- BGG rank
- BGG #14,580
- BGG rating
- 6.4
Veletas
- 2 players
- 45 min
- Complexity 2.0/5
- 2013
- BGG rank
- BGG #27,156
- BGG rating
- 5.6
Lifeline
2022
Rules assistance for Lifeline
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 30–90 min
- 5+
- Complexity 1.3/5
Rules assistant for Lifeline
For 2 players
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Lifeline is a board game released in 2022 for 2 players, 30–90 minutes per game, and ages 5 and up. It was designed by Luis Bolaños Mures and Michael Amundsen and its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Hexagon Grid, and Enclosure.
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About the game
Lifeline is a territorial strategy game for two players (Black and White) that is played on the cells of an initially empty hexhex board. The recommended board sizes are between 3 and 12 cells per side. The game was invented by Michael Amundsen and Luis Bolaños Mures. Although inspired by Go, it bears a significant resemblance to Kanare Kato's Meridians. Definitions A group is an entire set of connected stones of the same color. A single stone, not connected to others of its color, is also a group. A group is dead if there is no path of connected empty cells between that group and any other group of its color. The path does not need to be a straight line. Play Black plays first, then turns alternate. On your turn, perform the following actions in order: Place a stone of your color on an empty cell. If it is your first turn of the game, perform this action twice. Remove all dead enemy groups. Remove all dead friendly groups. The board positions at the start and at the end of your turn must be different. In other words, if the only stone you remove is the one you just placed, your placement is illegal. The last player to make a placement wins. Note that, after your first turn, you will always have a placement available unless you have no groups on the board. To make the game fair, White will have the option, on their first turn only, to swap sides with Black instead of making a regular move. —description from the designers
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- (Web published)
Questions and answers
Lifeline 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 Lifeline is 30–90 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 Lifeline 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.
Lifeline has a complexity rating of 1.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Lifeline belongs to these categories: Territory Building and Abstract Strategy. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Hexagon Grid, and Enclosure. 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 Lifeline are: Luis Bolaños Mures and Michael Amundsen. 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 Lifeline 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.