Martian Senet and Tic Tac Doh!: Difference between pages

From Looney Pyramid Games Wiki
(Difference between pages)
Content added Content deleted
VisualWikitext
imported>Carthoris
(added images)
 
imported>JorWat
mNo edit summary
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Infobox_Game|
{{Infobox_Game|
subject_name=Martian Senet|
subject_name=Tic Tac Doh!|
designer=Designed by [[User:Carthoris|Matthew Rogers]]|
designer=Brian Schultze|
image_link=|
image_link=[[Image:Senet3a.jpg|200px|Initial setup for Martian Senet]]|
description=A race through the Martian underworld|
description= Slightly twisted variant of Tic-Tac-Toe |
min_players=2|
max_players=2 |
max_players=2|
stashes=1 |
other_equip=[[imaginary board]] |
stashes=2|
sets=2|
setup_time=none |
playing_time=5 minutes |
other_equip=[[Martian Coasters]], [[dice]]|
setup_time=1 minute|
complexity=Low |
strategy=Low |
min_playing_time=30 minutes|
random_chance=None |
max_playing_time=45 minutes|
mechanics= board |
complexity=Medium|
theme=Tic Tac Toe |
strategy=Medium|
random_chance=High|
mechanic1=stacking|
mechanic2=modular board|
theme=Mars|
footnotes=|
footnotes=|
release_year=2003|
BGG_Link|}}
{{Under Development|Nearly Complete}}
game_status=Complete|
BGG_Link=[http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/17748 17748]
}}


'''Tic Tac Doh''' is a two player Tic Tac Toe variant using [[Icehouse piece]]s on an imaginary board. The game requires only a single [[stash]] of pyramids.
== Scenario ==
Just as the ancient Egyptians got the architecture of their pyramids from Mars, so too Senet, the game of the pharaohs, was derived from a Martian original.
As with the terrestrial Senet, two players compete to get their pieces into the third section of the board, and then to "bear off." The first to remove all twelve pyramids of his or her own color is the winner.


Tic Tac Doh was published in [[Hypothermia]] #15.
== Equipment ==
Martian Senet requires three 3 x 3 square boards, arranged in a line. [[Martian Coasters]] work perfectly for this purpose. Colors are not important; ignore the arrows on the coasters.


==Materials==
Each of the two players should have a four pyramid trios in their own respective color. Translucent colors were customary on ancient Mars, and they make play easier. If one player uses an opaque color, both should, out of fairness. (The difficulty of playing with opaque pieces probably led to some of the simplifications that we see in terrestrial Senet!)
One stash, 15 pyramids total. The game works fine with a single color, but if you own multiple colors, the recommended set to use is small blues, medium reds, and large yellows. This makes it easier to see the board state at a glance.


{|style="text-align:center"
Those with a lean pyramid supply can still play with two similar five-color Treehouse sets: Use green and blue against red and yellow (or cyan and purple against orange and clear), with no distinction between paired colors.
|{{PL|::S|blue|7em}}{{PL|::S|blue|7em}}{{PL|::S|blue|7em}}{{PL|::S|blue|7em}}{{PL|::S|blue|7em}}
|-
|{{PL|::M|red|7em}}{{PL|::M|red|7em}}{{PL|::M|red|7em}}{{PL|::M|red|7em}}{{PL|::M|red|7em}}
|-
|{{PL|::L|orange|7em}}{{PL|::L|orange|7em}}{{PL|::L|orange|7em}}{{PL|::L|orange|7em}}{{PL|::L|orange|7em}}
|}
<small>Recommended materials if you have multiple colors available to you</small>


== Setup ==
== Goal ==
Get three pieces of the same size in a row in an imaginary 3x3 grid.
The Martian Senet board is made of three coasters in a line from East to West, so that there are three parallel lines, or "tracks," of nine squares each. First is the "Source Track," where pieces move from East to West. The middle track is the "Balance Track," where pieces move from West to East. On the final "Perfect Track," they again move from East to West.


== Rules ==
To begin play, set up the eight trios (four for each player) in alternating nests on the Source Track. Leave one empty square in the middle. So, from East to West, the nine squares should be A-B-A, B-X-A, B-A-B, where A is a trio of the first player, B a trio of the second, and X an empty square.
Players take turns placing the Icehouse pieces on the table. Each piece must be placed in an imaginary square next to or on top of a piece already in play. (Diagonally counts as next to.) A piece cannot be played if it would lie outside the imaginary 3x3 grid.
'''Note:''' Since you create the grid as you go, you don't know where out of bounds is until you have played a few pieces. For example, the first piece you play can either be the center, corner or edge. Nobody knows until a few more piece have been played.


