Zeist

Strategy games and puzzles that make you think.

Between meetings, on the train, or while an agent finishes the work, there are always a few minutes to spare. These games are a good way to spend them. Each one takes a minute to learn and keeps you thinking long after.

Strategy5 games

Puzzles2 games

Classics4 games

01Strategy5 games

Vigil: Nothing is captured. A piece is held by being watched.

VigilFor twoNothing is captured. A piece is held by being watched.

Ground: Every piece is the same. The square it stands on decides how it moves.

GroundFor twoEvery piece is the same. The square it stands on decides how it moves.

Mandate: Every move is also an order to your opponent.

MandateFor twoEvery move is also an order to your opponent.

Colony: Grow your pieces without crowding them.

ColonyFor twoGrow your pieces without crowding them.

ApertureFor twoFour directions. Claim three.

02Puzzles2 games

EchoFor oneEvery move you make comes back.

Sieve: Take a number and its multiples go with it.

SieveFor oneTake a number and its multiples go with it.

03Classics4 games

Words: Find the five-letter word in six guesses.

WordsFor oneFind the five-letter word in six guesses.

Four in a Row: Drop discs in turn. Four in a line wins.

Four in a RowFor twoDrop discs in turn. Four in a line wins.

Noughts and Crosses: Three in a line, on a board of nine.

Noughts and CrossesFor twoThree in a line, on a board of nine.

Doubles: Join equal tiles and reach 2048.

DoublesFor oneJoin equal tiles and reach 2048.

StrategyFor two

Vigil

Nothing is captured. A piece is held by being watched.

Play Vigil

How it plays

Each side starts with six pieces on its back row.
Move one piece any distance along a row, column or diagonal. Pieces cannot jump.
A piece seen along open lines by two enemy pieces is frozen until that changes. Frozen pieces still watch.
A move may not recreate an earlier position.
If you have no legal move, you lose.

Players: Two at one board, or one against the computer
Stage: Early. The rules may still change.

**Louis XIII and Richelieu at chess.** An engraving from the Nederlandsch Museum, 1850.

StrategyFor two

Ground

Every piece is the same. The square it stands on decides how it moves.

Play Ground

How it plays

Each side starts with eight pieces on its back row, one of them marked.
On a + square a piece moves along its row or column. On a × square it moves diagonally.
Pieces move any distance and cannot jump. The marked piece moves one square at a time.
Landing on an enemy piece captures it.
Win by capturing the enemy marked piece or by bringing your own to the far row.

Players: Two at one board, or one against the computer
Stage: Early. The rules may still change.

StrategyFor two

Mandate

Every move is also an order to your opponent.

Play Mandate

How it plays

Each side starts with eight pieces on its back row.
Move one piece up to three squares along a row, column or diagonal. Pieces cannot jump.
Landing on an enemy piece captures it.
Your opponent must then move a piece from the row or column you landed on, if one can move.
The first piece to reach the far row wins.

Players: Two at one board, or one against the computer
Stage: Early. The rules may still change.

StrategyFor two

Colony

Grow your pieces without crowding them.

Play Colony

How it plays

Take turns placing one piece on any empty square.
After you place a piece, check every square touching it, corners included.
A piece touching more than three others is crowded out and removed.
An empty square touching exactly three pieces gets a new piece, in the colour most of those three share.
The first to have 18 pieces on the board wins. After Conway's Game of Life.

Players: Two at one board, or one against the computer
Stage: Early. The rules may still change.

StrategyFor two

Aperture

Four directions. Claim three.

Play Aperture

How it plays

Slide one stone along a row or column, any distance along a clear line. You can pass through the marked centre, but never stop on it.
Land on an opposing stone to capture it. It joins your reserve, and on a later turn you may place it on any empty edge square instead of sliding.
From the centre, look north, east, south and west. The first stone on each line claims it. Hold three directions at the end of your turn to win.

Players: Two at one board, or one against the computer
Stage: Early. The rules may still change.

PuzzlesFor one

Echo

Every move you make comes back.

Play Echo

How it plays

Swipe, or use the arrow keys, to move one square. Leave one edge and you come back on the other.
Take the spark. It leaves an echo on the opposite side of the board.
Each echo replays your moves from the start, one per turn.
Touch an echo and the run ends.

Players: One
Stage: Early. The rules may still change.

**L'horloger du village.** A watchmaker opens a clock while a child looks on. A French lithograph, Rijksmuseum.

PuzzlesFor one

Sieve

Take a number and its multiples go with it.

Play Sieve

How it plays

Tap a number to see what it clears, then tap it again to take it.
Taking a number clears it and every multiple of it in its row and column. Numbers above fall into the gaps.
A take scores the sum of what it clears, times how many numbers it clears.
Two numbers drop in after each take. A number that drops onto a full column ends the run.

Players: One
Stage: Early. The rules may still change.

ClassicsFor one

Words

Find the five-letter word in six guesses.

Play Words

How it plays

Type a five-letter word and press Enter.
A filled square: the letter is in the word, in that place. A bar underneath: it is in the word, somewhere else. A faded letter: it is not in the word.
Play as many words as you like. No word comes back until you have seen them all.

Players: One

**The library of Sainte-Geneviève, Paris.** Its floor is laid like a board. An eighteenth-century engraving, Rijksmuseum.

ClassicsFor two

Four in a Row

Drop discs in turn. Four in a line wins.

Play Four in a Row

How it plays

Take turns dropping a disc into any column. It falls to the lowest empty square. Dark goes first.
Four of your discs in a line, across, up or diagonally, wins.
If the board fills with no line of four, it is a draw.
Against the computer, who goes first changes each game.

Players: Two at one board, or one against the computer

ClassicsFor two

Noughts and Crosses

Three in a line, on a board of nine.

Play Noughts and Crosses

How it plays

Take turns marking an empty square. Crosses go first.
Three of your marks in a line, across, down or diagonally, wins.
If all nine squares fill with no line, it is a draw.
Against the computer, who goes first changes each game.

Players: Two at one board, or one against the computer

ClassicsFor one

Doubles

Join equal tiles and reach 2048.

Play Doubles

How it plays

Swipe, or use the arrow keys, to slide every tile as far as it goes.
Two equal tiles that meet join into one, worth both, and add to your score.
After each move a new 2, or sometimes a 4, appears.
Reach 2048 to win, then keep going. The game ends when no move is left.

Players: One