Problems

There are three basic problems, annotated next to the rules (below) which attempt to resolve them:

• The Stall Problem (S)
• The Roll-Off Problem (R)
• The Blockade Problem (B)

1. A tied roll can always be used to move a Chicken, even if it is captured.(S)
2. A larger family member may tackle smaller opposing family members, pushing them to an adjacent orthogonal square.(S)
3. High-roller (or tied-rollers) must use all movement points, even if that requires uncapping a Chicken. If the highest roll results in no possible moves, then the high-roller must move Spectators instead of family members (but not Chickens).(S,B)
4. Both sides may use their rolls, high-roller moving first. In ties, previous low-roller moves Spectators or Chickens first, then previous high-roller moves Spectators or Chickens.(R)
5. During a roll, low-roller moves Spectators or Chickens first, then high-roller moves his or her family members. Ties resolve the same as current (previous low-roller moves only Spectators or Chickens, previous high-roller does nothing).(R,B)
6. In a tie, both players may move Spectators or Chickens (previous lowest roller moves first).(B)
7. A family member or Spectator may trample same-size-or-smaller pyramids.(B)

The folks down in Looney Hollow ain’t famous for their culture, which is most evident when one notes their favorite sport: chasing down chickens. People come from all around the Hollow to watch when two families challenge each other to a Chicken Run. The only problem is that the spectators are usually so unruly and fanatical that they feel obliged to join in the game.

Objective

Be the first player to capture (put a pyramid on top of) two chickens with family members of the same size as the captured chickens, while dodging and trampling (moving over top of) unruly spectators and opposing family members.

Equipment

Two Treehouse sets: one of the Rainbow spectrum, one of the Xeno spectrum (or three matched sets, with an alternate setup).

Any 5×9 grid of squares. A chessboard works fine, if one player is willing to have his or her pyramids start on the border (i.e. off the squares), in “imaginary” squares.

Two six-sided dice (d6), ideally one black and one white, though the players can be careful to roll into separate areas, to keep each player’s die distinguishable from the other.

Setup

Set the board between the players so that the five-square-wide sides face each player.

Give each player a d6 (ideally, use a d6 that matches the color that the player will be playing).

Use the white opaque pyramids to build one nest (the large on top of the medium on top of the small), and use the black opaque pyramids to build another nest. Each player takes his or her color nest and sets it on the center square of the edge of the board that is nearest to him or her. The pyramids in this nest comprise the player’s family.

Place the yellow chickens upright in the center of the board, and place the spectators upright along the edge of the board, as shown:

Chicken Run board setup: Rainbow and Xeno sets

Note: The colors that you use for the spectators do not matter; but the placement of the large, medium, and small pyramids does matter.

If you have three matched Rainbow (or Xeno) sets, this is an alternate way to setup the board:

Chicken Run board setup: three matched sets

Playing

Determine who will go first.

Chicken Run is comprised of rounds during which one of the players will get to move either his or her family or the spectators and chickens. There is, however, a slight twist to the standard turn-based play common to other games.

Beginning A Round

At the start of every round, each player rolls his or her d6. One of three outcomes is possible:

• Black’s result is higher than White’s result – This round is Black’s round to act.
• White’s result is higher than Black’s result – This round is White’s round to act.
• The results are identical values – This round is the round to act for whichever player least recently had a round to act (i.e. if Black acted on the previous round, then White gets this round to act; and vice versa).

Note: If the results are identical on the first round of the game, roll again.

Determining What Moves

Those same die-roll results also dictate what pyramids the acting player may move:

• Black’s result is higher than White’s result – Black may only move black pyramids (i.e. his or her own family).
• White’s result is higher than Black’s result – White may only move white pyramids (i.e. his or her own family).
• The results are identical values – Whoever gets to act may only move transparent pyramids (i.e. chickens or spectators).

