Volcano Race

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(Redirected from Martian Mancala)

Volcano Race[edit | edit source]

Volcano Race
GameBrain42
Volcano Race: Played by Martian children everywhere!
:Players Players: 2
:Time Length: unknown
:Complexity Complexity: Low
Trios per color: 5
Number of colors: 2
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes: 2
Five-color sets: 5
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
2 small pyramids of a neutral color and (preferably) a Volcano board.
Setup time: 1–3 minutes
Playing time:
Strategy depth: Medium
Random chance: none
Game mechanics:
Theme: Mancala
BGG Link:
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2002

Overview: Long, long ago, while all the adults and teen-ager Martians were playing Icehouse, the little kids were playing Volcano Race. This is not a game for just Martian Children though... It's also for Earthling Adults!

Setup[edit | edit source]

A Volcano board is not required, but may be convenient.

Make 5 nests for each player. Each nest should be pyramids of alternating colors. Example: Blue player's nests should be : 1 sm. blue + 1 Md. red + 1 Lrg Blue. Red players will be the opposite. You should also get two smalls of a neutral color.

Arrange the nests like so:

Gameplay[edit | edit source]

  • Youngest player goes first.
  • Play is made Volcano-style in a counter-clockwise direction, erupting an entire stack. One move per turn.
  • The two neutral pieces are the capturing areas. A player owns the capturing area to the right of him/her and keeps any pyramids that land on it during their move. Players skip over their opponent's capturing area.

Rule Variant(s)[edit | edit source]

  • Players get another turn if the last piece erupted lands in their capuring area.
  • Players who build trees in their scoring area get a bonus of 5 points per Tree.
  • Players who build nests in their scoring area get a bonus of 5 points per Nest.
  • Players who can build a nest or tree of all the same color get a bonus of 15 points!

Scoring[edit | edit source]

There are a couple of different ways you can do Scoring.

  1. 1. Whoever has the most Pyramids at the end,wins.
  2. 2. Whoever has the greatest pip total at the end plus bonus points, wins.