- BGG rank
- BGG #30,171
- BGG rating
- 4.3
Rive
- 2 players
- 20–60 min
- 2010
- BGG rank
- BGG #30,058
- BGG rating
- 4.5
Churn
2024
Rules assistance for Churn
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 15–30 min
- 5+
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Churn
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Churn is a board game released in 2024 for 2 players, 15–30 minutes per game, and ages 5 and up. It was designed by Mark Steere and its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Hexagon Grid, and Pattern Recognition.
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About the game
Churn is a two-player game played on a hexagonal board of any size, initially empty. Size 3 (side length 3) is recommended. The two players, Red and Blue, take turns placing their own stones onto unoccupied cells on the board, one stone per turn, starting with Red. Churn uses the pie rule. Play If you can place a stone in isolation (not adjacent to any friendly groups), you must do so. If you can only place adjacent to a friendly group, you must select a placement that forms the smallest friendly group possible. A "group" here is a monocolored group of at least one stone. Having placed adjacent to a friendly group, thereby forming a larger group, you must immediately remove all friendly groups smaller than the group so formed, concluding your turn. Once the board has filled, at the conclusion of a turn, the player having the majority of on-board stones wins. (If your placement causes the board to be filled, you still have to finish your turn by removing all friendly groups smaller than your newly formed group.) Design notes Churn was designed to have an extreme churn rate. For example, it takes about 7,400 turns to complete a game of Churn on a size 5 board (61 cells). It would take about 950,000 turns to complete a size 7 (127 cells) game of Churn. But like all MSG games (except for my first game, Quadrature, from 1992), Churn is naturally finite. Play can’t go on forever. Irregular hexagonal boards can be used, such as one having side lengths 3,4,3,4,3,4 (27 cells). Only boards with an odd number of cells should be used, to prevent ties.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Mark Steere Games
Questions and answers
Churn supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Churn is 15–30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Churn for ages 5 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Churn belongs to these categories: Territory Building and Abstract Strategy. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Hexagon Grid, and Pattern Recognition. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Churn are: Mark Steere. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Churn as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.