Pieces may be played on top of other pieces, but only when they are within one size of each other. For instance, if a large pyramid were on the table, a medium pyramid could be placed on top of it, but a small pyramid could not.
The player with the easternmost trio in the setup has the first move.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|{{PL|::ML|blue|10em}}
== Die Rolls and Movement ==
|{{PL|::SL|blue|10em}}
A player rolls a die to move each turn. Consult the following table:
|-
|'''Legal placement'''
|'''Illegal placement'''
|}
<br>


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
{| border="1" cellpadding="4"
|{{PL|::MSE|green|10em}}
|{{PL|::LSE|green|10em}}
|-
|-
|'''Legal placement'''
! 1
|'''Illegal placement'''
| Move a pyramid (and any smaller ones stacked on top of it) exactly 1 space. Roll again.
|}
<br>
You can play a piece on top of another piece in two ways. The first is
playing a smaller piece on top of a piece one size larger, forming a
tree of pieces. This grouping counts as '''any''' of the pieces it
contains. For example, a medium piece could be played on top of a large
piece. This tree would now count as either a large or medium when
trying to get three in a row. A small piece could then be played on top
of the tree, making it count as any of the three types.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|{{PL|::L|red|10em}}
|{{PL|::ML|red|10em}}
|{{PL|::SML|red|10em}}
|-
|-
|This counts for large
! 2
|This counts for medium ''and'' large
| Move a pyramid (and any smaller ones stacked on top of it) exactly 2 spaces. End your turn.
|This counts for all three sizes
|-
! 3
| Move a pyramid (and any smaller ones stacked on top of it) exactly 3 spaces. End your turn.
|-
! 4
| Move a pyramid (and any smaller ones stacked on top of it) exactly 4 spaces. End your turn.
|-
! 5
| THE SACRED MARTIAN NUMBER. Move a coaster and its pieces from one end of the board to the other. Do not rotate or reverse the coaster! Roll again.
|-
! 6
| Move a pyramid (and any smaller ones stacked on top of it) exactly 6 spaces. Roll again.
|}
|}


All moves are subject to the stacking rules below. In the rare case (usually at the very start or end of the game) that a player cannot make a move according to the roll, then play continues with re-rolling (on a 1 or 6) or passing the die to the other player (on a 2, 3, or 4).


The second way to play a piece on top of another is to nest them, by placing a larger piece on top of a piece one size smaller. For example, a medium could be played on top of a small one.
[[Image:Senet3y.jpg|thumb|350px]]
Later on, a large could be played on top of the nest. A nest only counts as the
== Stacking Rules ==
outermost (biggest) piece. So a nest with a small and a medium only counts as
* Pyramids can stack only tree-wise (onto a pyramid of the next-larger size) or nest-wise (onto a pyramid of the next-smaller size).
a medium piece.
* Corollaries: No pyramid may stack directly on to a pyramid of the same size. No small may stack directly onto a large, and no large may stack directly onto a small.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
* Trees can be built on nests, but nests cannot be built on trees.
|{{PL|::S|blue|10em}}
* Stacks '''may''' contain pyramids of both colors.
|{{PL|::MS|blue|10em}}
* Pyramids may not be moved out of the inside of nests.
|{{PL|::LMS|blue|10em}}
* A complete tree of a single color (even if the other color is nested beneath it) serves as a '''block''': no pyramids of the other color can pass it.
|-

|This counts for small
== Bearing Off ==
|This counts for medium ''only''
A player may not begin bearing off until all of that player's pyramids have been moved out of the Source Track.
|This counts for large ''only''
Bearing off does not need to be by exact count.
|}


A grid space cannot have both a nest and a tree. This means that the placement of the top-most piece in each of the examples below would be forbidden.
== Scoring ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
The first player to bear off all of their own pyramids wins.
|{{PL|::SMSE|green|10em}}

|{{PL|::LMLE|green|10em}}
To compare or calculate a series of games, the winner receives points according to the opponent's pyramids left in play:
|{{PL|::MLME|green|10em}}

|-
1 point per pyramid pip in the Perfect Track.
|Illegal nest-tree combo
|Illegal nest-tree combo
|Illegal nest-tree combo
|}


As in chess, once you let go of a piece, it is considered played and cannot be moved.
2 points per pyramid pip in the Balance Track.


==Game End==
3 points per pyramid pip in the Source Track.
The game ends when someone gets three pieces of the same size in a row, or when all of the pieces have been placed on the board resulting in a tie. In the event that a person cannot make a legal move on his turn (but there are still pieces left), the other player wins.


