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- BGG rating
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Flizz & Miez
- 2–4 players
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- 2014
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- BGG rating
- 6.3
Phutball
1982
Rules assistance for Phutball
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 20 min
- Complexity 2.1/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Phutball
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Phutball is a board game released in 1982 for 2 players and 20 minutes per game. It was designed by John Conway and its main mechanics are Point to Point Movement and Tile Placement.
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About the game
The game is played using part of the Go board. The objective is to score goals by using the men (the black stones) to move the football (the white stone) onto or over the opponent's goal line. Player A tries to move the football to rows 19 or 20 and player B to rows 1 or 0. At the start of the game the football is placed on the central point. Players alternate making moves. A move is either to add a man to any vacant point on the board or to move the ball. The football is moved by a series of jumps over adjacent men. Each jump is to the first vacant point in a straight line horizontally, vertically, or diagonally over one or more men. The jumped men are then removed from the board (before any subsequent jump occurs). This process repeats for as long as there remain men available to be jumped and the player desires. Jumping is optional, there is no requirement to jump. Note that in contrast to checkers, multiple men in a row are jumped and removed as a group.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- (Public Domain)
Questions and answers
Phutball 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 Phutball is 20 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.
Phutball has a complexity rating of 2.1 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-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.
Phutball belongs to these categories: Abstract Strategy and Sports. Its main mechanics are Point to Point Movement and Tile Placement. 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 Phutball are: John Conway. 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 Phutball 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.