IceSickle

IceSickle
Dan Isaac
IceSickle is a bit similar to checkers, but was originally inspired by solitaire peg jumping games
:Players	Players:	2
:Time	Length:	Fast
:Complexity	Complexity:	Low
Trios per color:		5
Number of colors:		1
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		1
Five-color sets:
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Volcano board
Setup time:		30 seconds
Playing time:		5 minutes - 15 minutes
Strategy depth:		Medium
Random chance:		None
Game mechanics:		Jumping, Placement
Theme:		Abstract
BGG Link:		33234
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2003

IceSickle, the Martian Peg Game, is a bit similar to checkers, but was originally inspired by solitaire peg jumping games.

NanoRules

IceSickle (1 IceHouse stash & 5x5 board):

Alternate turns placing pieces onto empty squares. Then take turns jumping a piece, diagonally or orthogonally, over at least one other piece into an empty square. Each piece can jump over its pip-count in squares. Remove the jumped pieces, and score their pips. Continue until no jumps remain. Play again with a different starting player.

Full Rules

Determine who will start the first round's Placement (Sowing) phase. The second player will go first in the Jumping (Reaping) phase.

Phase 1 — Placement (Sowing the Field)

Take turns placing one pyramid from the stash onto an empty space on the board. After all pieces have been placed onto the board, move on to the Jumping phase.

Phase 2 — Jumping (Reaping the Harvest)

Possible jumps in IceSickle

Take turns making a valid jump, which captures at least one piece. If a player is unable to do this on their turn, the game ends. Each player totals up the pip counts of the pieces that they have captured, and notes those scores. Then remove all remaining pieces from the board, and play a second game with the other player placing the first piece. Total the scores from the two games; the player with the highest cumulative total wins.

Definition of a jump

A jump is made by following these steps:

1. Select a piece on the board.
2. Move it in a straight line (orthogonal or diagonal) over (at most) as many spaces as its pip count, and land in the following space — which must be empty
   • smalls can jump over only one space (and land in the second),
   • mediums can jump over one or two spaces
   • larges can jump over one, two or three spaces
3. Remove all pieces that were jumped over (captured) during the move, and place them in front of the player that made the move.

Variants

There are many slightly different variants for this basic game. Here are a few of them:

Winning Condition

High Scoring jumps — Each player's score is based on the number of pips worth of pieces that they have captured with their jumps. Highest score wins.

Low Scoring jumps — Each players score is based on the number of pips worth of pieces that they have captured with their jumps. Lowest score wins.

Last man standing — The last player to make a valid jump wins.

Remaining points — The last player to make a valid move gets a score equal to the number of remaining pips on the board. Highest score wins.

Number of Players

Solo — Randomly place the pieces on the board (or use a specified pattern) and continue to make legal jumps until you are no longer able. This can be played to try to leave the fewest (or the most) number of pieces (or points), or it can be played to make the fewest (or most) number of moves. It can also be played to attempt to leave only a single piece of a specified size in a certain location on the board. (Normally, attempting to leave a small piece in the center square of the board, or occasionally in one of the corners.)

Multi-player (no more than four players recommended) — This variant is played as in the two-player game, but multiple games must be played with each player placing the first piece in each game. The order of the players should remain the same throughout the rounds.

Different language

• pravidlá IceSickle v slovenčine

External Links

• Archive of the original rules
• IceSickle is listed on BoardGameGeek.