BluffForge

You can’t see their army. You can see how it moves. What will you believe — and why?

How it works

Hidden numbers. Each side hides its army. When two pieces meet, both turn over and the lower number goes home (equal: both). Puck the small one beats Ursa, the 10 — but only when Puck strikes first.
📒 The Belief Ledger. Tap a hidden piece and place a guess chip. It only sticks if your reason is true: it never moved, it ran far, it backed away from your piece. The app never tells you during the game. At the end, each chip warms or cools.
🗺️ Blueprint. Plan your setup, save it, and let the variety meter tell you (after ten setups — not before) whether you have a habit an opponent could learn.
🔏 Sealed setups. Both setups get a short seal at the start. At the end the app checks every strike against them. Nobody can rearrange an army mid-game.

Bluffing — moving a small piece as if it were big — is part of this game because both players agreed to it when they sat down. It is never a trick on a person.

The tacticians of Hollowmere

🐻 Ursa (10) and 🐺 Lupa (9) — the two biggest; worth protecting.
🐭 Puck — the smallest; the only one who can surprise Ursa.
🌿 Briar — the bramble; never moves. 🦡 Burdock is the only one who clears her.
🐇 Skipwell — runs far in straight lines, so moving far gives him away.
Pricetag spends a small piece to learn what a big one is. Decoy sits still and guarded, like a Moonstone, and isn’t one. Bluster walks a small piece like a big one.
Matchley knows equal pieces both go home. Fairwell stops endless chasing (three trips back and forth, then no more). Quillby keeps the Ledger honest. Draftsy runs the Blueprint studio.

Mosswick the owl asks: which of their pieces hasn’t moved — and what is that worth knowing?

⚖️ Rules Lawyer — is this chase legal? Twelve fairness puzzles.
👀 No Tells — can a screen give a secret away? Spot the scout on a careless screen, then on a fair one.
🌙 HollowPals — the eight-piece version for younger players (ages 6–8).

Everything runs on your device — no accounts, no timer, no leaderboard. A brief history: a French designer drew a game like this in 1908; it has been played in many forms since.

Meet the cast — the characters who teach this

Mosswick (Mentor, an owl) - asks which of their pieces has not moved, and what that is worth knowing
Ursa The 10 - strongest piece; captured only if Puck strikes her first
Lupa The 9 - next strongest; only Ursa beats her
Puck The small one - loses to everyone except Ursa, and only when he strikes first
Briar The bramble - never moves; sends any attacker home except Burdock
Burdock The bramble-clearer - the only piece that can clear Briar
Skipwell The runner - moves any distance in a straight line, so moving far gives him away
Pricetag Spends a small piece on purpose to learn what a big one is - information has a price
Decoy Sits still and guarded like a Moonstone and is not one - mischief inside the rules
Bluster Walks a small piece as if it were big - a bluff both players agreed is part of the game
Matchley Knows equal numbers both go home
Fairwell Stops endless chasing - three trips back and forth between two squares, then no more
Quillby Keeps the Belief Ledger honest - a guess only sticks with a reason you actually saw
Draftsy Runs the Blueprint studio - varies every setup so no habit can be learned