IceGolf

From Looney Pyramid Games Wiki
IceGolf
Designed by Avri Klemer
Icehouse Golf, using a stash tube as Club
:Players Players: 1 - 100
:Time Length: unknown
:Complexity Complexity: Low
Trios per color: 1+
Number of colors: 1+
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes: 1+
Five-color sets: 1+
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Martian Coasters (optional), Treehouse tube
Setup time: 2 minutes
Playing time: Short for one hole, Medium for a round of eighteen holes
Strategy depth: Low
Random chance: None
Game mechanics: Dexterity
Theme: Golf
BGG Link: Game #34818
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2007


IceGolf is a dexterity game for Icehouse Gaming Pyramids.

One to five players can compete with a single Treehouse set, using the pyramids as golf balls, the die as the hole, and the tube as a golf club!

Basic Gameplay[edit | edit source]

The player with the lowest handicap goes first.

A tee area is set up on one end of a smooth playing surface, from where each player will take their first shot. The die from a Treehouse tube is placed 1 to 3 feet from the tee area - this is the Pin.

The Treehouse or Icehouse stash tube is held at one end, between two fingers, and used to hit an upright pyramid - the IceGolf "Ball" - towards the Pin. Each player may choose the size of pyramid they wish to use, and may change Balls between holes :)

The Ball is scored as in the hole once the pyramid tip hits the Pin. Therefore, your tee shot should attempt to knock the ball over onto its side, giving it a chance to hit the die point first. The tip does not need to be in contact after it stops to be considered in the hole - the tip just needs to touch.

After each shot, if the Ball is on its side, the player may choose to tip it back upright by "hingeing" it on the square edge which is touching the playing surface.

Each shot is counted as a stroke. In the Basic game, the player who completes the agreed course, be it one hole, eighteen or a full seventy-two, in the fewest strokes wins the game.

A Ball which leaves the playing surface (ie. falls off the table) is placed at the point where it left play, and a penalty stroke is added to that player's score.

Advanced Courses[edit | edit source]

To create a more difficult course, players may add Martian Coasters to the course, representing sand traps, deep rough and other hazards. A Ball in contact with a hazard may not be tipped upright, but must be played as it lies. Alternatively, the player may take a penalty stroke to place it at the edge of the hazard, in a straight line between the ball's current lie and the Hole.

A hole may have from zero to five Coasters, and back to back holes may never have a total of more than 5 hazards. Therefore, a hole folowing a 5-hazard hole may not have any hazards, and a hole following a hole with no hazards may have zero to five.

The player with the lowest handicap places the initial Pin, and the next lowest places the Coasters on the initial Hole. From there on, the player who shot lowest on the previous hole places the next Pin, with the next lowest score placing the Coasters. Ties are broken by total stokes for the round, then age, youngest first.

Matchplay[edit | edit source]

For head to head competition, each player plays with a separate tree of three pyramids - a small, a medium and a large. After each hole is set up, but before a tee shot is made, each player secretly chooses a piece from his tree to be the Ball for this hole.

The player with the lowest stroke total on each hole gets the points for both both his own and his opponent's Ball - 1 point for a small, 2 points for a medium and 3 points for a large.

A split hole (one where both players have the same stroke total) results in no points for either player, and the Balls are returned to their players' trees.

A Ball that is scored cannot be used again by its owner until the rest of his tree has been scored.

The player with the highest point total after 18 holes, wins. If the score is tied after 18, playoff holes ensue, with each player handing his opponent a Ball from their tree to play.

Larger Courses[edit | edit source]

If you feel too restricted on a tabletop and want to let loose, an entire room may be used to create each hole.
The suggested distance to the pin 8 to 15 feet.
Experiment with par in the 6 to 15 range based on the terrain, for example a rug as opposed to a smooth surface.

Links[edit | edit source]

License[edit | edit source]

This work is distributed by Avri Klemer under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.