Ford
Original · a hidden-deployment duel for two
Five runners, ranks 1 to 5, set in secret — and every rank hidden until steel meets steel.
Ready to play now.
A demonstration of Ford, played by the computer against itself.
Ford — playing itself
Ways to play
Alone, against the computer
Your own pace, no arranging anything. Take a move back whenever you like.
Play alone3 opponents, weakest first
- The FollowerAny legal action, by the seed. It falls 2–89 to the Scout with 59 fords shared, keeps 1.0 runners of five, and loses 149 of 150 to a reader who simply charges — the river forgives randomness less than almost anything on the shelf.
- The ScoutReads the odds off the ranks the river has not shown, never the rank under the shield; uses the pass to bring an answer up to a revealed threat; and draws its deployment by the seed from forty-two sound orders, so there is nothing on this card to copy. 89–2 over the Follower, 264 blind assaults of its own in 150 fords — and it still loses 135 of 150 to the charge, which is the honest price of not playing the one best order.
- The MarshalThe descending file — 5 on the front stone, 1 on the bank — which the deployment matrix says nothing beats; the same reading; and one march of search over the WHOLE information set, every consistent rank assignment weighed against the rival’s sharpest answer in it. 137–0 over the Scout, 2.6 runners left of five, and against a reader playing the charge it shares all 150 and loses none. That is the ceiling on this river, and it is said here rather than dressed up.
Together, in the same room
2 players. One device goes round the table, or everybody plays off the same screen.
Play in the same roomOnline, at a table
A room code, joinable from anywhere. Pause tonight and pick it up next week from your device.
Play online
About
A hidden-deployment duel for two. Thirteen stones cross the river: five are your home ground, five the rival’s, and three between are nobody’s water. Each host secretly deploys five runners with the ranks 1 through 5, once each, one to a home stone. Then alternate moving ONE runner a single stone: forward or back into empty water, onto your own runner beside it — a PASS, and the two change places — or FORWARD into the rival, an ASSAULT. The ranks show for good, the higher holds the stone, equal ranks drag both under. A host with no runners, or no march, loses the ford; a mutual last strike shares it, and so do forty marches with no steel drawn.
How it feels
- A rank shown, and the whole river re-priced
- Passing your 5 up the file while theirs eats it one runner at a time
- Two runners left, trading five for five
What the design is for
Shown for good
Every assault shows both ranks to both hosts, permanently. Knowledge accumulates exactly as the runners die: by the endgame the river hides nothing, and the arithmetic is whole.
The pass — choosing the order again
A runner may step onto one of your own beside it, and the two change places. It costs a march and shows nothing, and it is the only way the order you chose in secret can be chosen again. Without it Ford was a lookup table: the deployment matrix found one order beating 119 of the other 120, because on a packed file no runner could get by another and the order the ranks met in was fixed before the first march.
Equals drag both under
Equal ranks drown together — the game’s dearest trade, and the answer to a revealed 5 marching down the file, since nothing else will stop it. A last strike that takes both hosts shares the ford, said plainly.
The ford ends
Three endings and two ways to share it: annihilation, a host with no march left, a mutual last strike, and forty marches with no steel drawn. That last one is new because the crossing had no cap at all — two hosts content to retreat never finished, and the probe guarded at two hundred plies and threw.
An opponent that cannot see your ranks
Every rung reasons over the rank assignments consistent with the public record and nothing else. The top rung used to simulate its assaults on the true position whenever you were down to one runner, so it knew the number under your last shield; there is a test now that poses that exact ford five times, differing only in that number, and every rung must answer the same to all five.
Taught stone by stone
Seven steps: the secret order, the march, the pass, the assault, the mutual drowning, the far bank — and then a whole ford to yourself.
- Best at
- 2
- Kind
- Strategy
- Table
- Competitive
- Studio
- Board.game Originals
The opponents
The Follower
Any legal action, by the seed. It falls 2–89 to the Scout with 59 fords shared, keeps 1.0 runners of five, and loses 149 of 150 to a reader who simply charges — the river forgives randomness less than almost anything on the shelf.
The Scout
Reads the odds off the ranks the river has not shown, never the rank under the shield; uses the pass to bring an answer up to a revealed threat; and draws its deployment by the seed from forty-two sound orders, so there is nothing on this card to copy. 89–2 over the Follower, 264 blind assaults of its own in 150 fords — and it still loses 135 of 150 to the charge, which is the honest price of not playing the one best order.
The Marshal
The descending file — 5 on the front stone, 1 on the bank — which the deployment matrix says nothing beats; the same reading; and one march of search over the WHOLE information set, every consistent rank assignment weighed against the rival’s sharpest answer in it. 137–0 over the Scout, 2.6 runners left of five, and against a reader playing the charge it shares all 150 and loses none. That is the ceiling on this river, and it is said here rather than dressed up.
Achievements
0 of 5 earned
The Crossing
Win a ford.
Four Still Standing
Win with four or more runners alive.
Far Stone
Win with a runner standing on the rival’s home ground.
Five for Five
Win after trading your 5 for the rival’s shown 5.
The Last Runner
Win with a single runner left in the river.
Key art
Key art — Board.game art system
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