Starting position

Dots drawn on the edge of the grid can never be surrounded, and are said to be "grounded".

To prevent players from playing on the edge of the grid at the beginning of the game one variation is that the first few moves have to be made in the central 8 x 15 area of the grid.

Alternatively the game can start from a predefined set of points of each colour, such as a square of two red and two blue points:

Alternative ways of drawing a chain

If there is more than one way of drawing a chain the player can choose which one to draw. Alternatively, in some variations the minimum length chain must always be drawn.

Extra turn

In this variation a player can make an extra turn after completing a chain.