| Overview |
 Metamorphosis is a two-player abstract board game played on a square board that was invented by Gregory Keith Van Patten in 2009. This game is a member of the connection game family including such games as Hex, Quax and Crossway.
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| Board |
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Metamorphosis is played on a square board using special two-colored pieces: one side of a piece is colored black and the other side is colored white. The left and right edges of the board are colored white while the top and bottom edges are colored black. The initial position of the pieces is shown in the following picture:
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| Object of the Game |
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The goal of Metamorphosis is to form a chain of pieces of your color connected either horizontally or vertically linking the opposite edges of the board marked by your color after your opponent has moved. It means that the player's chain must still connect both of his sides after the opponent's replying move. A corner is considered to be part of both adjoining edges. Draws are possible in Metamorphosis, though they seem rare. |
| Play |
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Starting with Black, players take turns flipping a piece (i.e. turning a black piece into white one or a white piece into a black one). Each turn a player must decrease the total number of "groups" (a "group" is a set of pieces of the same color connected either horizontally or vertically; at the beginning of the game there are N2 "groups"). Since the first player has a distinct advantage, the pie rule is used to make the game fair. This rule allows the second player to switch colors after the first player makes his first move. |
| Variants |
| There is a variant of the game called "Ko fight". In this variant players are allowed to make a move ("Ko" move) that does not change the total number of "groups". A player is allowed to make any number of "Ko" moves during a game, however a player cannot make two "Ko" moves consecutively. Neither can he flip the same piece that his opponent flipped on the previous turn. |
