Capture the Flag

Under development

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

Capture the Flag
Erik Oosterwal
2 or 3 players try to capture an opponent's flag in an ever-shrinking space.
:Players	Players:	2 - 3
:Time	Length:	unknown
:Complexity	Complexity:	Low
Trios per color:		5
Number of colors:		1 per player
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		1 per player
Five-color sets:		5
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Poker Chips and/or hex board
Setup time:		2 minutes or less
Playing time:
Strategy depth:		Medium
Random chance:		None
Game mechanics:		Capture, Shrinking Board
Theme:		Abstract
BGG Link:
Status: Initial design (v1.0), Year released: 2009

Number of Players

2 or 3

Equipment Required

1 stack of pyramids for each player.
61 or 91 poker chips (2 player or 3 player game.)

Playing Area

Hexagonal playing area for two players is shown. X and Y mark the location of the home spaces of the two players.

       . . . . .
      . . . . . .
     . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . .
   X . . . . . . . Y
    . . . . . . . .
     . . . . . . .
      . . . . . .
       . . . . .

Setup

Players choose opposite corners as their starting point and place their pyramids as shown for one player below. 3-pip pyramids in the back, 2-pip pyramids in the middle, and 1-pip pyramids go up front.

       1 . . . o
      2 . . . . x
     3 1 . . . o X
    3 2 . . . . x X
   3 2 1 . . . o x X
    3 2 . . . . x X
     3 1 . . . o X
      2 . . . . x
       1 . . . o

Game Play

Players take turns moving one pyramid, as described below, or if all of their 2 pip pyramids have been.captured, they replace an existing pyramid with a 2 pip pyramid.

Movement is limited to:

1 pip pyramids may only move 1 space at a time,

2 pip pyramids may move 1 or 2 spaces in a straight line, or may jump over a single adjacent piece, or may jump over any number of removed playing spaces as long as they are in a straight line,

3 pip pyramids may move 1, 2, or 3 spaces in any direction, not limited to a straight line, but may not jump.

If a pyramid is moved to an occupied space, that pyramid is removed from the game and the active player also removes one empty playing space from the board. The home spaces may not be removed.

Note on Playing Space Removal

Rather than physically removing the playing space from the playing area, the captured piece can be placed on its side on the space the active player wants to 'remove'.

Game End

Play ends when one player is able to move one of their pieces into the opponent's home space and is declared the winner, or the active player is not able to make any legal moves and is declared the loser.

Three Player Variation

A three player variation can be played on a larger playing field as shown below (made from 91 poker chips):

        . o x X X X
       1 . . o x x X
      2 . . . . o x X
     3 1 . . . . . o x
    3 2 . . . . . . . o
   3 2 1 . . . . . . . .
    3 2 . . . . . . . o
     3 1 . . . . . o x
      2 . . . . o x X
       1 . . o x x X
        . o x X X X

With three players, the game ends when the active player moves into the home space of either of the two opponents and is declared the winner, or if they are unable to make a valid move they are declared a loser. The spaces occupied by the losing player's pieces as well as their home space (if unoccupied) are removed from the game, and game play continues with the two remaining players.

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License

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