Constello

The rules.

2 players · About 9 minutes online · Ages 10+

The Game

Two players build rival constellations on one circular board. Each turn you both plan in secret, then reveal at the same time. Build the biggest connected group of stones and complete rays: spokes where all three nodes are yours, worth 5 points each. The player who reads the other best wins.

The Board

One spoke, with its ring numbers

The 27 nodes sit on three rings, numbered 1 (inner) to 3 (outer). Each of the nine spokes is a line of three nodes running outward. Stones are connected when a line on the board joins them. Ring 3 nodes connect only to the Ring 2 node below them, their anchor.

Each player starts with 24 stones. The scoreboard shows both supplies and the Box: stones sent to the Box are out of the game.

Each Turn

Plan in secret. Pick a node and choose a move. You may play up to two stones a turn.
- Place on an empty node. 1 stone
- Secure on one of your own stones. 1 stone
- Capture on an empty node or an enemy stone. 2 stones
Play at least one stone every turn. With one stone left you may pass; with none, you pass.
Reveal together. Press CONFIRM MOVES. Nothing is shown until both players have confirmed.
Resolve. Every node is resolved at the same time.

The game only offers moves the rules allow.

The Moves

Place: put your stone on the node.
Secure: guard that stone for this turn. If nobody attacks it, the Secure stone goes to the Box.
Capture: your first stone takes the node; any enemy stone there goes to the Box. Your second stone goes to that stone's owner, even if a Secure stops you, or to the Box if the node was empty. This is the Law of Reciprocity.

If You Both Pick the Same Node

Same move (Collision): both moves fail.
Secure beats Capture (Block): the Capture fails; your Secure stone comes back.
Capture beats Place (Intercept): the Place fails.
The stone left on that node takes a gold ring.

A failed move's stones go to the Box, apart from a Capture's second stone. Place and Secure never meet.

Rings

Gold: that stone can never be captured. Three at most each; after that, a win earns no ring.
Red: appears on a node when both players make the same move there, or when an enemy stone is captured there. The node is locked: nobody may target it next turn; then the ring is removed.

Ring 3

You cannot Place on Ring 3 if its anchor holds an enemy stone. At the end of every turn, any Ring 3 stone whose anchor holds an enemy stone is severed: it goes to the Box, gold ring or not.

End and Scoring

The game ends when both players are out of stones, or both pass in the same turn. Score only your largest connected group: 1 point per stone in it, plus 5 for each ray in it (a spoke with your stones on all three rings). If two of your groups tie for largest, count the one with more rays.

Tied scores go to the larger group, then more gold rings, then more stones left; otherwise it is a draw.

A finished game

Black 18: 8 stones + 2 rays. White 10: 5 stones + 1 ray. Stray stones outside the largest group score nothing.

Examples

Five turns from one game. On the left, the moves both players chose; on the right, the board after the turn. A dashed circle marks the node to watch.

Place Secure Capture

A Capture

Black Captures a white stone. Black's first stone takes the node and White's stone goes to the Box. Black's second stone goes to White. A red ring locks the node for the next turn. White Placed a stone elsewhere, so its supply ends where it started.

Same Move (Collision)

Both players Place on the same node. Both moves fail: both stones go to the Box and a red ring goes on the node.

Secure Beats Capture (Block)

Black Secures the stone White attacks. White's first stone goes to the Box and its second still goes to Black. Black's Secure stone comes back and Black's stone takes a gold ring: Black ends the turn one stone up.

Capture Beats Place (Intercept)

Black expects White to Place on an empty node and Captures it. White's stone goes to the Box. Black's first stone takes the node with a gold ring; the second goes to the Box because the node was empty.

Ring 3

Black Captures the anchor under White's Ring 3 stone. At the end of the turn that Ring 3 stone is severed and goes to the Box too. White still receives Black's second stone, and Placed one elsewhere.

Strategy Notes

Every captured stone pays your opponent. Two aggressive players can trade themselves into ruin while a patient builder quietly constructs the winning constellation.

Rays are made, not found. A ray is worth as much as five stones. The strongest plans commit to a spoke early, but a predictable plan invites a Capture on the node you meant to Place.

A Secure is a prediction. A Secure that meets no attack is wasted. A Secure that meets one is the best move in the game. Reading the timing is the art of Constello.

Ring 3 is promise and threat. Ring 3 completes your rays but hangs from its anchor. One Capture on Ring 2 can erase a whole ray.

Questions

Can I Place on Ring 3 when its anchor is empty?

Yes. If an enemy stone later takes that anchor, your Ring 3 stone goes to the Box at the end of that turn.

I Captured an opponent's Ring 3 stone whose anchor is theirs. Do I keep it?

No. Your stone now sits over an enemy anchor, so it goes to the Box at the end of the turn. You still broke their ray.

What happens to a gold ring when its Ring 3 stone goes to the Box?

It comes off with the stone, and you can earn it again.

I am out of stones. Is the game over?

Not yet. You pass while your opponent plays on, until they run out or pass too.

New to the game? The tutorial teaches all of this in eight moves. More about the game and the table edition: About Constello.