Despite the look of the game and the description of it, the L-game is very complex. The game was created by Edward De Bono, introduced in his book "The Five-Day Course in Thinking" (1967) designed to be a very simple game. The rules are very simple, but it could actually take over 4 days to finish one round. Or, if you are lucky, you could finish it in a few minutes, or anything between that.

The rules are simple;

Grab a friend, as it is a two-player game. Select which L piece you want. (they must be different colors, so no confusion arises. Print each L- Piece separately, unless you plan on coloring the L- Pieces afterward)

find the image titled Starting placements in the how-to PDF to see how it is set up. (Credit to Wikipedia)

When it is your turn, take your L- piece, and place it anywhere you please, as long it is taking up 4 total empty spaces on the board, and not passing the edge of the board. You must do the following each turn.

once you have done so, move any neutral piece to a new empty space. you must also do so every turn.

The goal is to get your opponent to not be able to successfully move their L- piece anywhere on the board without passing the board's boundaries.

And again, even though the rules seem simple, the game could technically go on forever. Or you could make it last a few minutes. If you end up playing an extensive game, I suggest setting it somewhere "Out of the way" yet still accessible, so whenever you wish, you could go through a few turns.

To see all possible winning positions (the winner being blue) See Winning positions in the how-to PDF

Enjoy the Game!

this is where I found the idea for this print. also has a very well done explanation of the game