📐 Guide

Chain Reaction Board Sizes: 6×6 vs 8×8 vs 8×10

Same rules, different game. A 6×6 board is a knife fight; 8×10 is a siege. Here is what changes and which to choose.

The numbers

Corners stay at four whatever the size, so the share of cheap, safe cells shrinks as the board grows. On 6×6 nearly half the cells are corners or edges; on 8×10 it is 40 %. That single ratio drives most of the strategic differences.

6×6 – tactical

Contact is immediate. By move six, most of your cells have an enemy neighbour and every placement needs the count from Strategy Tips. Games swing hard and end fast. Best for learning, for the queue, and for teaching a child (Kids & Families). It is the free board in PlayCascade.

8×8 – balanced

Room for a real opening: corners, then edges, then a decision about when to make contact. Chains are longer and the final cascade more spectacular. The natural second board once Medium stops being a challenge.

8×10 – strategic

Long edges and a big interior reward slow play: build connected loaded cells across half the board while denying your opponent safe moves. Tempo decides more games than tactics. Also where the Expert AI is most dangerous, because it reads the long chains (Beat the AI).

Which to pick

• New player: 6×6 until you beat Medium.
• Couples and quick rematches: 6×6 or 8×8 (Games for Couples).
• Players who like Go more than Othello: 8×10.

8×8 and 8×10 are part of PlayCascade Pro (one-time purchase), together with the Hard and Expert AI and all themes.