Stones and Rivers: Review of a Modern Classic Board Game
- Bert
- 13 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Stones and Rivers may not look like much when it arrives to the table. That is part of the beauty of this Stones and Rivers is simple like checkers but with the complexity of strategy that Chess has to offer. Trevor Harron has distilled Stones and Rivers to a very pure form of game, no minis, no real theme, just the essence of pure gaming. At its heart Stones and Rivers is a racing game where players are trying to move 5 of their 14 pieces to the opposite side of the grid to win the game.
Setup
Stones and Rivers is a very simple game to set up there only two kinds of pieces there are brown pieces in beige pieces. The pieces represent the different players each of the pieces is double sided one side of the stone side the other side of the River side. The board is a cloth material and on it is printed a large grid of intersecting lines on the grid there is 14 intersections on each side representing the starting points for each players pieces behind each of those is a row of five spots called the scoring zone. The goal of the game is for each player to move 5 of their pieces to the scoring zone on the opposite side of the board.
Game Play
There are 4 actions players can take with their pieces. A player may move a piece one space on the grid. All the pieces in the game can only be on the intersection of the grid. When moving a piece a player may move it along the lines (up, down, left , right). Stones and rivers can both be moved during as part of a player's move. If a player moves a piece onto a river piece then the player may move that piece any number of spaces along the direction that the river piece is oriented. A player may combo this move if that move takes the piece to another river piece. This ability to combo river movement is the core to a lot of excitement in Stones and Rivers. Players can use either players river pieces to move in this fashion.
This ability to combo river movement is the core to a lot of excitement in Stones and Rivers
If a player moves a stone onto another piece they can push that piece into an adjacent empty space in the direction that the original piece moved. If a player moves a river onto another they can perform the same push move with the exception that they will follow the river movement. The pushed piece moves in the direction of the river as many spaces as the pushing player wants. However after a player uses a river piece this way they must flip it over to its stone side. When pushing pieces a player may move the piece if it is to an empty space or a river piece. Two pieces may never occupy the same intersection. A player can stop the other player from moving their piece by putting two pieces adjacent, in effect blocking a stone push. However a player can use a river to move the piece out of the way. These nuances and tactical moves make me want to come back to this game over and over to master it. Stones and Rivers has the feel of Chess or Go where the rules are fairly simple but the strategies can be complicated.
Another action a player may take is to flip or rotate a piece. Rather than moving or pushing a play may flip a piece from the stone side to the river side or vice versa. When flipping to the river side the player may choose what direction the river is oriented. If a players piece is on the river side then they may rotate the orientation of the river (eg north/south to east/west)
Thoughts
This is a game that embodies the age old term "A minute to learn and a lifetime to master." The elegance of the game is demonstrated by the single page instructions. The pieces are simple and very intuitive. The game as simple as it its really fits with the theme, Stones and Rivers. The game can move swiftly or it can provide the space for more experienced players to think several turns ahead.
This game travels well as it has a cloth game board and is stored in a cloth bag. The game board is a bit big for bringing it to a restaurant unless you get the booth. I can't recommend this game enough for a highly strategic 2 player game that will have you playing moments after you have taken it out of the bag. Blue Heron offers a few ways to play Stones and Rivers. For 25$ USD you can get the retail version or you can get the print and play files and make it yourself or there is a Tabletop Simulator mod available. No matter how you play you will sure to be having fun playing Stones and Rivers.
Players: 2
Year Published: 2024
Recommended Ages: 14+
Time to Play: 20-35 minutes
Bert's Tabletop games was provided a review copy of Stones and Rivers by Blue Heron Games. The game depicted here is a retail version of the game.
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