Dodger
Under development
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.
| Dodger | ||
|---|---|---|
| Designed by Erik Oosterwal | ||
| http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Multi-agency_team_w_fugitive.jpg/250px-Multi-agency_team_w_fugitive.jpg | ||
| Catch the Fugitive in an ever changing landscape. | ||
| Players: | 2 - 10 | |
| Length: | unknown | |
| Complexity: | Low | |
| Trios per color: | 5 | |
| Number of colors: | 3 | |
| Setup time: | 1 minute or less | |
| Strategy depth: | Medium | |
| Random chance: | None | |
| Theme: | Catch the Thief | |
| Status: Initial design (v1.0), Year released: 2009 | ||
Scenario[edit | edit source]
- Dodger
- Dodg"er\, n. 1. One who dodges or evades; one who plays fast and loose, or uses tricky devices. --Smart.
A fugitive is on the loose and has fled to a wilderness reserve where you are trying to trap him using the ever-changing terrain to box him in. As the detectives continue to close in, a game of Cat and Mouse ensues. At each step the fugitive surveys his surroundings to get an ever expanding picture of the reserve and the detectives not only chase the fugitive in a direction they try to determine, but also alter the landscape to make some movements easier and others more difficult, all in an attempt to trap him on their terms.
Number of Players[edit | edit source]
Two or more.
Required[edit | edit source]
3 stashes of pyramids in different colors, or
2 treehouse sets of pyramids.
1 1-pip pyramid of a unique color used as the Dodger or some other object, like a ring or thimble, that can be placed over a pyramid
Setup[edit | edit source]
Arrange 9 1-pip pyramids of various colors in a 3x3 square--the exact color arrangement does not matter. This playing area is called the Field.
Place the Dodger on the center pyramid in the Field. All the remaining pyramids are placed in a common area to be used by all players.
Game Play[edit | edit source]
Players take turns performing each of the following three steps in order:
- Add a new pyramid to the Field. This is the new terrain the fugitive surveys.
- Move the Dodger. The detectives chase the dodger in a specific direction.
- Change the terrain of the Field. The detectives make it easier or more difficult for the fugitive to move around.
- Adding a new pyramid
New pyramids are taken from the general pool of pyramids and added to the playing area in any empty space that is orthoganally adjacent to any pyramid in the Field.
- Moving the Dodger
The Dodger can be moved orthoganally or diagonally in a straight line the exact number of spaces defined by the number of pips of the top-most pyramid of the space it is currently occupying. The Dodger's landing spot must be a different color than its starting location. The Dodger may not move through, or land on, an empty spot.
- Changing the Terrain
Move one of the top-most terrain pyramids not occupied by the Dodger by hopping over a number of pyramids equal to the number of pips on that pyramid. The terrain piece being moved must land between hops and may not hop over empty spaces. The jumps can be orthoganal or diagonal in any direction, but the landing spot must be orthoganally adjacent to at least one other pyramid in the Field. The pyramid being moved may land in an empty space or on top of another pyramid as long as it is the same size or smaller than the top-most pyramid in the landing spot.
After the terrain has been changed, if there are any terrain pieces that are not connected to the terrain piece occupied by the Dodger by an orthoganal or diagonal path, remove those pyramids from the Field and return them to the common area to be used during later turns.
End Game[edit | edit source]
The currently active player wins if they use up the last terrain piece from the common pool (next player cannot add to the Field), or if they can show that there is no way for a new terrain piece to be added that will allow the Dodger to be moved from his current location (the Dodger may only be moved to a terrain piece of a different color.)
There are several ways the Dodger can be trapped, including:
- Move the Dodger to a 1-pip pyramid in the center of a 3x3 grid of all the same color,
- Move the Dodger into a corner on top of either a 2-pip or 3-pip pyramid and arrange for the 3 terrain pieces 2 or 3 pieces away to be the same color as the corner piece,
- Move the Dodger on to a 2-pip or 3-pip pyramid at the end of a straight line of pyramids and then during the terrain alteration phase move the pyramid immediately adjacent to the Dodger's piece thereby making it impossible for the Dodger to be moved.
License[edit | edit source]
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.
