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Twenty One
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The Border
2022
Rules assistance for The Border
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 30 min
- 8+
- Complexity 1.2/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for The Border
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Border is a board game released in 2022 for 2–4 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Michael Kiesling and Reinhard Staupe and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling and Paper-and-Pencil.
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About the game
Your goal in The Border is to surround as many areas as possible as quickly as you can. Each player has an erasable game board that features nine areas, with each area being surrounded by a path of hexagons and with these hexagons being grouped in six colors. Most of these paths border two areas. Two hexagons are white and contain an X mark. On your turn, you roll five dice up to three times, keeping and re-rolling dice as you wish. Each die has a different color on each of its six sides. Once you stop, you can use the die results to X spaces on your game board, but only if you can X off all the spaces in that group. If you roll four orange and one red, for example, you can X off a group of two, three, or four orange hexagons, but not a group of five orange hexagons since you have only four orange on the dice. After you take your turn, each other player can X off one space on their game board for each die that you didn't use on your turn — but only if those spaces are adjacent to ones that are already Xed. If you marked off a group of three orange hexes, for example, then each opponent could mark off one orange and one red, assuming they are adjacent to previously marked spaces. When you mark off the final hex that borders an area, you score that area, earning 4-12 points depending on its size. Any other player who surrounds that area on a later turn receives only half as many points. As soon as a player completes their sixth area, you finish that turn, then everyone sums their points to see who wins.
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag
Questions and answers
The Border supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for The Border is 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 The Border for ages 8 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.
The Border has a complexity rating of 1.2 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.
The Border belongs to these categories: Dice. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling and 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 The Border are: Michael Kiesling and Reinhard Staupe. 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 The Border 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.