Ice Boule
| Ice Boule | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dennis Kringe | ||
| Play a game of Boule with your Icehouse pieces and using the Centrifice-mechanic. | ||
| Players: | 1 - 10 | |
| Length: | unknown | |
| Complexity: | Low | |
| Trios per color: | 5 | |
| Number of colors: | 1 per player + 1 | |
| - - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - - | ||
| None | ||
| Setup time: | 20 Seconds | |
| Strategy depth: | Low | |
| Random chance: | High | |
| Theme: | Competition, Boule | |
| Status: Playtesting (v1.0), Year released: 2007 | ||
Ice Boule is the good old game of Boule. Using the Centrificeing mechanic to hurl your Icehouse pieces as close as possible to a target piece.
Status[edit | edit source]
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.
Goal[edit | edit source]
Get your pieces closer to the target piece than your opponent(s). The game ends when one player reaches 13 points.
Setup[edit | edit source]
Each player chooses a stack of Icehouse pieces of different color. Ice Boule can be played on almost any surface, but in order to avoid damage or scratches to your icehouse pieces, a smooth, soft surface is recommended. Decide randomly which player goes first.
Terminology[edit | edit source]
Since there are a few terms that should be referenced coherently throughout the game, they are all listed here.
Catapult[edit | edit source]
A stack of at least two Icehouse pieces, placed flat on the playing surface.
Projectile[edit | edit source]
The topmost piece of a Catapult. This is the piece that is actually hurled about and counts toward the victory conditions.
Centrifuge[edit | edit source]
The lowermost piece of a Catapult. Only this piece may be touched to finally hurl the Projectile.
(to) centrifice[edit | edit source]
"flipping" the Centrifuge about it's lowest base edge to hurl the Projectile over a certain distance (See image below). Only the Centrifuge may intentionally be touched, while centrificing.
the Centrifice[edit | edit source]
the act of centrificing, as in "the throw"
the target piece[edit | edit source]
The starting player each round chooses one piece of a different color than used by the players themselves to be used as the target piece. Each player then tries to centrifice his pieces as close as possible to the target piece.
the leading piece[edit | edit source]
The piece closest to the target piece is called the leading piece.
an end[edit | edit source]
the game is played in ends (rounds)
Warning[edit | edit source]
Always centrifice pieces AWAY from yourself and others, never target people with a Centrifice!
Before each end[edit | edit source]
The starting player chooses a starting line, which should be marked in some way. The starting player then chooses a piece of an unused color for the target piece. He then builds a Catapult with the target piece as Projectile and a piece of his own with the same size as the target piece as Centrifuge (and containing no other pieces). He then places the Catapult anywhere before of the starting line and centrifices the target piece away in the direction of the starting line. The target piece is then stood upright where it lies. Each player now selects a size of pieces (Pawns, Drones or Queens) before each end. He may only use those pieces for playing that end. His other pieces are set aside. The starting player becomes the first active player.
Play[edit | edit source]
The active player builds a Catapult out of two of his selected pieces and tries to centrifice his Projectile as close as possible to the target piece. He repeats this until he either has only one piece left (he has shot all of his four possible Projectiles) or one of his pieces is the leading piece. The first centrificed piece automatically is the leading piece, thus the first active player will always only centrifice once. Then the next player becomes the active player. This continues until no player has more than one piece left or until only the player with the leading piece has more than one. That player may then try to put more pieces close to the target piece until all his Projectiles are centrificed.
Distances and Scoring[edit | edit source]
When no player has more than one piece left, the end is over and the player owning the leading piece is awarded as many points as he has pieces closer to the target piece than the best piece of any opposing player. The closest possible distance is a playes piece stacked on top of the target piece with the stack still standing upright (which is rare, but possible). This special piece is worth two points, when scoring the end, if still stacked on top and standing upright. If the stack is pushed over (and thus lying flat), the piece is just considered touching the target piece. The next further possible distance is a piece touching the target piece. All other distances should be measured by some sort of measuring device. After awarding the points to the winning player, the next end starts with the winning player of this end becoming the starting player. If pieces of different players have an equal distance to the target piece, the end is a tie and should be repeated without scoring. The game ends, when a player reaches 13 points.
Tips[edit | edit source]
- Experience has shown that it makes sense to use a Drone or Queen as Centrifuge with a piece of equal size stacked directly above it as a base for every Catapult (which becomes the Projectile, when using only two pieces).
- Using Brute force will probably only damage your Icehouse pieces and won't achieve as good results as a fine tuned dexterity shot.
More Centrificeing Games[edit | edit source]
Catapults, Centrifice (the original game)
