally adjacent tiles of the same colour.

Bridge

Game piece that connects two tiles of the same colour.

Water

Empty space on the board.

Game start

1. The first player places two light tiles anywhere on the board.
2. The second player chooses to play as the light tile or the dark tile player.
3. Play resumes with the dark tile player.

Each Turn

• Each player takes turns to place either:
  1. Two tiles of their own colour, or
  2. One bridge.

Placing two tiles

• Tiles can be placed anywhere on the board except:
  1. Under bridges, or
  2. Adjacent to an island of the same colour, even diagonally.

Placing a bridge

• A bridge can be placed between two tiles of the player's colour that are two spaces from each other in any direction orthogonally or diagonally, or at a knight's move.
  • The centre of a bridge must be over an empty (water) space (knight's bridge needs both water spaces), not a tile
• Each tile can have a maximum of one bridge connection.
• Bridges may not cross each other.

Game End

• Game end is triggered when either player:
  1. Is unable to place two tiles, and
  2. Chooses not to (or is unable to) place a bridge.
  • The player using dark tiles gets the opportunity to take an equal number of turns.
• Note: unlike the printed rules, in the BGA implementation, there is an infinite supply of tiles and bridges.
  • Thus, the game will only end when a player has fewer than two valid squares available for tiles.

Scoring

• The players score each group of islands connected by bridges (including connections via sandbanks) according to a rule of triangular numbers:

# connected islands	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Score	1	3	6	10	15	21	28	36	45	55	66	78

Tiebreaks

1. Most islands.
2. Most bridges.