Atoll
Atoll begins with the board vacant of counters.
No. of Players
Two
Equipment
There are (at least) five different boards on which this game has been played. We will call the one shown above the Standard Atoll board. Using this board, about 50 each of black and white (here, blue and red) counters, typically called stones, are required for play, although probably for less will be used. The board has eight groups of "islands" that alternate colors around the board. One player controls all of one color of the islands, and no counters are played at these cells. See the other boards in variations below.
History
Atoll was invented by Mark Steere in 2008.
Objective
A player wins by connecting two of his or her islands that are on opposite sides of the board (connections between two islands of the same color on adjacent sides of the board do not count) with an unbroken line of counters of one’s own color. In other words, a finished connection will run top to bottom or left side to right side, but not top or bottom to side. Draws are impossible.
Play
One player controls the black stones and one player controls the white. Alternate turns entail the placement of a single stone of your color at any vacant position on the board, other than the already colored cells that are part of the islands. Once placed, stones are not captured or moved. Black places first, but the pie rule should be used to offset the first player advantage. Note that the cells in your islands can be used as part of the sequence.
Victory for Red
Blue wins by using an island as part of the connecting sequence.
Variations
At least four more boards are shown at boardgamegeek.com
Atoll-12
Atoll-24
Atoll-48
Sources