Cephalopod

Cephalopod is a two player game which employs a 5x5 board, 24 dice of one color, and 24 dice of another color. The game was invented by Mark Steere in 2006.

Players take turn adding dice of their own color to the board, one die per turn. In each turn player must make a move. If the move is a non-capturing move then placed die shows 1. A capturing move can be made as per the following rules

• If there are two adjacent dice (horizontally or vertically) to the placed die and their sum is less than or equal to 6, both are captured, and the new die shows their sum. Captured dice can belong to any of the two players which are then returned to their owners.
• If there are three or four dice adjacent to the placed die, the player can choose two or more dice to capture whose sum is less than or equal to 6.
• Captures are mandatory only when placing a die onto a square from which captures are possible. If no capture is possible, then placed die must show 1.

Once the board has been completely filled, the player whose dice occupy majority of the squares wins.

Read detailed rules here.