Controls

You play by removing sticks. On your turn, choose one heap and take any number of sticks from it, from a single stick up to the whole heap. Then play passes to your opponent.

The rules are as simple as a game gets:

• Your move is always to remove at least one stick from exactly one heap. You can never take from two heaps in the same turn.
• The losing move is taking the final stick on the board. So the whole game is about forcing your opponent into the position where they have no choice but to take it.

Because the game is fully solved, whether a position is winning or losing is fixed, so the skill is in steering toward the winning ones.

Against the computer, the difficulty rises across eight levels, with the top levels playing the perfect strategy.

Tips

• Aim to leave your opponent one stick on their turn to lose. Since taking the last stick loses, the ideal is to leave a single stick for your opponent to be forced to take, so always look ahead to who ends up cornered.
• Think about balance between heaps. The winning strategy is about keeping the heaps in a balanced state, so try to make moves that leave the piles matching or paired rather than lopsided.
• Watch the endgame closely. With just a couple of heaps left, count precisely, because a single stick in the wrong place decides the whole game and small miscounts are how wins slip away.
• Force the reply you want. The strongest moves are the ones that leave your opponent with no good answer, so look for a move that limits their options rather than just grabbing sticks.
• Learn from the computer's perfect play. The top levels never blunder, so paying attention to how they respond to your moves teaches you the winning patterns better than any explanation.
• Don't just take the most sticks. Grabbing a big heap feels powerful but often hands your opponent a winning position, so the right move is frequently a small, calculated one.

Frequently asked questions