Rules
Overview
Aeroliths is a 1v1 strategy board game. Two players face off on a board by placing stones called Lithos. The goal is to own more Lithos on the board than your opponent when the board is full.
Setup
- The board size is chosen before the game starts (e.g. 3x3, 4x4, 5x5...).
- Each player receives a deck of Lithos to play with.
- The first player is chosen randomly.
- Players then take turns placing one Lithos per turn on any empty cell.
The Lithos
Lithos are stones that each player places on the board. Every Lithos has 4 values, one on each side: top, right, bottom and left. These values represent the power of the Lithos on that side.
Each Lithos also belongs to an element (fire, water, earth, air...) which can give it an advantage or disadvantage during combat.
Placing a Lithos
On their turn, a player places one Lithos from their deck on any empty cell on the board. Once placed, the Lithos attacks all adjacent opponent Lithos (top, right, bottom, left).
Capture
When a Lithos is placed next to an opponent's Lithos, the touching sides are compared:
- Your side value > opponent's opposite side value — the opponent's Lithos is captured and becomes yours.
- Your side value ≤ opponent's opposite side value — nothing happens on that side.
A single Lithos can capture multiple opponent Lithos at once if it is stronger on several sides.
Elements
Each Lithos has an element. Elements interact with each other following a strengths and weaknesses cycle:
- Fire is strong against Wind
- Wind is strong against Earth
- Earth is strong against Water
- Water is strong against Fire
How it works
When the element of the attacking Lithos is stronger than the element of the defending Lithos, the defending Lithos loses 1 point on the side being attacked. This bonus applies before the comparison.
Your fire Lithos (right side = 5) attacks a wind Lithos (left side = 5). Fire is strong against wind, so the wind Lithos loses 1 point: 5 → 4. The comparison becomes 5 vs 4 — your Lithos wins and captures it.
If the elements are equal or if the attacker has a weak element, no bonus is applied and the raw values are compared directly.
End of the Game
The game ends when every cell on the board is filled. The player who owns the most Lithos on the board wins. If both players own the same number, the game is a draw.