Sandstone (2020)

Sandstone is an almost abstract, area control game for two players. This is the first title in Small Box Games' Small Batch line of games.

Played over 5 Years (or rounds), players gain points at the end of the game for their played pieces and controlled spaces. However, a player may win the game before the end of the 5th year by meeting one of the winning conditions: controlling seven spaces of a single type, placing all 3 of their Outposts, or having 4 more placed Towers than the other player.

12 double sided cards, each with two spaces, are randomly arranged in a 3x4 grid at the beginning of the game. Each player controls 8 Towers and 3 Strongholds. Players control the spaces their Towers occupy, as well as the unoccupied spaces that are orthogonally adjacent to their Strongholds.

Controlled Desert spaces determine priority. Forest spaces grant them strength and the ability to remove or replace opposing Towers. Mountains grant gold, which players spend to keep their pieces in play at the end of the Year.

Each Year, each player receives 2 actions, chosen from 3 different options: Tower Action, Stronghold Action, or Ability Action, with each of these options offering 2 choices.