
- BGG rank
- BGG #24,713
- BGG rating
- 6.3
Phutball
- 2 players
- 20 min
- Complexity 2.1/5
- 1982

1967
Rules assistance for Sprouts
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

For 2 players
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Sprouts is a board game released in 1967 for 2 players and 10 minutes per game. It was designed by John Conway and Michael Stewart Paterson and its main mechanics are Paper-and-Pencil.
Sprouts is a two-player game, invented by John Conway (the creator of the game of Life) and Michael Paterson, while they were at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). The rules are: In the beginning - a few spots are drawn on the paper; On every move, the player must connect two spots (or one spot to itself) with a curve, which doesn't intersect other curves. After that, the player must set a new spot on just-drawn curve. To every spot can be attached maximum 3 curves. The player who on his/her turn doesn't have a valid move, loses the game. In the image shown, the two black spots each have only two curves coming out of them, but nonetheless cannot be used because no curve can be drawn between them without crossing another already-drawn curve. Thus this game is over. The two black spots are called "survivors", and the number of survivors is what can effectively be controlled in the game. Sprouts is one of many combinatorial games analyzed in Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays as well as other math books on the subject of combinatorial games.
Sprouts 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 Sprouts is 10 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.
Sprouts has a complexity rating of 1.6 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.
Sprouts belongs to these categories: Abstract Strategy. Its main mechanics are Paper-and-Pencil. 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 Sprouts are: John Conway and Michael Stewart Paterson. 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 Sprouts 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.