How to Play

Gingham

2-4 players 20-40 min 7.2 Board Game Geek Rating

Ant colonies compete for treats on an abandoned picnic blanket in this strategic connection game. Players position queens along edges to deploy ants into rows, with closer-to-star placements offering better turn order but fewer ant placement options. Victory comes through connecting matching sweets with ant lines and claiming stockpiles for points.

Published 2025

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Select the correct board

Place the 10×10 grid cloth board for 3-4 players or the 8×8 grid for 2 players in the center of the table

Prepare the sweets tokens

Shuffle facedown 9 each of cookies, cherries, cupcakes, and pies for 3-4 players, or 5 each of those plus 5 lollipops for 2 players

Place sweets on the board

Draw and place one sweet face-up on each circular intersection of the grid until all sweets are placed

Set up the ability board

Place the ability board next to the cloth board

Randomize ability tiles

Shuffle the 5 ability tiles and place them at random on the ability board

Prepare the sugar supply

Place sugar cubes near the board within easy reach of all players

Distribute player components

Each player takes 26 ants, 2 queens, and 1 score dial in their chosen color

Set score dials

Set each score dial to 0 and keep it facedown so other players cannot see

Take claim tokens

Each player takes 4 claim tokens (no lollipops) for 3-4 players, or all 5 claim tokens for 2 players

Determine first player

The player who was most recently on a picnic goes first

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Place your queen

Position your queen along the outer border of a row on the board

Deploy an ant

Place an ant onto any space in your queen's row that is either empty or occupied by another player's ant

Bump opponent ants

If you place on a space with another player's ant, return their ant to them

Connect sweets for points

If an orthogonal chain of your ants connects two like-sweets, score 1 point per ant in the shortest connecting path

Claim stockpiles

If a stockpile is completely surrounded by your ants after placing, you may claim it with your matching claim token

Collect sugar cubes

If you place your ant adjacent to a circle with sugar cubes, take one sugar cube

Use abilities

On your turn, you may spend sugar cubes to use one ability based on its position on the ability board

Determine next round turn order

After all players take two turns, the queen closest to the star chooses any other side for the next round

Winning

How to claim victory.

Trigger game end

At the end of a round, any player with 40+ points (2-3 players) or 32+ points (4 players) must announce this to end the game immediately

Score claimed stockpiles

Each player scores 1 point for each sweet in their claimed stockpiles, with claim tokens counting as sweets

Score tallest stockpile bonuses

For each sweet type, the player with the tallest claimed stockpile of that type scores 5 bonus points

Score remaining sugar

Each player scores 1 point for each leftover sugar cube

Determine the winner

The player with the most total points wins

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

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How to Play Overview

Instructional

Gingham

Get Ready

On Your Turn

Winning

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How to Play Ginahm

How to Play Overview

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