Hexano-Duel

Hexano-Duel
Jeremiah Wittevrongel
A more strategic variant of Volcano played with 9 stashes on a hexagonal board
:Players	Players:	2
:Time	Length:	Long
:Complexity	Complexity:	Low
Trios per color:		5
Number of colors:		9
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		9
Five-color sets:
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
hexagonal board (PDF available)
Setup time:		10 minutes
Playing time:		30 minutes - 45 minutes
Strategy depth:		Medium
Random chance:		None
Game mechanics:		Volcano
Theme:		Abstract
BGG Link:
Status: Not Specified (v1.0), Year released: 2005
Credit for the original Volcano to Kristin Looney.

Hexano-Duel is a variant of Volcano played with 9 stashes on a hexagonal board. Aside from the hexagonal board, it's a bit different from Volcano in that it can only be played by two players, and each player has their own set of caps.

What you need

• 9 Icehouse stashes, including black and white. The rules also assume that one of the stashes is clear, but it needn't be.
  • Alternatively, if you have 10 Treehouse sets (5 each of Xeno and Rainbow), you can use 9 of the 10 colors.
• A hexagonal board (see below to download a PDF)
• 2 players

Overview

Hexano-Duel is a strategic game for two or players. Players take turns moving caps around a playing area filled with volcanoes. This triggers eruptions of colored streams of lava onto the playing field. The object of the game is to score the most points. The game ends when one player captures a collection of icehouse pieces which includes one of every color, and one complete tree of any single color.

Terminology

Throughout these rules, references are made to transparent pieces. A transparent piece is any non-white, non-black Icehouse piece. White and black pieces are called opaque pieces.

Setup

Using the six colored transparent stashes, create thirty solid-color nests. Create one nest using clear pieces.

Place three small white pieces on top of three large white pieces, and three small black pieces on top of three large black pieces. You should now have a total of 37 nests and stacks. Arrange these exactly as shown in Figure 1 below, and set aside the remaining pieces as they will not be used during play.

Figure 1: Initial Setup for Hexano-Duel

Starting Player

Determine the starting player using any method you like.

Play

While this game derives from Volcano, the mechanics are a little different, so be careful.

Each stack of pieces represents a volcano, and the three small white and small black caps keep the volcanos beneath them from erupting. The starting player controls the white caps, and the other player controls the black caps.

On each turn a player moves one of the three small caps of his color to any adjacent volcano that does not already have a cap, or to an adjacent empty space in the playing area. There will be as many as 6 possible moves for a given cap, as there can be up to six adjacent spaces for a given cap. Caps may not move outside of the playing area, may not land on top of any other cap, and may not land on a space which contains an opaque piece of the opposing color.

Moving a cap may cause the volcano beneath it to erupt (see below). If a move does not cause an eruption, the player may continue to move caps of his color until an eruption does occur.

Eruptions

When a cap is moved from a volcano to an adjacent volcano (or empty space), the volcano the cap was moved from erupts in the same direction as the cap was moved. The top piece of the newly uncovered volcano moves over the cap, and lands immediately on the other side of it. The next piece from the erupting volcano moves one space further than the last one. This continues until one of the following happens:

• The erupting volcano has no more pieces.
• The next piece to erupt is a large opaque piece. The large opaque pieces are fixed in place for the duration of the game, and may never erupt.
• The next piece to erupt would have to land outside the playing area
• The next piece would land on another cap
• The next piece would land on a volcano which contains an opaque piece of the opposing color

When the eruption is finished:

• All transparent pieces which landed directly on top of another piece of the same size are captured by the current player. It is possible to make multiple captures in the same turn.
• All other pieces stay where they land.
• Play passes to the opposing player.

Each player should keep captured pieces directly in front of them, in plain view, so the scores can be seen at all times during the game.

Non-Eruptions

A non-eruption occurs whenever the topmost piece of an erupting volcano

• would leave the playing area
• would land on a cap
• would land on a volcano which contains an opaque piece of the opposing color
• is a large opaque piece

If a cap is moved from an empty space, this is also a non-eruption.

When a non-eruption occurs, the current player must continue moving caps until an eruption occurs. This can be used for strategic play, as pieces can often be maneuvered either to limit the opponent's movements or to cause a particular volcano of interest to erupt.

Note that causing an eruption is not optional. Although a number of caps can be moved in a single turn before an eruption occurs, a player's turn does not end until an eruption occurs.

It is requested that additional image(s) should be included in this article. If you have permission to upload a suitable image of illustrations of the play mechanics, including eruptions, non-eruptions, and eruptions stopping at stacks containing one of the opponent's pieces, please contribute it to this page. The discussion page in the Talk: namespace is available for more information on this request.

Winning the Game

The game ends when one player captures at least one piece of each of the six non-clear transparent colors, including at least one single-color tree that contains no clear (wild) pieces. At this time, the scores are tallied as described below, and the player with the highest score wins.

Note: Though clear pyramids count as 'wild' when scoring as described below, they do not count as wild for fulfilling the requirement of a complete tree of a single color.

Scoring

Points are awarded primarily for trees. A piece can only be used in one tree for scoring, but players may use their pieces in the most advantageous fashion when calculating their score.

• Each single-color tree is worth seven points.
• Each mixed-color tree is worth five points.
• Every other piece not used up in trees is worth one point.

For the purposes of scoring, clear pieces can be treated as though they are any other color. In this sense, they're wild, and can help greatly in creating single-color trees for scoring.

Resources

• Hexano-Duel Board (Black and White) in PDF Format. Printable on Letter (8.5" x 11") size paper.
• Hexano-Duel Board (Color) in PDF Format. Printable on Letter (8.5" x 11") size paper.

Credits, Copyright, and Licensing

• Credit to Kristin Looney for the original Volcano
• Credit to Gregory Lattanzio for play-testing and suggesting some rules modifications, which are now incorporated into the official rules.

The game boards linked in the Resources section are licensed for use on this Wiki and elsewhere.