Fairwell
THE TWO-SQUARES RULE
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Fairwell is a wild boar who works as a crossing guard. He is calm, kind, and very hard to argue with. When he raises one front hoof, everyone stops.
In one twenty-piece game, something odd happened. Red's 9 was chasing Blue's 6 toward the edge. But every time the 9 got close, the 6 stepped sideways. Then back. Then sideways. Then back.
Red's 9 followed. Sideways, back. Sideways, back.
"This could go on all night," said Bluster.
"It won't," said Fairwell, raising his hoof. "There's a rule."
He explained. A piece can move back and forth between the same two squares only three times in a row. After that, it has to go somewhere new. Otherwise one player could stop a game from ever ending, just by shuffling.
"So Blue's 6 has to move somewhere else soon?" asked Matchley.
"Exactly. And when it does, our 9 will be waiting."
Blue's 6 stepped sideways one more time, then it was stuck. It couldn't step back again. It moved forward instead, into open ground, and Red's 9 tagged it home.
The Blue player didn't seem upset. "I knew it was coming," they said. "I was buying time."
Fairwell nodded approvingly. "Buying time is allowed. Stalling forever isn't. That's the difference."
Fairwell felt good about it. Rules like this one aren't about winning. They're about making sure there's a game at all, one that ends fairly for both sides.
That's Fairwell's rule. A piece can shuttle between two squares only a few times in a row. Then it has to go somewhere new. A chase always ends, and every game reaches a result.
Hear it as an audio drama
A short play starring Fairwell, from BluffForge. Different voices, same idea. Listen any time after you read.
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- Narrator: From Spark and Anvil and BluffForge — this is Fairwell, in chapter 1 of the BluffForge cast.
- Narrator: This drama uses an AI-generated voice. Voiced via Gemini 2.5.
- Narrator: This story is told by a Blue piece for once: a 6, being chased by a Red 9.
- Blue Six: A 9 beats a 6. If it caught me, I was going home. So I stepped sideways.
- Narrator: The 9 followed. The six stepped back. The 9 followed again. Sideways, back. Sideways, back.
- Bluster: This could go on all night!
- Fairwell: It won't. There's a rule.
- Fairwell: A piece may move back and forth between the same two squares only three times in a row. Then it must go somewhere new.
- Matchley: Why?
- Fairwell: Without it, a player could stop the game from ever ending, just by shuffling.
- Blue Six: I knew the rule. I wasn't trying to stall forever. I was buying time for my friends to get into place.
- Narrator: The six stepped sideways one last time. Then it couldn't step back again.
- Blue Six: So I moved forward, into open ground. And the 9 was waiting.
- Narrator: The six went home.
- Blue Player: I knew it was coming. Those turns were worth it.
- Fairwell: Buying time is allowed. Stalling forever isn't. That's the whole difference.
- Narrator: Three times back and forth, then find a new path, so every game reaches an ending. That's the six's story.
- Narrator: You've been listening to a Spark and Anvil chapter, written by the Spark and Anvil writing team for ages 9 to 14.
- Narrator: Apps stay free forever.
- Narrator: Curriculum aligned to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
- Narrator: Released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 for educational reuse. Visit Spark and Anvil for the full transcript.
The BluffForge ensemble
Fairwell is one of the friends in BluffForge. Each friend shows you one idea by how they act; meet them all and you have the whole subject.
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Pricetag
Spends a small piece on purpose to learn what a big one is - information has a price
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Decoy
Sits still and guarded like a Moonstone and is not one - mischief inside the rules
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Bluster
Walks a small piece as if it were big - a bluff both players agreed is part of the game
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Matchley
Knows equal numbers both go home
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Quillby
Keeps the Belief Ledger honest - a guess only sticks with a reason you actually saw
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Draftsy
Runs the Blueprint studio - varies every setup so no habit can be learned
