Nearest-site territories

Place sites, then award each grid cell to its closest site by row-and-column distance.

Shape & spatial thinking

Players

2 players

Time

15–25 minutes

Materials

A 5×5 coordinate grid, two W and two B site marks, pencils.

Prepare

Use columns A–E and rows 1–5. Two players have two sites each. White places one site in an empty cell, black places one, then white and black place their second sites. Sites never move and cannot share a cell. Decide all four positions before calculating territory; there are no walls, diagonal shortcuts or hidden spaces.

Play

Distance between cells is horizontal steps plus vertical steps. For each of the twenty-five cells, find the smallest distance to a white site and the smallest to a black site. Award one point to white if white’s minimum is strictly smaller, or black if black’s is smaller. An equal minimum makes that cell neutral and scores neither player. Multiple equally near sites of the same owner do not multiply points.

Worked example

As a practice comparison, with only a white site A1 and black site E5, cell B1 is distance 1 from white and 7 from black, so belongs to white. C3 is 4 from each and is neutral. In the full game a second site may change an owner’s minimum distance. Always take the minimum within each owner before comparing owners.

Finish and check

After all cells are assigned, most awarded cells wins; equal totals draw. A site’s own cell counts through the same distance rule: its owner is at distance zero, while the other owner is at least one away. Check that white points plus black points plus neutral cells equals 25. End after one placement game, or play a second with the starting player swapped.

Adaptation and limits

Use W/B letters and different outline shapes, not colour alone. Learners can audit opposite halves of the grid then exchange records. The result uses this discrete distance rule, not straight-line distance on a real map. This kit asks for a checked count, not a claim that a visually central site guarantees a win.

Free alternative: Copy the supplied grids, labels and cards onto reused paper. No specialist product is needed. Adults may prepare pieces or act as a scribe.

Printable materials

Preview at 100% scale, with browser headers and footers off. Cut with suitable help. Keep host keys separate. This is a manual tabletop kit, not an online opponent, automatic judge or solver.