Blockade
| Blockade | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kristin Looney | ||
| ||
| 3D race game | ||
| Players: | 2 | |
| Length: | unknown | |
| Complexity: | Medium | |
| Trios per color: | 5 | |
| Number of colors: | 6 | |
| - - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - - | ||
| Volcano board, 4 colored dice Property "Other Equipment" (as page type) with input value "4 colored [[dice" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process. | ||
| Setup time: | Setup Time::2 minutes | |
| Strategy depth: | Medium | |
| Random chance: | Moderate | |
| Theme: | Abstract | |
| BGG Link: | 25588 | |
| Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2001 | ||
Blockade is a three-dimensional race game for two players, played Volcano-style. A Volcano board is helpful but not necessary.
Materials
- 80 pyramids total
- A 5×5 grid
- 4 colored dice
| 5×5 grid (optional) |
| 4 dice in colors that match the pyramids |
| Materials Needed |
Goal
The goal of the game is to form five towers in one of your colors.
Setup
Bottom layer: 25 large pyramids. Total pyramids on board so far: 25
Next layer: On top of each of the large color pyramids, place one matching small pyramid. Skip over the clears. Total pyramids on board so far: 45
Last step: Make four separate stacks of the medium colored pyramids: 5 green, 5 red, 5 yellow, and 5 blue. Place these stacks on the corners of the board, on top of the large clears. (The diagram above only shows one pyramid because of a technical limitation, but you must place five.) Total pyramids on board so far: 65.
Play
One player will be the cool colors (blue + green) while the other player will be the warm colors (red + yellow). Each turn consists of rolling the two dice that match your colors, then moving the pyramids up to that many spaces.
Movement Rules
The dice translate into movement points for each color. A roll of gives you 4 points of movement for your blue pyramids and 5 points of movement for your green pyramids.
- Large pieces never move.
- Medium and small pyramids each cost one die-pip per space moved.
- You may move pieces in any direction, including diagonally.
- You may divide these points up amongst any number of pieces, in any order. So you may move a piece one square, then move another piece, then come back and move the original piece, should you so desire.
- You may pass over any color piece except for an opponent's blockade (see below).
- If BOTH of your dice show numbers of three or fewer, then their numbers may be summed and used for either one of your two colors. For instance, on a roll of , you could use the rolls as they are displayed or you could choose to take 5 points of movement for yellow or for red.
- You are not required to use all your points of movement.
- You may almost always freely pass over a piece (or stack of pieces), but landing is more restricted.
A shortcut for checking whether you can land a pyramid somewhere is to ask "Is the pyramid I'm holding the right color?" followed by "Is my pyramid I'm holding small enough?"
Landing Rules: For the purposes of clarity, the word "you" in this table refers to the piece you are currently holding as you are in the process of moving it.
| If the piece you want to land on is... | Can you land there? |
| clear | yes, always |
| the same color as you | yes, if it's at least as big as you |
| black | only if it's on top of a tower that matches your color and the black pyramid is larger than you |
| any other color | no, never |
Blockading
Whenever a lands on a to create a tower in all one color (), take the largest available pyramid from the black supply and place that pyramid on top of your tower. That tower becomes a blockade, making movement more difficult for your opponent.
Passing Over: You may always pass over your own pieces, your opponent's pieces, and your own blockades, but you may never pass over your opponent's blockades.
Visual Placement Guide
| Placement on Non-Blockades | |||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| Incorrect | Incorrect | Correct | Correct | Incorrect | Correct |
- U: Colors do not match
- V: Colors do not match — no exception for friendly colors
- W: Colors match and the top pyramid is smaller than or equal to the size of the piece it's landing on
- X: Colors match and the top pyramid is smaller than or equal to the size of the piece it's landing on
- Y: Top pyramid is larger than the piece it's landing on
- Z: Any size/color may be placed directly on clear.
| Placement on Blockades | ||
 |
 |
 |
| A | B | C |
| Incorrect | Correct | Incorrect |
- A: Colors do not match. The top pyramid does not match the color of the tower under the blockade. The may pass over this blockade because it is a friendly color, but may not land on it.
- B: The color of top pyramid matches the tower below the blockade, and the top pyramid is smaller than the black blockade, so it may land there.
- C: The colors are correct, but the top pyramid is too large to land on the black blockade. The blockade must always be larger than the pyramid you are trying to land on it.
External Links
- The rules are available online.
- Blockade is listed at BoardGameGeek.