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Abstract Strategy


Jalabyrinth

Jalabyrinth is so-named because it was sort of loosely inspired by the board game "Labyrinth". It has gone through several stages of rule-modification and playtesting, and the result is what I hope to be a balanced strategy-game in which the second player CAN gain advantage over the first player with skillful playing, and which is unlike (as far as I know) any other game in the registry.

***SETUP***
Flatten the board to the bottom. Place one small cube in each corner, one player in the corners with the cubes, and raise the corners with the cubes one level.

***GOAL***
To be the first to get your cube to the opposite corner (I know, you've seen this before...but wait until you see the rules).

***RULES***
-Turns:
Players take turns. When it is NOT your turn, you must remain in one place. You may turn in place but not jump or move. A turn has two phases--a mandatory row-raising phase and an optional cube-movement phase. The row-raising phase must come first.

-Row-raising phase: You must raise one ENTIRE ROW of five columns. The row can be horizontal or vertical on the board, but NOT diagonal. You may not move your cube during this phase. You may NOT lower any columns during this phase. You can move and jump around the board as much as you want, and as much as the current configuration of the columns allows, provided you do not touch your cube or the other players'. As long as you can reach all the columns in a row with your KI-ray, you can raise that row.

-Cube-moving phase: After you have raised a row of columns, you may move your cube ONE column to any adjacent column (no diagonals). It should be impossible to move the cube to a higher level, but this is against the rules just in case. You CAN move the cube to a lower level, but doing so comes with a price: your opponent will get one extra cube-move on his next turn. You can never move your cube onto a space occupied by your opponent's cube.

-Ending your turn: You can move your cube around a bit on its new column, even move it onto other columns to help you position it, so long as it is back on the new column before you say you are done. Your turn is over when you say it is over. At this point your opponent is free to move--and you are NOT, so make sure you and your cube are positioned how you want before you say you're done.

***STRATEGY TIPS***
The first player has the usual obvious advantage--s/he gets to go first and so, if both players advance one space each turn, the first will inevitably win. What balances this out is the cube-drop rule--if you drop your cube a level, your opponent gets to advance TWO spaces on the next turn, gaining the advantage.

So as Player 1, your best strategy is to do your best not to have to drop your cube's level, or to block off Player 2 in such a way that the extra move won't help her/him if you do. If you're Player 2, your best strategy is to try to raise rows in such a way that Player 1 will be forced to drop his/her cube, giving you 2 moves and thus, the advantage.

Sheykan's picture

Jalak War-Cube

Shorah, I am Sheykan of Italian Bevin. Excuse my English. I used a translation program. I hope we understand the same.
We come to play. It is like Battle Ship. It rose to 4 notches central columns. Each player places 2 small cubes in his area of the game. Do not look beyond the wall:).

Player 1 calls a pillar of player 2 that will raise the column to show its contents. If the player 1 (or 2) calls the column where the player 2 (or 1), the player will have to turn away, walk back up the wall central raise the column and only in this case can lower the column to return in its place.

The images show the preparation of the pitch and swing. (Sorry for written in Italian:-P)



Ace's picture

Diamond

field set-up:
Players must select a corner considered to be their "starting" corner. In a 2-player game, the players must pick opposing starting corners.
goal: move your small cube from your starting corner to the opposing corner

rules:
1) Players in a 2-player game alternate turns. Players in a 4-player game take turns sequentially by opposing corners: high, high, low, low.
2) A turn is defined as either:
a) raising or lowering a single pillar by one level, or
b) pushing one cube from the pillar it’s on to any other pillar that can be reached without pushing the cube diagonally or changing the cube's level. (exceptions: see rules seven and eight)
3) A player may raise or lower any pillar on the field.
4) A player in a 2-player game may push any cube on the board except the small cube that started in his opponent’s corner. Players in a 4-player game cannot push any of the opponents’ small cubes.
5) No two cubes may finish a turn in the same space.
6) Small cubes may pass “through” each other’s spaces when being pushed, but small cubes cannot pass through a space occupied by a big cube, or vice versa.
7) A small cube that is two levels or more above any adjacent non-diagonal pillar may be pushed off of that pillar onto one of the adjacent non-diagonal pillars. This counts as a turn, and is subject to rule five.
8) A small cube adjacent to a pillar that is more than two levels below any adjacent non-diagonal pillar may be pushed down to that pillar. This counts as a turn, and is subject to rule five.
9) First player to push the small cube from his starting corner into the opposing corner wins.
10) Players may walk or stand anywhere on the board as long as they don’t interfere with the gameplay.
11) A cube or pillar may not be moved back to the last position it occupied until the next turn of the player who moved it from that position. [In other words, you can't just reverse another player's move-- Ace*]
12) A player or players who force a draw lose the game.

HCIdivision17's picture

[X]-in-a-row

Create a line of 3, 4, or 5 pillars in a row - in three dimensions.

Rules:

  1. Each player takes a turn raising a platform. The pillars are considered in a row if all the pillars in a line are an equivalent integer difference of height away from each other. Winning row examples:

        1, 1, 1, 1, 1
        6, 5, 4, 3, 2
        4, 6, 8, 10, 12
        18, 15, 12, 9, 6
  2. For a win, none of the in-a-row pillars are at ground (0) or max level (19) and all may not be at the mid-level (10) if the game started there (for the sake of sanity) Invalide row examples:
        0, 0, 0, 0, 0
        19, 18, 17, 16, 15
        10, 10, 10, 10, 10
        0, 4, 8, 12, 16

Variations:

      This game can be played with an arbitrary number of people if the condition becomes be the first to spot the row.
      The game does not even need to be turn-based, though good sportsmanship must reign to avoid cheap stalemates and ruthless obstructionism.
      Jalakblocs: These may be used as to make the playing field more interesting from the start. For example:

      1. Large cubes may be used to modify a platform so it is +1 level, give a level.
      2. Ramp/triangular blocs may be used to force a platform to only be a row for inclines, possibly one with a slope to match (+-2 levels).
      3. Beam blocks could constrain multiple platforms be flat in order to count in a row.

      (The only requirement for Jalakblocs is the meaning must be clear. [X] in a row is meant to be a game of simple rules after all!)

Note: Eventually, I will try to add diagrams using the official images provided here. For now, attached are two images demonstrating what win conditions would look like (and please pretend [X]-in-a-row_WinConditions.JPG is not starting on middle ground...)

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