Rhumb Line

Deconstructed by: Jati Darmawan

Rhumb Line is a nautical two player abstract strategy board game that was created by Martin H. Samuel.

Goal of the Game: Rhumb Line's goal, is the accumulation of points by creating radius, arc, and spirals, trying to make sure your opponent can't do the same by the act of blocking them. The person at the end of the game with most points wins.

Core Mechanics:The core mechanics of the game is the ability for the player to place nuggets onto the board. The turn-based mechanic of this game involves each player laying down one piece each turn until you have one nugget left. You are able to lay them anywhere on the board unless another nugget has already been placed in that space. when you have either a radius, arc, or spiral, you will receive points based on what you made (radius= 10, arc= 20, spiral= 30). A radius is a line going towards the middle, an arc is 4 in a row around a circle, and a spiral is a one nugget on each line circling around heading towards the circle.

Then, there is a mechanic when all the pieces except for one are placed, you are able to pick up one piece currently on the board and move it to another circle except for the circle that it was already occupying. This can only be done on your turn. This is considered a "end-play" and it was created so there wouldn't be draws. The victory mechanic in this game revolves around the points and whoever earns the most of it wins the game.

Space of the Game: the space of Rhumb Line is a board that is discrete and is two-dimensional with clear boundaries. This board is so supposed to imitate the look of a compass rose. It is discrete because all the mechanics are constrained to the boundaries and not the space inside each circle. There are 8 different rows where you are 4 different places you can place a token. This totals up the amount of spaces to 32. Each circle has about 8 circle spaces. These circles are adjacent to other circles by connecting lines.

Objects, Attributes, and States: The objects of this game are the 16 Officer-yellow and 16 Sailor-blue tokens and the scoreboard on the bottom. These are placed on one of the 32 circle spaces once each turn. There is also one other token to be used as a scorekeeper. One different attribute about the yellow and blue version of the tokens is that the player who holds the yellow tokens goes first. A combination of these pieces then results in a "point score" attribute. The states of this attribute would be that you could earn 10 points with a "radius", 20 for a arc, and 30 for a "spiral". You need to place four nuggets in total to be able to receive the points. One of these tokens, the score keeper, moves whenever a player scores. The scoreboard on the bottom attribute is that it changes every single time someone gains points. The state of it is based on my how many radius, arcs, and spirals that player has made.

Actions:

Operative Actions: There are only two operative action in this game: Place a nugget on a circle and remove one when you only have one nugget left.

Resultant Actions: When moving and placing the nugget, many resultant actions can occur. By placing a nugget you may block an opponents attempt of placing a nugget in that location, would then also result in resultant actions of the player not being able to complete, a radius, arc, or spiral. By placing a certain nugget in a certain location, you may be able to achieve more points by creating multiple point combinations. Ex. Radius and a Spiral =40, radius, arc, and spiral = 60 points. There is also the resultant action of being able to string your combo together by adding another nugget to an already completed arc. In this way, you may be able to rack up points after points on each turn.

Rules:

Operational Rules: The operational of rules of the game are simple:

Place the nuggets, one at a time, building on those already on the board to complete &/or block new point-winning rhumb lines. Players keep score on their end of the board with the extra stone of their color. After 100 points ... keep adding continuing from 10. Points overlooked and not marked before the opponent takes a turn are forfeited. Once the stone being played is released, it may not be moved ... with the following exception. When just 1 stone each remains, players remove 1 of their stones from the board (once only) and on their next turn, place it in any position ... other than the one from which it was removed. The game is over when all 32 positions on the compass rose are covered and the higher scoring player is the winner of ... Rhumb Line.

Foundational Rules:

There aren't any real foundational rules as the game is quite simple.

Behavioral Rules:

In Rhumb line, the behavioral rules are implied and are basically just good sportsmanship when you play.

Advisory Rules:

I have found through extensive playing that the player who goes first will have a slight advantage to winning. Try to switch who goes first every round to ensure fair play.

Try to block your opponents as much as possible whilst trying to gain your own points. Denying your opponent points is just as or even more important then obtaining points yourself

The last movement of a piece off the board is a time where you can make or break game. Be careful on what you remove and where you place it because it could cost or win you the game.

Skills players learn: The skill that most players learn will be eventually be cognitive skills, strategy, and the idea of future moves. This game is very based on skill and intellect and the only way to defeat your opponent is to outsmart them. Thus, a lot of mental skills is learned, mostly using observation and puzzle solving skills to defeat your opponent. Players will also start to be able to start perceiving patterns in the other player and even start thinking steps ahead to conjecture where the opponent will do and use a counter strategy against that.