Moving Pyramids

Once you know whose round it is to act, the result of his or her die roll represents movement points that the player may use to move pyramids that he or she is allowed to move. Pyramids always move orthogonally—never diagonally—for these movement point costs:

• A small pyramid uses one movement point to move to an adjacent orthogonal square.
• A medium pyramid uses two movement points to move to an adjacent orthogonal square.
• A large pyramid uses three movement points to move to an adjacent orthogonal square.

A player need not use every movement point on his or her turn.

If a pyramid legally moves into an occupied square (see Movement Restrictions) then one of two things has happened:

• The family member is capturing a chicken, if the square is occupied by the chicken that is the same size as the capturing family member.
• The pyramid is trampling the occupying pyramid(s), if the square is occupied by non-chicken pyramids smaller than the moving pyramid.

Note: Capturing a chicken is not like it is in chess or checkers: at no time are pyramids removed from the board. Rather, a capture must be maintained—tying up the family member—until the game ends or until the player who controls that family member decides to release the chicken (move off of a capture), for whatever reason.

Movement Restrictions

There are a few restrictions on how pyramids may move:

• Only the top-most pyramid in a stack may be moved; a captured or currently trampled pyramids may not be moved.
• Family members and chickens may not leave the central 3×9 area (see the yellow lines on the images in the Setup section). A spectator may move freely around the full 5×9 area of the board.
• Spectators may not capture chickens nor trample family members, though they may trample each other.
• Chickens may not trample any other pyramid.
• A family member may not capture (or even trample!) a chicken of a different size.
• A family member must be larger than opposing family member(s) or spectator(s) to trample them (e.g. a large family member may trample a medium and/or small, opposing family member and/or spectator).

Winning

The first player to capture two chickens is the winner. For example, if White captures the medium chicken with his or her medium family member and captures the large chicken with his or her large family member, then White wins.

License

This work is distributed by David Carle Artman under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

When particle physicists compete for grant money, they usually do it with proposals and plans. But this time around, a lunatic angel investor has asked you to prove yourself worthy of his full support by competing on a different level: the atomic level. He has gathered the world’s most capable physicists to demonstrate their prowess with a particle accelerator, using it to carefully and precisely chisel off subatomic particles from a huge atom.

Overview

Players take turns flicking or sliding a small opaque pyramid (called the smasher) into a cluster of pyramids (called the atom). Each pyramid which is smashed a sufficient distance from the atom scores points equal to its pip count for the player.

Equipment

One Treehouse set or Icehouse stash (or more, for a truly massive atom to smash).

One token for each player, which can be a stone, poker chip, coin, or whatever is handy.

A relatively smooth playing surface, which may be of any shape or size. One need not use an entire table, but a chessboard is probably too small to be a challenge. A surface about three feet in diameter is ideal.

Setup

Set aside the smasher, and then determine who will go first and the order of play.

Put one token for each player in an easily accessible location (called the sink).

Starting with the small pyramids (except for the smasher), give one to each player in reverse order of play. When the smalls run out, immediately switch to mediums, then to larges. This process should ensure that the first players to play have to place fewer and larger pyramids than those who must wait to play, which in turn tends to ensure that the more valuable large pyramids are closer to the center of the atom.

Building the Atom

Starting with the first player, each player places all of his or her pyramids onto the playing surface, flat or upright. Every pyramid that is smaller than the player’s largest pyramid must be placed so that at least one full edge of the pyramid completely touches one or more other pyramids; that pyramid is said to be bonded to the other pyramid(s). Further, the player’s largest pyramid must be bonded to one or more of the pyramids already in the atom (if any). The goal is to create a contiguous cluster of pyramids with few (or no) small gaps between them, when viewed from above.

For example, if a player has only a medium and a large to place, he or she must make one edge of the medium completely touch the large (and/or other pyramids already in the atom, if the player wishes) to bond to it; the large, in turn, must be bonded to one or more of the pyramids already in the atom (again, if any).

The first player to place is encouraged—but not required—to place his or her pyramids in a position equidistant from every edge of the playing surface. Doing so maximizes the challenge of smashing, which extends the length of the game.

