Talk:Martian Coasters

There is something in the rules I don't quite get. Perhaps someone can tell me their interpretation:

Digging:

 Interpretation 1: 
   On Any turn you can choose to dig, 
   It costs (pipsize) Movement Points (aka "MP") per LAYER you go up
   If you roll DIG, you can Dig ALL of your pieces, at no MP cost
 Interpretation 2: 
   On Any turn you can choose to dig, 
   It costs (pipsize) MP to jump to the top of the stack, no matter how many layers you bypass
   If you roll DIG, you can Dig ALL of your pieces, at no MP cost
 Interpretation 3: 
   You may Dig ONLY when you roll it
   and then it costs (pipsize) MP to Dig to the top of the stack

And if # 2 or 3, do you even have the option to dig partway? -- M5rammy

My reading of the rules is your Interpretation 2: You may expend (pipsize) MP to jump a piece to the top of a stack on any turn, and if you roll DIG, you may do it to ALL of your pieces at no cost. I see no reason why one would want to dig only partway, so I would disallow the option. (incidentally, it's a good idea to sign your comments; that's four tildes on the end.) -- FreeTrav 16:37, 16 Dec 2006 (GMT)

Thanks, and a potential reason is you could have put your pawn and drone, then someone else put a piece and then you put your queen and let's just say someone put another piece on that. Rolling DIG, would take 0 points to win (I suppose), but without that it would take you 6 MP. If you allowed partial digging, it would only take 3. OK, it's a bit contrived, but it just shows there is a case where it would be useful (and if there's one case there are probably others)

M5rammy 04:14, 18 Dec 2006 (GMT)

I asked the question on the Icehouse mailing list run by Looney Labs, and the consensus was that yes, that was a possible reason to want partial digging, but no, the rules didn't allow it, and the interpretation discussed above is the correct one. -- FreeTrav 01:12, 19 Dec 2006 (GMT)

Thanks, I appreciate and accept the official ruling (and appreciate your effort).
M5rammy 16:40, 19 Dec 2006 (GMT)