Martian Flood
Under development
This game is currently under development, in the Playtesting stage. Feedback is strongly encouraged! Feel free to give comments on game design or structure on the talk page.
Long ago there was water on Mars - it's true! Martian Flood is a game for 3-4 players by Adam McDougall in which players score points by building ships & towers that survive floods. It's mechanics are somewhat similar to Coloretto.
| Martian Flood | ||
|---|---|---|
| Adam McDougall | ||
| Players score points by building ships & towers that survive the floods | ||
| Players: | 3 - 4 | |
| Length: | unknown | |
| Complexity: | Medium | |
| Trios per color: | 5 | |
| Number of colors: | 1 per player | |
| - - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - - | ||
| One standard deck of playing cards, three six-sided dice | ||
| Setup time: | 1 minute | |
| Strategy depth: | Medium | |
| Random chance: | Medium | |
| Theme: | At sea / Flooding | |
| BGG Link: | not yet... | |
| Status: Playtesting (v1.0), Year released: 2008 | ||
Equipment[edit | edit source]
- One stash of Icehouse pyramids (15 pyramids of the same color, 5 of each size) per player.
- One deck of standard playing cards, with face cards removed. For 3 players, remove Aces & 10's in addition to the face cards.
- Three 6-sided dice.
Things To Know[edit | edit source]
- Each player starts with a 15-pyramid stash of a single color. Your stash is not in play.
- Sideways pyramids are ships, stacks of 1 or more upright pyramids are towers. Ship & towers will always be on a playing card – this is their sector.
- Numbers on the playing cards denote the sector of the ship or tower (Ace = 1). Card suits are ignored.
- Pyramid pieces you control are simply the ones in front of you. Some of them may not be your color.
- Players are never allowed to stack a pyramid onto a pyramid of a smaller size.
Playing The Game[edit | edit source]
The game consists of three rounds. Each round, players take turns performing actions until the last turn. The last turn of the round occurs when either (1) the last card is drawn, or (2) a player places his/her last pyramid. After each round, the flood happens and then the discard pile is shuffled into the deck.
Players take turns going clockwise in rounds 1 & 2 and counter-clockwise in round 3. The player with the fewest cards in play starts the round – dice rolls are used as a tie-breaker.
Turns & Actions[edit | edit source]
Each turn, a player performs two (possibly the same) of the following actions:
- Draw 2, Place 1 Ship: Draw 2 cards, discard one, and place a pyramid as a ship onto the other card, under your control. If the deck has only one card, draw the second from the top of the discard pile.
- Scrap Two Ships: Select two ships you control. For each ship, you may either turn the ship upright into a new tower on that card or stack the ship onto a tower you control. The two ships can go to the same tower.
- Build: Stack 1 pyramid from your available stash upright onto an existing tower you control.
- Infiltrate: Move a ship to an opponent. During that player's next available turn, instead of performing an action, that player must scrap your ship & stack that pyramid onto one of their towers, if possible. If it isn't possible to legally stack the pyramid onto a tower, then it becomes a single-pyramid tower on its card.
The Flood[edit | edit source]
The flood occurs at the end of each round. To determine which sectors are affected by the flood, the three 6-sided dice are rolled & then 1 is subtracted from this sum. If this matches a sector number, that sector is immediately flooded. Otherwise, nothing happens. After rounds 1, 2 and 3, the three dice are rolled 3, 4 and 5 times, respectively.
When a sector is flooded, the bottom pyramid and all other pyramids of that size must be removed from the tower. Floods do not affect ships – they float. Pyramids removed due to flooding are returned to the player's stash of the corresponding color.
Scoring[edit | edit source]
Scoring takes place at the end of the third round. The player with the highest scores wins. Note: Towers of a different color that you control still count as yours!
- 15 points goes to the player(s) with the tallest tower. In the case of a tie, multiple players get this bonus.
- 10 points goes to the player(s) with the most single-pyramid towers. Again, ties are welcome.
- Each tower you own that is at least 2 pyramids tall is worth points equal to its sector #.
- Each tower an opponent controls, which contains (at least) one pyramid of your color, is worth points equal to its sector #. This is even true for towers that are a single pyramid tall.