Looney Labs Icehouse Mailing list Archive

Re: [Icehouse] Icehouse Dynamic Connection Game

  • FromS Myers <iamthecheeze@xxxxxxxxx>
  • DateWed, 10 Mar 2010 21:24:16 -0500
That is a pretty cool game.  I am keen to try it out on Eeyore's
fFamous "tri-hex" chessboard.  I've got a nice board I had printed and
mounted, and I'm always happy to see new games to play on it.  The
six-sided board has the advantage of being a 3-player game.  Awesome!
=)

Thanks!

On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 5:06 PM, Spencer Cappallo <tsi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I've been working on a 2player Icehouse connection game. It's not finished
> yet, but I thought I'd post what I've got so far. I've played it a number of
> times now, and I think it's really starting to take some shape.
>
> It's played by two players with a stash each on a chessboard. There are
> imagined (or real if you want to make/draw them in) rows extending out on
> all sides of the board, as if it were a 10x10 board with the corner squares
> removed.
>
> The object of the game is to connect the (imaginary) row nearest you with
> the (imaginary) row farthest from you, while stopping your opponent from
> doing likewise. Basically, connect your two sides.
>
> I've uploaded a quick mockup of the board here:
> http://headphoned.com/icehouse/emptyboard.png
>
> Players take alternating turns. On a player's turn he may do ONE of four
> things:
>
> 1) Place a pyramid from his stash onto any empty square on the board (EXCEPT
> his opponent's two special rows, colour coded in the above image). The piece
> must be laying on its side pointing in one of the four orthogonal
> directions.
>
> 2) Rotate one of his pieces already on the board. He may rotate the piece
> 90, 180, or 270 degrees.
>
> 3) Move the piece. Pieces move orthogonally, never diagonally. They move up
> to 4 - p spaces, where p is the pip-count. Or, in other words: big pieces
> move 1 square, mediums up to 2 squares, and smalls up to 3 squares. Pieces
> can not move through, move onto, capture, or push other pieces.
>
> 4) Pick up one of your pieces from the board and return it to your stash.
> [This one shouldn't come up often]
>
>
> Every piece on the board has an imaginary line extending out from it in the
> direction it's facing. This area extends for a number of spaces equal to the
> piece's pip count, or until it hits another piece.
>
> This is illustrated here for each of the three sizes:
> http://headphoned.com/icehouse/influence.png
>
> If this line hits another piece, it stops at that square. If the other piece
> is the same colour, the two are connected. If the other piece is the
> opposite colour, it's blocking the first piece.
>
> This is easiest to see in a diagram:
> http://headphoned.com/icehouse/blocking.png
> In the above image, there is a 3-pip piece pointing North. Its line would,
> unobstructed, extend 3 squares beyond it. However, since there is a blue
> 2-pip piece in the way, the line is blocked and a piece 3 squares away from
> the 3 pip red piece would not be connected to it. Also pictured is a 1-pip
> red piece pointing directly at the 3-pip red piece. The 1-pip's line only
> extends one square, and that square is occupied by the 3-pip piece, thereby
> connecting the two.
>
> It is through linking pieces of your colour in this manner that you hope to
> connect your two sides and win.
>
> An example of connecting two sides is here:
> http://headphoned.com/icehouse/connection.png
> It is important to note from the above example that one piece in the
> connection, a 2-pip, is getting pointed at by two different pyramids. The
> direction of the arrows need not necessarily flow provided there is still a
> connection between your two sides.
>
> And finally, here's an example of a game in progress where whoever's turn it
> is can win by moving: http://headphoned.com/icehouse/ekzamplo.png
>
> Anyway, that's my little game I'm working on. I hope some of you will give
> it a look, maybe even a try, and give me some feedback. I haven't really
> tried varying the board size much yet. I suspect it could be turned into a
> placement-only connection game with the right board size (on my
> to-investigate list). Also, I suspect it can become a three player game on a
> hexagonal grid. (Maybe a 5x5x5?)
>
> Thanks for reading!
>
> --Spencer
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-- 
A pizza with the radius 'z' and thickness 'a'
has the volume pi*z*z*a.

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