Assimilation (a clone of Ataxx, also known as SlimeWars and Frog Cloning) is a board game which first appeared in 1990 as an arcade video game by The Leland Corporation. According to online resources, the game was invented by Dave Crummack and Craig Galley in 1988 and was called Infection.
Start position and game object
The game is played on 7x7 square board with white and black pieces. The following image shows the start position:
The object of the game is to place more pieces than the opponent.
How to move pieces
Each player moves one piece per turn. A piece can be moved one or two spaces in any direction - horizontally, vertically or diagonally - to an empty place. The difference between these two move types is described at the following pictures:
The white player moved his A1 piece one space to B1. The piece has been copied to the target position, so a new white pieces appears.
The white player moved his A1 piece two spaces to C3. The piece has been moved to the target position, so it has disappeared from the former position and no new white piece appears.
How to capture opponent's pieces
If the target square of the moving piece is adjacent to any opponent's pieces, all these pieces will be turned to the player's color. The next picture displays a black piece capturing two white pieces (before and after the move):
How to finish the game
The game ends if one player cannot make a legal move. When it happens, the player with more pieces on the board wins the game. If both players have the same number of pieces, the game is a draw. The following picture shows a final position after black's winning move: