Talk:Penguin Marathon

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Feedback very welcome. Hope the rules are clear, but if not, ask here! --Nycavri 23:32, 28 September 2007 (EDT)

Hi Avri,

When reading the rules two things come to my mind. Firstly, I guess there was a mistake made with the word "ball" in the sentence "If a slide would take a penguin or the ball off of the board, that penguin ends its move standing in the square before leaving the board." I think your mind is still occupied with penguin soccer ;-) The second one: what is the goal of standing up apart from the fact that it ends your turn? Do you need to stand up again to be able to slide on your next turn? Or is it just meant to block other players?

Greetings Roger

- Hi, Roger. That'll teach me to cut 'n' paste! I'll fix the "ball" line asap. As for standing, you can only slide in the direction you are pointing unless you stand. Standing can be used to change directions, block, or even to stall. Occasionally it will be the only option available . . . --Nycavri 00:46, 25 May 2008 (EDT)

David Artman 20:40, 26 May 2008 (EDT)[edit source]

Do the Martian Coaster arrows matter?

- Nope. Guess I should make that explicit . . . --Nycavri 19:01, 30 May 2008 (EDT)

Feedback from AdamMcD[edit source]

Penguin Marathon looks fun. I had some comments about the rules, if interested.

I'm assuming Papa slides exactly 2 squares. Or can he choose to slide 1 or 2? Not 100% clear.

- I should change the wording to "exactly 2 squares". 3 for Babies.

What's probably obvious (but isn't mentioned) is that the penguin should start out by pointing in the direction that it slides (can one choose which direction the penguin slides from a standing position? Could the penguin slide butt-first?)

- When teaching PM or PS face to face, I talk about the penguins "falling down in their square" before sliding. I should add this to the rules. So no flipper-first slides!

I'm also assuming that penguins can spin as they slide onto their first square from a standing position. Right?.

- Correct.

[Spinning] is a tiny bit confusing to me -- so a Papa penguin must slide straight for 2 squares and has 5 spin options: (1) spin left twice, for a 90 degrees total left spin, (2) spin left one, for a 45 degrees total left spin, (3) have no net spin at all [this could be achieved by no spins, or 1 left and 1 right spin in either order], (4) spin right twice, for a 90 degrees total right spin, (5) spin right one, for a 45 degrees total right spin.

Do I have this correct?.

-Again, exactly correct. Not sure how to make the rule clearer.

"Only if a player has no legal move is a turn passed." Does this happen with any frequency -- is it part of the strategy? Perhaps penguins should be allowed to move even when other penguins are in their path ... in this case they would stop of their full slide potential and stand up, as if they hit a wall ... ?

- I have only seen a "pass" required once in all the playtesting, and that was when one player played a stalling tactic to see if it broke the design. It didn't, and the "no legal move" issue remains rare.

General comments:

A restricted chess board might suffice as a course, although sideways 3-pip pieces have trouble fitting on most chess boards.

- Tubes as "restrictors"?

Do the penguins start off by sliding onto the course from one of the 5 spaces behind the 3 earliest squares on the course?

- Got it in one again. Thanks for the feedback. I'll make some rules tweaks. --Nycavri 16:59, 7 August 2008 (UTC)