Penguin Marathon

From Looney Pyramid Games Wiki
Penguin Marathon
Designed by Avri Klemer
An epic race on the slippery Martian slopes
:Players Players: 2 - 5
:Time Length: unknown
:Complexity Complexity: Medium
Trios per color: 1
Number of colors: 1 per player
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:
Five-color sets: 1
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Martian Coasters
Setup time: 1 minute
Playing time:
Strategy depth: Medium
Random chance: None
Game mechanics:
Theme: Race, Penguin Series,Penguins
BGG Link:
Status: Playtesting (v1.0), Year released: 2008


Under development


This game is currently under development, in the Playtesting stage. Feedback is strongly encouraged! Feel free to give comments on game design or structure on the talk page.


Background[edit | edit source]

When the soccer season is over, Penguins still need to stay in shape! What better way than a 26 mile slide over the icy Martian surface?

Setup[edit | edit source]

Each player controls a Family of penguins - a Mama (3-pointer), a Papa (2-pointer) and a Baby (1-pointer). Four Martian Coasters are placed in a line to create a 3 x 12 course. (See below for other suggested courses.)

Goal[edit | edit source]

The winner is the first player to get all 3 members of their Family off the far end of the course.

Gameplay[edit | edit source]

A Mama can slide 1 square.
A Papa can slide 2.
A Baby can slide 3 squares.

Each turn a player must make a move with one of their penguins. A move consists of either sliding or standing.

Sliding: From an upright position a penguin can slide in any of the 8 diagonal or orthogonal directions.

For each square slid, a penguin's orientation may be rotated 45 degrees. For Papas and Babies (who can move more than one square per turn) the direction of the slide continues in the original orientation. Remember, these are penguins sliding and spinning on the ice!

A penguin who starts his turn pointed in one of the 8 directions may again slide in that direction, spinning or not spinning irrespective of any previous move.

If a slide would take a penguin off of the board, that penguin ends its move standing in the square before leaving the board.

Standing: Instead of sliding, a penguin that is oriented in any one of the 8 directions may stand up. This ends the turn.

There can only ever be one penguin in a square. No penguin may attempt to slide into a square containing another penguin.

All penguins start off the board and may only enter the field of play by sliding from off the board into the first row of the course. They may spin (or not) as usual.

Only if a player has no legal move is a turn passed.

More Options[edit | edit source]

There are other ways to set up the course. Some suggestions are:

The upsidedown L

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The Zigzag

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The 5th Coaster can also be added to any game.

License[edit | edit source]

http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/88x31.png
This work is distributed by Avri Klemer under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.