How to play
The board is 25 blocks in a 5 × 5 square, all blank at the start. Ducks 🦆 move first, then Frogs 🐸.
- Take a block from the edge of the board. It must be blank or show your own mark; you can never take one showing your rival’s mark.
- Push it back in from one end of its row or column, but not the spot it came from. The other blocks in that line slide along one place to fill the gap, and the block you pushed now shows your mark.
Winning
Line up five of your marks across, down or corner to corner and you win. Be careful: every push moves a whole line, and if your push lines up five for your rival, they win, even if it makes five for you too. After 200 moves in all, the game is a draw.
Tips
A block away from the edge canA block in the middle can’t be taken, so marks there are safe; push your marks inward early.rsquo;t be taken, only slid along, so marks there are harder to undo. Before you push, look at the whole line that slides: it can break your rival’s row, or hand them one. Taking blocks that are already yours keeps the blank ones for later, when they are worth more.