Pyramaze

From Looney Pyramid Games Wiki
Revision as of 18:24, 29 February 2020 by imported>JorWat
Pyramaze
Ross Andrews
Players race to reach their goals in this game that includes a randomly created board and the players' ability to swap the rules of movement throughout the game.
:Players Players: 2 - 4
:Time Length: unknown
:Complexity Complexity: unknown
Trios per color: 5
Number of colors: 6
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes: 6
Five-color sets: 10 or a substitute for the clear pieces
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Chessboard, a card to draw on
Setup time: 5 minutes
Playing time:
Strategy depth:
Random chance: some
Game mechanics:
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BGG Link:
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2001


Ingredients

You need one basic Icehouse set, one chessboard, pen and paper, and one Black Ice set. Alternatively, you can replace the Black Ice set with 4 identical objects as goals and 4 identical objects for each player (coins work fine).

You also need at least two players. The game works best with exactly two, but can accommodate more.

Setup

Let's assume you are using the Black Ice set, and two players. Separate out the entire basic set, 4 large black pyramids, 4 small black pyramids and 4 small clear pyramids. Take the piece of paper and tear a small square out of it; on one side write "Green diagonal, yellow orthogonal" and on the other side write "Green orthogonal, yellow diagonal". The 4 small black and clear pyramids are the players' pieces, they should be set off to the side for the next step.

Now "shuffle" the pyramids (I just wrap them in the Black Ice board and shake well) and place one on each square of the chessboard, randomly (15*4+4=8*8). Well, almost randomly, make sure that the large black pyramids are not on the corner spaces, but randomly other than that. [Nihilvor: A note for us new players. This means that the only pieces that are shuffled are complete stashes of green, yellow, blue, and red pyramids and the four large black pyramids. The black and clear pyramids that are not being used are removed from the game.]


Each corner piece now gets capped by one small black and one small clear. Which one is on top doesn't at all matter in this game.


Goal

The goal of Pyramaze is to be the first person to get one of your four pieces onto each of the four goals. The four goals are the four large black pieces, this is why they couldn't start on corners.


Play

Each player takes turns moving one of their pieces on the board. The way the pieces move is determined by what kind of pyramid is in the square they are on: red pyramids move like knights in chess (one forward and one diagonal), blue pyramids move like kings in chess (one in any direction). Yellow and green pyramids move a number of squares dependent on their size; 1 point is one square, 2 points is exactly two squares, 3 points is any number of squares. The direction that you can move from yellows and greens is what's written on the piece of paper; orthogonal or diagonal. Every time someone lands on a blue pyramid, the paper is flipped over, and the directions you can move from yellow and green are reversed. So, I can move two squares left from a 2-point green, landing on a one-point green that's right beside a goal, so I can move in next turn. Next turn my opponent jumps 1 square up and right from a one-point yellow, landing on a blue. The blue flips the sheet over, so that now my one-point green moves diagonally one point instead of orthogonally, and I can't get in the goal after all. Once a piece is on a goal, it can no longer move.


Notes

Two pieces (or more) can occupy the same square, this is not against the rules.
Get a wooden square, draw a green X and a yellow + on one side, and the inverse on the other side. Flip it to start the game. (Thanks to Adam for this idea)
Take paths to goals that involve no greens or yellows first, they are basically free goals.
If you don't have Black Ice, you don't need it, just use coins or dice for players' pieces and goals. If you do and want to play with 4 players, you can use 4 small blacks for one player, 4 medium clears for another, and so on.