Game Style

Most abstract strategy board games fall into one of two broad categories:

Two opposing "armies" line up facing each other. The players capture each other's pieces and attempt to achieve some objective (such as capturing a key piece, or reaching a certain space on the board). Chess falls into this category.

The game starts with an empty board. The two opposing players alternately place pieces onto the board in an attempt to capture more territory, or to get a certain number of pieces in a row. Games like Go or Reversi fall into this category.

In NXS, you line up two (or three) opposing armies across the playing surface from each other. You can capture each other's pieces, but the goal of NXS is to capture a certain amount of your opponent's territory before they can capture yours.

NXS is also unusual because each player has his or her own board, and the board itself can be rotated as a move.

Flexibility

Setup flexibility: NXS has three standard board setups; the short game, the medium game, and the long game. Having a different number of pieces on the board makes the play style quite different between the two setups. The short game is much more about maneuver. Captures are somewhat rare. Rather capture threats are often used to force the other player to move a piece. In the long game, capture is common. Play is more "chess-like". Players set up pieces in a support structure, attempting to trade pieces with their opponent(s) to their advantage, either in material strength or position. The medium game falls somewhere in between.

In addition to the standard game setups, players are encouraged to come up with their own starting board arrangements and share them with others.

Goal flexibility: While the default captured territory goal is 10 spaces, players are free to choose any reasonable amount needed to win. Choosing 8 spaces will give you a faster paced game where defending your territory carefully is key. Choosing 13 spaces will make winning the short game much more difficult. Reserve 19 space goals for the long game setup, and prepare for a challenging game lasting hours.

Alternative play: Check out the sequence page for optional rules and the alternate games page for even more variety.