Die Zange

Die Zange is an abstract strategy game built on the idea of being caught in a beetle's claws (Die Zange means "The Tongs"). The players each have a set of wooden stones and use these to try to capture all the stones of the other player. A stone is captured if it ends up "in the tongs" -- meaning between two foreign stones. On a players turn, they can move one space or jump in a straight line. The game is played in three phases that help react to the realty that the game requires more movement toward the end as there are fewer pieces to jump. The game is essentially an advanced version of Seega, the ancient Egyptian game, but makes it much better by using a hex board and adding the phases of play. The game can be played using the components from Perlhuhn's Ombagi game, but was also sold as a standalone game.