Imperial Shuffle
| Imperial Shuffle | ||
|---|---|---|
| Thomas R. Brendel | ||
| Block your opponent's Emperor from being able to move | ||
| Players: | 2 | |
| Length: | unknown | |
| Complexity: | Medium | |
| Trios per color: | 5 | |
| Number of colors: | 4 | |
| - - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - - | ||
| custom board of partial chessboard | ||
| Setup time: | 5 minutes | |
| Strategy depth: | Medium | |
| Random chance: | Some | |
| Theme: | abstract | |
| Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2005 | ||
Imperial Shuffle
an Icehouse game about pushing people around
Here's What You Need[edit | edit source]
You and your opponent (let's call him Johnny-John Other-Guy) will each need a four-by-four board with spaces big enough for a medium pyramid to lie flat. These can be two physically distinct boards, or just quadrants of a standard chessboard. You will also each have a separate set of pieces, consisting of the following: eight Commoners (; two in each color), six Nobles (; two each in any three colors), a High Priest (), and an Emperor (). Your s and s should match Johnny-John's exactly, while your High Priest and Emperor should be in colors that don't match his.
| Commoner | Noble | High Priest | Emperor |
The opposing forces
(Colors may vary)
You may find this asymmetric coloration to be aesthetically unappealing to an astonishing degree, in which case, fine, go right ahead, make 'em the same color. Of course, then you'll need to alter the forthcoming definition of a "match" to include the clause "unless it's a High Priest () or an Emperor ()", and you'll throw the internal logic of the game all to hell, but hey, as long as you're happy, what do you need with internal logic, anyway?
The Set-Up[edit | edit source]
When Natalie Wood drops her scarf (or, failing that, when some other arbitrary signal is given) you and Johnny-John should begin simultaneously placing your pieces upright on your own boards. If you finish placing first, you'll get the first turn in the Shuffle, and you can expedite the process by grabbing whatever pieces Johnny-John hasn't gotten to yet and putting them wherever you damn well please. There is only one restriction on placement: Once a piece has been placed, an identical piece cannot be placed in the corresponding square, the square that would coincide if the boards were placed on top of each other. This is what we, gifted as we are in the art of clever terminology, call a "match". If a match is discovered after all the pieces have been placed, and you placed your piece after Johnny-John's, you'll have to swap its location with another piece so that everything is nice and legal. If you can't tell who placed second, you'll both need to make a swap.
Movement[edit | edit source]
Here's where the real fun begins. On your turn, your Emperor () will move one square in any direction, pushing any pieces ahead of him. (What are you gonna do, Emperors are rude like that.) One piece will be pushed clear off the board in the process; it should be retrieved and placed in the newly-vacated square. If this shift causes any matches, the matching pieces on Johnny-John's board will die. Cackle with glee as you place them on their sides. Dead pieces can't be pushed, so his Emperor's () movement will be blocked in that direction. Of course, just like the bad guy in a cheesy horror flick, a dead piece doesn't always stay dead. Whenever Johnny-John moves his Emperor () such that his High Priest () is pushed into a new space, take a look at the piece in the corresponding space on your own board. If he has any dead pieces of the same color and type, he can yank one of them back onto this mortal coil. (At such a juncture, use of the term "reanimated voodoo zombie" is not only welcomed, but actively encouraged.) If this back-from-the-grave piece forms a match, bad news - your piece will immediately kick the bucket.
Rules Clarifications
- High Priests () never move on their own; they must be pushed by Emperors ().
- Emperors () may move diagonally or orthogonally.
- Emperors () cannot move off the edge of the board and wrap around.
- The reanimation that happens with the High Priest () only happens for the active player at the end of a turn in which he has pushed his High Priest. If your opponent makes a move that lines one of his living pieces up with the space where your High Priest happens to be, and you have a dead piece that matches his piece exactly, too bad. It doesn't happen automatically.
Example Game[edit | edit source]
|
| Example starting position: This is just one of the thousands of ways the boards could look at the top of the game. |
Suppose you have gotten your pieces on the board fastest. You get the first move.
Seeing that Johnny-John has a yellow Noble () in the square where you've got your Emperor(), you cleverly move so as to push one of your own yellow Nobles () off the board. When it is placed in the square your Emperor just left, it forms a match, instantly killing Johnny-John's Noble (). Congratulations! You are now officially a murderer.
But what's this? Johnny-John makes a move that kills off one of your green
Commoners () — and what's more, the move also pushes his High Priest () into conjunction with your other yellow Noble! Now it appears that his Noble wasn't dead after all, only stunned. It springs to its feet (), and your first Noble keels over as a result (). Perhaps this Johnny-John isn't the pushover you thought he was going to be...
How's It Going to End?[edit | edit source]
If it's your turn, and your Emperor () is unable to move because there are just too damn many corpses lying around, you lose. Johnny-John Other-Guy should feel free to say derogatory things about your mother, and you can't do anything about it. You know why? Because you lost, that's why.
One Possible Losing Position
If this is what your board looks like at the beginning of your turn,
well, sorry, pal, your goose is cooked. Your Emperor () is blocked in at
every turn by the stiffening bodies of his loyal followers, and that can mean
only one thing: Johnny-John's gonna be crackin' wise about your momma.