Treehouse

Treehouse
Andrew Looney
In this game, one Trio sets a pattern, called the House, which the players must match with their own Trios. The special die determines the manipulation options you get to choose from on your turn.
:Players	Players:	2 - 4
:Time	Length:	Medium
:Complexity	Complexity:	Low
Trios per color:		1
Number of colors:		5
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:
Five-color sets:		1
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
one custom "Treehouse die" (included)
Setup time:		1 minute
Playing time:		10 minutes - 20 minutes
Strategy depth:		Medium
Random chance:		High
Game mechanics:		Dice, pattern formation
Theme:		Abstract
BGG Link:		Treehouse
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2006
published in March 2006

Materials

::SML ::SML ::SML ::SML ::SML :AIM
Pyramids: one tree for each player plus one tree for the middle of the table.

Setup

Each player takes a trio and places it in front of him in this configuration: ::SML.

Take another trio and place it in the middle of the table in this confiruration:

::LPL

::SPN

::MPR

This is called the House.

{ |style="vertical-align:top;"|A |style="vertical-align:bottom;"|B |style="vertical-align:top;"|C |}

Object

Your goal is to get your trio of pyramids to exactly mirror the trio in the middle of the table.

Rules

• The player holding the die goes first. Turns rotate clockwise thereafter.
• On a turn, roll the die and perform the rolled action on your trio. If you can perform the action on your trio, you must. If you can't perform it on his trio, you can optionally perform it on the House. If you can't or don't want to affect the House, reroll.

Actions

There are six possible actions.

• :AIM Take a single pyramid and point it left, right, or upward. Notes: Pyramids in stacks are not eligible.
• :TIP Tip over a single pyramid or a stack of pyramids. You choose whether they end up facing left or right.
• :HOP Take an upright pyramid and hop it somewhere else: on the table, on top of another stack. You may even choose to hop a pyramid onto a lying-down piece, which causes the lying-down piece to stand upright to be hopped on. A stack of pyramids can be hopped as a group if the pyramid you choose to move happens to have other pyramids on top of it at the time. They can also hop into areas that look two cramped. For instance, if your trio initially looks like the diagram below, the small is allowed to jump to the left of the group, to the right of the group, or in between the group. The other two pyramids simply move aside to accommodate it, like this:

::SL::M	→	::L::S::M
Small hops between large and medium.

• :SWAP Make two of your pyramids switch places. They retain their orientations if possible. The case where it is not possible is when a lying-down pyramid is swapped with a pyramid that is on top of a stack. If this happens, the lying-down pyramid stands up as it goes on top of the stack, and the pyramid that was on top of the stack stays upright as it lands on the table.
• :DIG Take a lying-down pyramid and imagine it tunneling underground. It tunnels in the direction it was initially facing and comes up either between two pyramids, to the side, or underneath another pyramid (or underneath a stack of pyramids). A lying-down pyramid that is facing away from all the other pieces is not eligible to tunnel.
• :WILD Choose one of the above.

==

Treehouse is a single stash game designed by Andy Looney. The rules fit onto a stash tube and is sold as a self-contained game including a specialized die. Looney Labs made Treehouse their standard-issue Icehouse product for 2006, revolutionizing how retailers sell Icehouse, as well as breaking the monochrome stash convention.

Treehouse gave its name to the Treehouse set, which is a collection of 5 nests each of a different color. Rainbow and Xeno are the two most common color schemes, but others (such as ones assembled from custom icehouse collections) are typically valid for most Treehouse set games (except for Martian Coasters).

What else is it good for?

With just one Treehouse tube, you can play:

• Treehouse
• IceSickle
• Ice Age
• Tic Tac Doh!
• Rotationary
• Armada
• Push-Pull
• Bears, Foxes & Hares
• Juxtapose
• and many more!

With 2 tubes, you can also play:

• Martian Chess, up to 3 players
• Traction for 2-5 players
• Martian Mud Wrestling, although you may have a difficult time remembering which five colors are yours.
• Mundialito
• and many more!

With 3 tubes, you can also play:

• Binary Homeworlds
• Martian Chess, up to 5 players
• Black Ice
• Zark City
• 4- or 5-player Martian Race
• Kristin suggests using 3 Treehouse sets to play IceTowers with partial stashes, supporting up to 5 players.
• and many more!

With 5 tubes, you can also play:

• Volcano, once you scrounge up some suitable objects for caps.
• most games that require one stash per player, up to 5 players!
• and many more!

And remember, a Rainbow Treehouse tube is a great way to expand your Zendo boxed set! (Homeworlds, too, when Looney Labs publishes it.)

Awards

• Origins Award Winner: Best Board Game of 2006

External Links

• Official Treehouse site, including the comprehensive rules.
• WWN article about the invention of Treehouse
• Treehouse is listed on BoardGameGeek.
• Ever wonder how to get those pyramids back in the tube? Here's how! (video)
• Video tutorial
• GUIDED TOUR: video of a sample game
• RPG.net Review
• Video: Treehouse wins Origins Award