Mouse Guard: Swords & Strongholds

A light strategy game for two players, from the setting of the Mouse Guard comics and roleplaying game.

Each player control four mouse pawns on a gridded board. Play involves a deck containing three types of cards: Swords, Strongholds, and Diplomacy.

Each turn one mouse moves along a grid in one of the four cardinal directions and then may immediately use one of the cards in their 3 card hand.

Sword: Move in an L shape, pushing mice you encounter aside. Mice knocked off the board this way are captured and removed from play. You may not capture your own mice.

Stronghold: Leap off the grid onto an adjacent square. Mice may not enter grid corners touching your square. Mice currently in such a grid corner are pushed on space, and mice pushed into a stronghold are captured. This is called “building a stronghold”

• If you are in a stronghold, you may leave this position by moving to any of the grid corners touching the square and then moving once space. In this special movement case, you may not then play a card**

Diplomacy: Choose the nearest enemy mouse:
•if they are in a stronghold, force them out of one and into an adjacent grid corner of your choice.
•if not, switch places with that mouse

Immediately after resolving a turn, draw cards if you are below the hand size of 3.

WIN: build a stronghold in one of the enemy corners (or, presumably, capture all enemy mice)