GRO
GRO is an abstract strategy game for 2 players. Each player controls the growth and expansion of a strain of bacterium within the confines of a Petri dish. The goal is to become the dominant strain.
Each player starts with a single germ. Germs may grow and divide to produce more germs, which may grow and divide to produce more germs, which may grow and divide...you get the idea. Germs may also move, and they may attempt to surround opposing germs. When a germ is surrounded, it dies.
The Petri dish contains 4 goal areas. The first player to gain exclusive control of 3 of the 4 areas, wins.
Stats
- Construction: 1-2 hours
- Number of Players: 2
- Complexity: Medium
- Playing Time: 1-2 hours
- Age Group: 13+
- Skill vs. Luck: 100% skill
- Parts Needed: Everything you need is in the file.
Download
GRO is available in Portable Document Format (PDF.) The file size is 2.5MB.
| Pages | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 | Cover Art by Randy Farran |
| 2 - 5 | Rules |
| 6 - 7 | Help Sheet - print 1 for each player |
| 8 | Petri Dish |
| 9 | Germ Markers |
Zillions of Games
You can play GRO on your PC thanks to Stephen Tavener and Zillions of Games. Zillions is a versatile engine that can be programmed to play just about any 2 player, abstract game. Stephen wrote a Zillions game file for GRO. Thanks Stephen!
Kampf der Kulturen
A German language version GRO was available from Sphinx Spieleverlag but has sold out. It was translated by Henning Poehl and re-titled Kampf der Kulturen. The German version featured colorful artwork and fuzzy germs.
Reviews
- The Greenwood Gamers
- "If you enjoy a hard fought game of chess, you will probably like GRO."
- JJ Armour, Mensa Mind Games 2000 participant
- "A strategy game that I wouldn't want to play again, but I'd certainly consider purchasing it for some people I know."
- Ken Kaufman, Mensa Mind Games 2000 participant
- "I really thought the germ analogy worked well."
- Matt Ryan of Envelope Games
- "A darn fine game."
- Pierre-Nicolas Lapointe on JesWeb
- "Un jeu à découvrir pour les amateurs de stratégie abstraite et originale."
- Tom Vasel
- "If you like Go, give this much simpler game a try, I think you'll be pleased."
Copyright
You are free to make copies of our games for yourself and your friends. However, Interformic Games retains full copyright to all of its games.
Acrobat Reader
All Interformic Game files are in Portable Document Format (PDF.) You can read and print these files using Adobe's Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download a free copy from Adobe's web site.
Construction Tips
Read our tips for turning your print & play games into reality.
