Steppe

Steppe, aka Stak, is a 1985 game by David Rea, published in DMR Games and Tactical Studies Rules.

Steppe is a tiling game played on a 5x5 board. Each player has fifteen 1x1 tiles, five 1x2 tiles and three 1x3 tiles (the colors are Blue and White). There's also six 1x1 red tiles, where each player gets three.

In the TSR edition, the white tiles are the neutral ones

Each match consists of three phases, each ending when the board is full:

• On the first phase, players take turns dropping one of their available tiles over empty board squares.
• Each 1x1 tile values one point, each 1x2 values five points, each 1x3 values ten points. 
• Red tiles are not scored, i.e., they are worth zero points.
  
• The second and third phases are the same, but the points are multiplied by 2 and 3, respectively.
• For each phase, the player that places the last tile starts the next phase.
• In any phase, if one player cannot place more tiles, then the other player will continue playing until the board is full or he is unable to continue.
  
• There are also requirements for placing tiles:
• Red tiles are owned by both players, assume the board is made of 25 red tiles; there are no restrictions in placing red tiles, or placing other tiles on top of them.
  
• 1x1 and 1x2 tiles must be placed on top of tiles owned by the current player.
• 1x3 tiles can only be placed if their extremes are on top of tiles owned by the current player; the middle section can be over any color but it cannot be over an empty square.
  
• When the third phase ends, the player with more points wins the game.

The official rules include some strategy tips:

• The first level is your basic foundation. You want to place your tiles into patterns that will allow you to place large tiles on top of them in the upper levels. If you want to place a "five" in a certain location in the second level, you'll need to have two tiles of yours together in the first level. You must think ahead to what you want in the third level, so you need to try to set up the second level by setting up the first level.
• Not only that, but a big part of setting up the second level usually means going first in the second level. Which means placing the last tile in the first level. Which means a move/counter-move situation:
• White goes first and there are 24 spaces to be filled in the first level. So if each player places "ones" on every turn, blue will place the last tile in the first level, and thus go first in the second level.
• If white wants to go first in the second level, he'll have to place a "five" (which takes up two spaces) in the first level. If both players then place "ones" on each turn in the first level, white will place the last tile in the first level. But, if blue places a "five" ....
• Once you get to the second level, you'll want to not only try to complete your planned pattern (so you can place the tiles you want in the third level), but you'll probably want to disrupt your opponent's pattern. That's where red tiles come in. If your opponent has set up a string of three tiles of his color in the first level (so he can place a" ten" on top of them in the second level) you can place a red tile on top of the middle tile (when you're in the second level) to block.

a complete match of Steppe, White wins 151-115

 

The game was mentioned in GAMES #87: