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IntroductionMesbur (from Welsh: Maes brwydr, which means battlefield) is a strategy game for two players. It uses 36 numbered dominoes from 0 to 7, a dice with enough faces, and three tokens called medals. The objective of the game is to strategically place the dominoes on the playing field, creating sets and sequences to earn points. This game began to be created in 2009 by Saïd Gadwen, but it took until 2024 to perfect its rules.



Setup:The initial setup of the field is done by placing two columns of dominoes. The first column consists of eight dominoes with even numbers, starting from domino 0-0 and ascending to domino 7-7. The second column is placed to the right of the first and contains eight dominoes with sequential numbers, starting from domino 0-1 and ascending to domino 7-0. It is important to ensure that the adjacent numbers between the columns match.

This initial arrangement of the field forms a total of sixteen horizontally arranged dominoes. The remaining dominoes are used for the pie bidding, meaning they are kept separate from the playing field.

The initial setup of the field looks as follows:

　　　7-7 | 7-0　　　
　　　6-6 | 6-7　　　
　　　5-5 | 5-6　　　
　　　4-4 | 4-5　　　
　　　3-3 | 3-4　　　
　　　2-2 | 2-3　　　
　　　 1-1 | 1-2　　　
　　　0-0 | 0-1　　　



Definitions:– A square is half of a domino, with values from 0 to 7.
– The vanguard is the set of dominoes in each player\'s possession.
– The barricade consists of two discarded dominoes from the vanguard, used to block opponent\'s combinations.
– A row is a set of squares placed in a straight line between the vanguard dominoes, dividing them into two opposing zones: upper and lower.
– The field is the set of sixteen horizontally arranged dominoes.
– The configuration is the arrangement of the dominoes on the field.
– A blocker is a square that makes an opponent\'s combinations ending in its value lose against any combination regardless of its strength.
– Dominance is the ability of a domino to block opponent\'s combinations by having a blocker.



Combinations:Combinations are divided into two classes: Sets and Sequences.

– Sets are combinations of at least three repeated numbers in the lower row and five in the upper row.
– Sequences are combinations of at least three consecutive numbers in the lower row and five in the upper row.



Value of combinations:Combinations have two ranks: length and height.

– Length is the number of squares used in the combination. The longer the length, the higher the value.
– Height is the value of the square with the highest number. The higher the height, the higher the value.

The combination with the longest length wins, ignoring the height. In case of a tie, the combination with the highest height wins.



Pie bidding:The bidder is randomly chosen, usually using a dice, where more importance is given to higher numbers. The bidder separates the remaining dominoes from the field into two groups, placing them face up to form the vanguards. Then, the second player, who will be the acceptor, chooses one of the vanguards to play with. In the next round, the other player becomes the bidder and so on.



Equipment phase:The bidder starts the game, then turns alternate. Then, on your turn, after the pie bidding, you can either (i) choose to pass your turn, which will end the equip phase if they are consecutive passes, or (ii) perform these actions in the following order:

1. Choose two of your dominoes and place them face down to form the barricade.
2. Place one of your dominoes horizontally adjacent to a field domino, so that the numbers on the ends match when they touch.

In the following example, the number 6 dominoes touch:

　　　7-7 | 7-0　　　
　　　6-6 | 6-7　　　
　　　5-5 | 5-6 | 6-3
　　　4-4 | 4-5　　　
　　　3-3 | 3-4　　　
　　　2-2 | 2-3　　　
　　　 1-1 | 1-2　　　
　　　0-0 | 0-1　　　

3. Push the selected field domino inward using your newly placed domino, thus pushing out the domino on the opposite end of the field.

In the following example, the 5-5 domino is pushed out to the other side of the field:

　　　7-7 | 7-0　　　
　　　6-6 | 6-7　　　
　5-5 | 5-6 | 6-3　　　
　　　4-4 | 4-5　　　
　　　3-3 | 3-4　　　
　　　2-2 | 2-3　　　
　　　 1-1 | 1-2　　　
　　　0-0 | 0-1　　　

4. Take the domino that you pushed out of the field and place it with your vanguard dominoes.
5. Increase the value of the dice by one if, and only if, you are the bidder, and end your turn.



Combat phase:This phase is carried out after the equipment phase, which will be carried out under these steps in the following order:

1. Attack step: The player who manages to form three combinations and two of them occupy the eight squares of the bottom row will have the opportunity to show his pieces, forcing the opponent to do the same. This step can be used as an alternative to finishing the equip phase instead of consecutive passes.

2. Defense step: The two barricade tokens are flipped over to reveal their contents. The piece with the highest number has dominance, so it blocks all of the opponent\'s combinations that end in that number. If none of them manage to do so, dominance will pass to the other piece on the barricade. The other player can steal one or both of the barricade tiles as long as he can improve some of his combinations and the blocking number does not change.

Upon completing the previous steps, players compare their combinations from greatest to least strength. For each winning combination, the player will receive a medal. Then, the tiles on the field will remain as they are to acquire a new configuration, while the other tiles will be used for the new pie bidding.



Scoring points:The points are calculated as follows:

– The squares that are not part of a player\'s combinations are added up together with those of their opponent to obtain the community score.
– Both players will multiply the community score by the number of medals obtained to obtain the individual score.
– Then, both players will multiply the value of the dice by the number of medals obtained, which will be added to their individual score.



End of the game:The game can be played for four, six, or eight rounds, depending on the players\' preference, and the player with the most points at the end of all the rounds is the winner.



Notes:In Mesbur, tiles similar to dominoes are used in terms of shape and size. However, instead of dots, these tiles are numbered with dashes. In addition, it should be noted that the Mesbur tiles are a little thicker so that they remain in a vertical position and allow better visualization of the combinations during the game. This also makes it easier to cover these combinations from the opponent during the game.

—description from the designer