plötuplötuna

Plötuplötuna is a traditional Icelandic board game that dates back to the early 20th century. The name derives from the Icelandic words *plötu* (board) and *plötun* (piece), reflecting the game’s focus on matching and placement. It is typically played by two to four players on a square board composed of a 6×6 grid. Each player begins with a set of twenty wooden or wooden-like pieces of distinct colors or patterns. The objective is to create a line of four matching pieces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. When such a line is formed, the collaborating player removes the line from the board and scores a point. The game continues until all pieces have been played or a pre‑determined score threshold is reached.

The game was first documented in a regional newspaper in the 1920s as part of a broader movement to promote local cultural activities in rural areas of Iceland. It quickly gained popularity among schoolchildren and community groups. Variants of the game have emerged since then, including versions with a larger board (8×8) and additional scoring conditions that reward more complex patterns.

Plötuplötuna has been featured in contemporary Icelandic children's literature and is occasionally used in educational settings to illustrate strategy and spatial reasoning. The game is maintained by local hobby clubs and has occasionally appeared in collecting catalogs of folk games from the North Atlantic region.