Binary Homeworlds

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Binary Homeworlds
Andrew Looney
A 2-player variant of the standard Homeworlds game
:Players Players:
:Time Length: unknown
:Complexity Complexity: Medium
Trios per color: 3 matching sets
Number of colors: 5
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:
Five-color sets: 3 matching sets
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
None
Setup time: 1 minute
Playing time:
Strategy depth: Medium
Random chance: None
Game mechanics: Color powers, resource management
Theme: Space
BGG Link: 14634
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2004


Overview

Binary Homeworlds, designed by Andrew Looney, is a two-player variant of the game Homeworlds, designed by John Cooper.

Materials

::LLL ::LLL ::LLL ::LLL
::MMM ::MMM ::MMM ::MMM
::SSS ::SSS ::SSS ::SSS

45 pyramids in four colors are needed to play.

Goal

The object of the game is to cause your opponent's Homeworld to be empty of his own ships. A player may still have many ships on the board at different star systems, but if none of his ships are at his Homeworld by the end of either of your turns, he has lost.

Star Systems and Wormholes

This game is played on a flat surface with nothing but pyramids. Pyramids represent either star systems or ships visiting those star systems.

::M ::MPR
Pyramids standing up
are star systems
Pyramids lying
down are ships


Most star systems consist of a single pyramid standing up. All star systems are connected to other star systems through a kind of wormhole technology that lets any two systems connect to one another instantaneously, regardless of the distance between them in our conventional measurements. The catch is that the wormhole will only work if the two systems contain no pyramid sizes in common. For instance, a star system consisting of a medium pyramid is connected to all small and large star systems, but no other medium star systems.

::L::SPR ::M ::L ::S
The blue ship at this large-pyramid star system can travel instantly to these medium or small star systems, but not the other large-pyramid star system.


There are also binary star systems, consisting of exactly two pyramids stacked atop one another.

::LL ::ML ::SL ::MM ::SM ::SS

All possible combinations of binary systems

Since binary star systems often contain two different sizes, they can be even more limited in what they connect to.

Homeworlds Technology

Both stars and ships in Homeworlds possess different kinds of technology depending on their colors.

::L Yellow Ability Move
::L Green Ability Construct
::L Blue Ability Trade
::L Red Ability Attack

If you own a ship in one of these colors, or if your ship is visiting a star system of these colors, you can perform the associated actions. This is important to keep in mind, because you are about to a star system and a ship.

Setup

  1. Place a bank of 45 pyramids off to the side in 15 neat stacks, one for each size and color of pyramid.
  2. Flip a coin.
  3. The winner builds a binary star system out of any two sizes and colors she wishes using pieces supplied from the bank of 45 pyramids off to the side. She places this on the table in front of her.
  4. She then selects any large pyramid from the bank and places it on its side as a ship, next to the newly-formed star system. The ship will be facing away from her and toward her opponent; this orientation is how ownership is displayed.
  5. Her opponent now does the same.
  6. The same person who won the coin toss and set up her binary system first now takes the first move.

Actions

On their turns, players select a star system and perform one action in that system. The actions available for a player to take depend on the colors of pyramids in the star system where the action is taking place. The power to do these actions can come from the color of the player's own ships or from the color of the stars that make up the star system that ship is in.

  • Movement Take one of the ships you have in any existing star system and move that ship to a new system. The destination system must be connected to the star system the ship began in. So if the beginning star system consists of ::SL, then the ship can only connect to a star system made of a medium pyramid ::M. The player does not have to limit himself to star systems that already exist on the table: he can send his ship out to Discover a new medium star system by taking a medium-size pyramid of any color from the bank and placing it on the table, then placing his ship next to it.
  • Trade Change the color of your ship. Take one of your ships and return it to the bank of pyramids not in play. Then replace a pyramid of the same size from the bank, but a different color.
  • Build Look at a star system where you have one or more ships. Look at the colors of those ships. You may take a new ship in one of those colors from the bank, placing it in the star system alongside your other ships. The new ship must be in smallest size available from the bank in the color you chose.
  • Attack In a star system where both you and your opponent have a ship, you may be able to turn one of their ships around to change ownership of it to yourself. To determine whether this is the case, ask yourself about Tech and Size.
Tech:

1) Are there any red stars in this star system?

Yes — You have access to attack technology. Look at the ships' sizes next.
No — Ask yourself:

2) Do I own any red ships in this star system?

No — You cannot attack. (You lack the technology.)
Yes — Ask yourself:
Size:

3) Is my biggest ship in this star system equal to or larger than than the size of the ship I want to capture?

No — You cannot attack. (Your ships are too small.)
YesYou can attack by reorienting this ship so it becomes your ship.


During an attack, ships are never removed from the board or returned to the bank. They just change ownership.

  • Sacrifice You may sacrifice one of your ships during your turn by returning it to the bank. This will let you perform 1-3 actions associated with the color of the sacrificed ship, one action for each pip the ship had. You are not limited to performing the action in any particular star system; the actions can be performed in any star systems where you have a presence.

Galactic topology

The topology of a Binary Homeworlds game is simpler than the topology of a multi-player game, because there are at most two binary stars. If the two players choose homeworlds of different sizes, then the galaxy can be laid out in rows between the two players so that movement "toward" and "away from" a homeworld maps directly onto movement across the table.

The most common topology
A less common topology puts the homeworlds nearer each other

Trivia

Binary Homeworlds differs from the original multi-player Homeworlds in that it discards the Werewolf aspect; the game is simply a fight to the death between two players.

External links

Featured in 3HOUSE
Black ICE
Martian Chess
Binary Homeworlds