Pylos
In Pylos; you want to be one who places the final ball on top of the pyramid. Sounds simple enough; right?
At the start of the game; each player has fifteen balls; either light or dark; and they take turns placing them on a game board that has sixteen indentations on it in a 4x4 grid. Once four balls have been placed next to one another in a square; a ball can be placed on top of them; forming a second level of play. Players can then place balls on this second level; eventually allowing a ball to be placed on the third level – and once that level is full; which requires only four balls; a final ball can be placed on the fourth level; with that player winning the game.
If a player forms a square of his own color – that is; four balls placed next to one another on the same level – that player can remove one or two of his balls (that don't support anything) from anywhere on the board and place them in his reserve; thereby giving him more balls to place in the future. Whenever a player forms a square that's not entirely his own color; he can stack one of his pieces – that is; he can take any ball and place it on this square; locking some pieces in place and making a move without having to place a piece from his reserve.
The rules include a variant for children (that removes the square bonus) and one for experts (that allows a player to return 1-2 balls to his reserve when he creates a line of his color).
