Parallel Play Game

Introduction

The next in a series of 3Will training games has arrived. The main features are:

• intriguing transdimensional meshing.

• parallel gameplay between two interplanar teams;

Four players:

• each controls a single colour set of six pieces.

• each team has two players.

Two players: 

• • each controls two sets of pieces.

  • each team has one player.

• a compound instruction set of five dice.

• there are turns and plays. A round has two turns, each including two plays.

Protocol

The compound instruction set lets  you do various things. You compute (work out) the things you can do and then play them, according to the relevant rules.

Objective

Each player attempts to move their team's pieces to the opposite edge of their own board(s). A team wins if they can achieve the objective with a combined total of three pieces.

Setup

The game is intentionally physical and designed to be assembled from commonly available materials. The essential parts are:

• five different coloured dice:  four address dice (RGBY) and one director die (white).

•  a securable dice container.

• four sets of six stackable pieces matching the dice colours.

• any two 8 by 8 chequered boards can be used, which are prepared as shown in Figure 1.

• four direction charts (see Resources), one for each set of pieces a player controls.

Game Length

A typical duration for the standard four player game is about 25 minutes. The two player version is more advanced, so may take slightly longer.

A team is chosen to start the initial round, commencing plays with the first turn. Each turn must include two plays. During a turn, players work to determine a 3Way strategy for their team's play order, traversing and moving.

Your team's turn:

• generate an instance of the instruction set (throw the dice).

• a team must perform one play for each set of their pieces.

Your play:

• move one of your active pieces one step, in the direction indicated by the director die and the relevant direction* chart. Normally you can move only to empty locations on your board.

• if you can  move, you must  move. If you can't move you miss out on your current play.

• from each player's point of view within their current play:  

a) the left and right edges of the board are connected, so you can freely move your active pieces across the board. 

b) the two game boards are connected by a pair of address coordinates (RG, BY) so you can opt to traverse^ between planes while moving as directed.

• if you see a double# in the instruction set you can stack an active piece of that colour, if it is within range.

Notes: 

*  when moving backwards you have a choice of three target locations.

^  traversing is not a move but can be part of one.

#  a coloured die displaying the same number as the director die.

Stacking

Stacking an opposite player's piece is a form of capturing. Stacking one of your own pieces is a form of teaming. Either of these actions temporarily removes a piece from active play and you control both. A stack moves together as a leader-follower  unit.

PPG Stack Protocol:

• a stack can contain a maximum of two pieces.

• if the instruction set allows, your piece (the source) can stack any player's active piece (the target).

• if the stack limit is exceeded, the lowest target piece is ejected and placed lowest in the source location (injected).

• pieces following in a stack become temporarily inactive.

• pieces that reach the objective become inactive and locked in place. A teamed stack counts as two.

• a stack leader can separate from a follower only during stacking.

Coordinate Traversing System

The four coloured dice in the instruction set, as well as identifying stack targets, also provide address coordinates for a potential way to traverse between the two game boards during plays. 

Maxim

A move must occur either before or after traversing but not both.

The coordinate grid covers a 6 x 6 area in the middle of each board, bounded by the red-green and blue-yellow axes. Coordinate pairs received in the instruction set are indexed (see Fig. 2), from the junction of each component axis, to address the endpoints of an interplanar connection between the grids.

Example

Using the instruction set given in Fig.3, the following scenarios present for blue's play;

• some blue pieces are able to move in the "4" direction. One can be selected and moved to the target location on its board.

• the blue piece at address B3:Y1 is blocked from traversing through R5:G2 on the parallel board because the target location, moving in the "4" direction, is occupied and a red double was not received.

• the blue piece at address B3:Y1 is blocking any other piece from moving through that location and traversing to target R5:G2.

• stacking a blue piece, in the "4" direction, is not possible because a blue double was not received.

• collaboration with blue's parallel player (green) is futile.