Babylone
Design by Bruno Faidutti. A two player very simple and very short brain teaser. The game contains 12 pyramids in 4 colours. Each player takes turns to stack pyramids using the two simple rules. The player that can't move, loses.
Rules
Components
12 Pyramids. 3 pyramids of each of 4 different colors.
How to win
To be the first player to block the opponent.
Setup
The 12 pieces are placed randomly, one by one, between the two players. There are then 12 stacks 1 pyramid high, in 4 different colours.
Play
Players play in turn. The youngest player chooses to play first or second. He takes a stack and places it on top of another stack which has at least one common characteristic with the stack being moved:
- Either the height (same number of pyramids)
- Or the color of the piece on top.
For Example, a stack 2 pyramids high can be placed on any other stack, as long as the destination is either 2 pyramids high, or the color of the topmost pyramid in both stacks is the same. Remember, only the color of the pyramid located on top of each stack is taken into account. Existing stacks cannot be divided, which means that all the pieces in any stack must be moved. Once the player who went first has played, it is the opponent's turn. He proceeds as indicated above and the game continues until one of the two players can no longer move a stack.
End of the game
The game ends when one of the players cannot move anymore stacks: He has lost and the other player wins the game.
Variants
- To give the game more punch, we suggest playing the best of 3 rounds. The loser of the previous round chooses to play first or second.
- A multiplayer version: Played as normal, except with more people. Play progresses in either a counter-clockwise direction. If a player cannot find a move to make, he passes and is out, while the others continue trying to play. The last player still in is the winner.