Smashing the Atom

On each player’s turn, he or she attempts to separate pyramids from the atom by flicking or sliding the smasher into the atom. Though the player may shoot from any side of the playing surface, the player’s wrist may not cross the edge of the playing surface (which means that the smasher must be placed very near the edge of the surface, of course, before flicking or sliding it). Violation of this wrist rule causes a meltdown (see below).

It is recommended that another player be the assistant for the shooting player by moving to be opposite the shooting player, so that an errant or over-powered smasher can be caught before it heads off the table (or under a lab bench or behind the reactor).

A pyramid is split from the atom if the shooting player can completely circle the pyramid with the smasher in upright position—using only one finger that is touching only the smasher tip—without touching or otherwise disturbing any pyramid on the playing surface. If the player touches any pyramid while trying to circle an allegedly separate pyramid—including the pyramid that he or she is trying to circle—then the player causes a meltdown (see below).

Do not remove and score any pyramids until every pyramid that the player wants to try to circle has been circled without a meltdown. A pyramid that is smashed completely off of the playing surface need not be circled, though it still may not be claimed until all other attempts have been made and no meltdown occurs.

The wrist rule does not apply when the player is trying to circle pyramids. Once the shooting player begins to remove and score successfully circled pyramids, he or she may not try to circle other pyramids later on that same turn.

Every circled pyramid is worth its pip count in points to the player who successfully circles it.

Meltdown

A meltdown occurs when a player violates the wrist rule or tries to circle an allegedly separate pyramid and touches another pyramid (separate or not). A meltdown must be called by another player, and there must be at least one other player who agrees. In a two-player game, be honest and be civil: generally, if a meltdown is called, take it like a stoic physicist should; there will be other grants!

A player that is guilty of a meltdown immediately ends his or her turn, without picking up any pyramids, be they successfully circled or not. The player must take a token from the sink; and on that player’s next turn, he or she returns the token to the sink instead of smashing the atom.

It should be obvious that causing a meltdown is bad for the guilty player, as it results in the effective loss of two turns and (usually) leaves separated pyramids for the next player to try to claim. In general, a player should not try to circle an allegedly separate pyramid unless he or she is nearly guaranteed to avoid a meltdown.

Ending the Game

When all pyramids in the atom have been removed and scored, the player with the most points is the winner. It is traditional for the now-wealthy grant winner to buy a round of beverages for the other players, though all players should agree to this price of victory prior to play.

In the event of a points tie, the player with the most larges wins. Should that be tied, the player with the most mediums wins. Should that also be tied, the player with the large opaque wins, regardless of whether or not that player has the most points, most larges, or most mediums—the lunatic investor likes opacity more than bickering physicists.

License

This work is distributed by David Carle Artman under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Created in August, 2007

I have this idea for a pyramid soccer game that works something like Subbuteo.

I’m thinking basic position play plus some effect due to pyramid size: maybe determines who wins a tackle attempt, or determines the “range” within which a piece can “receive” a pass that doesn’t directly hit it.

Summary:

• Position pieces and ball for kick-off.
• Take turns flicking a piece:
  • Basic move – Piece doesn’t hit an opposing piece (else Foul) or the ball (else Tackle Attempt).
  • Dribble the ball – Ball doesn’t hit an opposing piece, and your piece ends up within its “range” of the ball after all motion ceases.
  • Pass to another piece – Ball hits recipient piece without hitting an opposing piece and ends up within the recipient piece’s “range.”
  • All tipped over pieces are set upright (by pivoting at base edge in contact with table) at the end of their player’s subsequent turn (ball position is unaffected by tipping a piece).
• Attempt to tackle by flicking a piece into an opposing piece in possession of the ball (or the ball itself).
  • Foul if you knock the opposing piece flat.
  • Tackle won by largest piece; tie goes to piece in possession prior to the Tackle Attempt.
• Flick-kick into the goal (past the keeper?) to score:
  • Must be past Shooting Line: half way between goal and midfield.
  • Reset to opening position afterwards.
• Timed game or play to predetermined score.

More to come….