== Tactics ==
==Designer's Comments==
This might work reasonably well as a 3- or 4-person game, but has not
been tried.


== External Links ==
There are two "flips" that each piece must make in order to reach the Perfect Track and be eligible for bearing off. The passage from the Source Track to the Balance Track at the west end of the board is the Birth Flip, and the passage from the Balance Track to the Perfect Track at the east end of the board is the Death Flip. Rolling fives can undo progress within a track, but flips are enduring for each piece.
* The official rules are available [http://web.archive.org/web/20040603122945/www.mojoyugen.net/TicTacDoh.htm online].


{{ice7}}
Players should prioritize moves that will result in flips, or that will impede the other player by a) trapping their pyramids in nests, and/or b) creating monochrome trees to serve as blocks.


[[Category:modular board]]
[[Category:Single stash]]
[[Category:Martian Coasters]]
[[Category:Abstract]]
[[Category:2-player]]
[[Category:2-player]]
[[Category:Stacking]]
[[Category:Games playable with Pyramid Arcade]]
[[Category:Colorless]]

Revision as of 15:42, 27 February 2020

Tic Tac Doh!
Brian Schultze
Slightly twisted variant of Tic-Tac-Toe
:Players Players: 2
:Time Length: unknown
:Complexity Complexity: Low
Trios per color: 5
Number of colors: 1
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes: 1
Five-color sets:
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
imaginary board
Setup time: none
Playing time:
Strategy depth: Low
Random chance: None
Game mechanics:
Theme: Tic Tac Toe
BGG Link: 17748
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2003


Tic Tac Doh is a two player Tic Tac Toe variant using Icehouse pieces on an imaginary board. The game requires only a single stash of pyramids.

Tic Tac Doh was published in Hypothermia #15.

Materials

One stash, 15 pyramids total. The game works fine with a single color, but if you own multiple colors, the recommended set to use is small blues, medium reds, and large yellows. This makes it easier to see the board state at a glance.

::S::S::S::S::S
::M::M::M::M::M
::L::L::L::L::L

Recommended materials if you have multiple colors available to you

Goal

Get three pieces of the same size in a row in an imaginary 3x3 grid.

Rules

Players take turns placing the Icehouse pieces on the table. Each piece must be placed in an imaginary square next to or on top of a piece already in play. (Diagonally counts as next to.) A piece cannot be played if it would lie outside the imaginary 3x3 grid. Note: Since you create the grid as you go, you don't know where out of bounds is until you have played a few pieces. For example, the first piece you play can either be the center, corner or edge. Nobody knows until a few more piece have been played.

Pieces may be played on top of other pieces, but only when they are within one size of each other. For instance, if a large pyramid were on the table, a medium pyramid could be placed on top of it, but a small pyramid could not.

::ML ::SL
Legal placement Illegal placement


::MSE ::LSE
Legal placement Illegal placement


You can play a piece on top of another piece in two ways. The first is playing a smaller piece on top of a piece one size larger, forming a tree of pieces. This grouping counts as any of the pieces it contains. For example, a medium piece could be played on top of a large piece. This tree would now count as either a large or medium when trying to get three in a row. A small piece could then be played on top of the tree, making it count as any of the three types.

::L ::ML ::SML
This counts for large This counts for medium and large This counts for all three sizes


The second way to play a piece on top of another is to nest them, by placing a larger piece on top of a piece one size smaller. For example, a medium could be played on top of a small one. Later on, a large could be played on top of the nest. A nest only counts as the outermost (biggest) piece. So a nest with a small and a medium only counts as a medium piece.

::S ::MS ::LMS
This counts for small This counts for medium only This counts for large only

A grid space cannot have both a nest and a tree. This means that the placement of the top-most piece in each of the examples below would be forbidden.

::SMSE ::LMLE ::MLME
Illegal nest-tree combo Illegal nest-tree combo Illegal nest-tree combo

As in chess, once you let go of a piece, it is considered played and cannot be moved.

Game End

The game ends when someone gets three pieces of the same size in a row, or when all of the pieces have been placed on the board resulting in a tie. In the event that a person cannot make a legal move on his turn (but there are still pieces left), the other player wins.

Designer's Comments

This might work reasonably well as a 3- or 4-person game, but has not been tried.

External Links

  • The official rules are available online.
Featured in ICE-7
Zendo · IceTowers · Volcano · Homeworlds
Martian Chess · Icehouse · Tic Tac Doh!
Retrieved from "https://looneypyramids.wiki/wiki/Martian_Senet?oldid=4258"