Ant Bridges

How to play

2 players: a red ant colony and a blue one, on a diamond of leaves floating on a pond. Red's banks are the top and bottom edges, blue's the left and right edges. The first colony to link its two banks with an unbroken path of its own ants wins. There is never a draw.

A turn

• Lay one of your ants on any free leaf. Each leaf touches up to six others; a path goes from leaf to touching leaf.
• Ants never move and are never taken: block the other colony's way while you build your own.
• The first ant gives an edge, so right after it the second player may take it over with Swap instead of laying an ant: it turns their colour, mirrored to suit their banks.