Fendo

7 vs. 7 right turning Rooks attempt to claim the most territory and herd the opponent. A cowboy rancher’s dream.

SET UP

• A table and 2 chairs.

• A 7x7 square grid board.

• 2 sets of 7 Pawns. 2 different colors.

• A supply of side sized sticks, available to both players.

• The board is preset with one Pawn in the center back row of each player’s side sitting across from each other.

• The board starts as an open field of shared space, in which 2 Pawns, one of each player, occupies it.

• The Player with the first move is randomly selected.

Number of Players

• 2

Objective

• Create boundaries, divide areas, herd your opponents, and occupy maximum space.

• Try to herd your isolated opponent pieces into small corrals, while maximizing your isolated ranch property.

• At the end of the game, the player with the most claimed territory wins.

Rules

• On your turn you have 2 choices.

  You can either select a Pawn in the open area and build a wall, OR add a Pawn to the open area.

• Once a Pawn is selected, it can be moved.

• The Pawns can move like Chess Rooks with a right turn option. Meaning, it can move any number of adjacent spaces, and can turn right (of its current direction of travel), to move any number of additional spaces.

• Note: A selection and/or move is not valid if a fence cannot be placed at its new destination.

• A player who has no action available must pass their turn.

• Play continues until both players pass their turn.

Player Variations

• N/A

History

• Fendo is a modern marvel masterpiece by Deider Stein 2014. Link to his site, Spielstein.com/games/fendo.

Game Theory / Game Dynamics

• This game is truly exceptional, I love it for its simplicity and deep strategy. It proudly resides on The Abstract Avalanche, The Sticks and Stones Series, and Head Games shelves.

• Fendo is a game where players take turns placing and moving their Pawns, and staking fences between property lines to enclose areas.

• As more areas are split off the initial large open shared area, the number of possibilities decrease. When no more actions remain the game ends, and the player with the largest claimed territory wins.

• With only 49 spaces available, this game will always have a decisive winner, the first to reach 25 claimed spaces.

• Arthur Reilly says is best in his review, and I agree. Check it out on the BoardGameGeek link. This one is definitely worth playing.

I hope you enjoy playing games,
as much as I have making them.