Ponte Del Diavolo

Ponte Del Diavolo is a game for two players with simple rules but tactical depth.

On a simple gridded board, each player is trying to build a series of islands, linked together by bridges. On their turn they can either lay two tiles on the board, or place a bridge connecting their own tile colour together.

However at the end of the game each player only scores for their connected (by bridges) islands, and islands have to be made up of four orthogonally adjacent tile – any less and the tiles are only a sandbank, which score you nothing. Additionally you can’t place any of your own tiles next to your own existing islands; you must be at least one tile space away.

So within the simple rules there is room for thought – you can play aggressively, trying to block your opponent from building, or expansively, trying to establish your own islands quickly. Most likely a mix of the two. The scoring rewards longer chains of islands – so 5 Islands link by bridges for player A would score more than two sets of 3 Islands linked by bridges for player B.