Bizingo is a two-player strategy board game created sometime in the 1850s in the United States. Two opposing armies on a triangular grid face off against one another. The game seems unrelated to any other, except perhaps to Awithlaknakwe by the native American Indians.
Contents
Goal
The goal of the game is to reduce your opponent's numbers to two.
Equipment
The board is in the shape of a triangle (an equilateral triangle of sides of 13 units, but with triangles of 2 unit sides missing from each corner). One hundred and fifty-seven smaller triangles thus form the spaces of the board in an alternating pattern of two colors usually green and white. Each player has 18 pieces. Two of the pieces are captains, and 16 normal pieces. One player is Red and the other is Black, although any two colors are appropriate.
Rules and gameplay
- Because of the triangular design of the board, each player's pieces are set up differently on the board. One player (usually played by Red) has its pieces set up near the base of the triangle on three rows with 7 pieces on the front row, 6 pieces on the middle row, and 5 pieces in the third row (the back row is left empty). The pieces are placed on the white triangles. The second player's pieces (usually played by Black) are on the other side of the triangle on four rows with 6 pieces on the front row, 5 pieces on the second row, 4 pieces on the third row, and 3 pieces on the fourth row with the last two (back) rows left empty. Its pieces are placed on the green triangles. Each of the player's two captains are on the front row placed second from the left and right sides (on their respective colored triangles). The two armies face each other with one row of triangles separating them. Note that each player's pieces are placed on different colored triangles. Players will move their pieces throughout the game only on their own colored triangles.
- Players decide who should start first. Players alternate their turns. A player may move only one of their pieces in a turn.
- A player moves (forward, sideways, backwards) one of their pieces by moving it to any of the adjacent triangles of their own color that is empty. Up to six triangles may be available.
- A player captures an enemy piece (except for captain pieces) by surrounding it on three sides with its normal pieces. The captured enemy piece is removed from the board. This is a form of custodian method of capture.
- A player captures an enemy captain piece by surrounding it on three sides with its pieces (with at least one of the pieces being a captain piece, otherwise the enemy captain piece is not captured). The captured enemy captain piece is removed from the board.
- A player who moves a piece into a triangle surrounded by three enemy pieces is captured by the enemy, unless the player captures an enemy piece in the process.
- A player can capture an enemy piece on the side of the board with only two pieces of their own, but with at least one of the two pieces being a captain. Two normal pieces alone cannot perform this type of capture.
- The player who reduces their enemy to two pieces is the winner.
- It is uncertain if more than one enemy piece can be captured in one move.