WhirlpoolPondTextVersion

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Whirlpool Pond (Tube Wars)

A game for the piecepack by Tim Schutz
Version 2.1, February 2004
Copyright (C) 2004 by Tim Schutz
2-4 players 5 to 10 minutes

Story Line
         It's a warm summer afternoon and you and your buds decide to head up to Whirlpool
pond for a friendly game of "Tube Wars". Whirlpool pond is a strange little square pond
that has a constant and unexplained whirlpool in it. But who cares why the whirlpool exists,
it just does and if it didn't, there wouldn't be "Tube Wars". So, get into your swimming
trunks, grab your tube, fill up plenty of water balloons and meet me at the pond.

Game Synopsis
       Tube Wars is a turn based game and players take turns in a clockwise direction.
On your turn you roll your die and move your tube (pawn). After you move you tube you
can do one of four actions. The object of the game is to hit your opponents with water
balloons in an attempt get them to end up in the middle of the whirlpool and out of the
gam e.

Set-Up
        Each player selects a suit and takes the pawn, the die, and the #5 and null coins
in that color.

       Take any 16 tiles and place them grid side up to build the board (see diagram)
there should be a hole in the middle of the board when you are done (this is the center
of the whirlpool). The board is made up of three rings that surround the center hole. The
second ring in the diagram is shaded to help you see them. The spaces with x's on them
are the docks will not be used during the game. Place all of the ace, #2 and # 3 coins suit
side up on the board in the pattern shown. These coins serve two functions. First, they
help to mark the corners of the three rings in the pond (the smallest ring in the center of
the board has arrows showing direction of movement). Second, they make up the two
ropes that stretch across the pond (note that Crowns and Arms share one rope, and Moons
and Suns share the other). Place the four # 4 coins value side up in a pile near the board
to create the stash of water balloons. Place your pawn (tube) in the starting position shown
on the diagram. Place your null and #5 coin in front of you value side up, these will be the
two water balloons you start with.




                                                                  44
                                2
                                                                  44
 
       Roll your die to see who goes first. High number wins ace being the lowest and null
being the highest.

How To Play
         You start your turn by rolling your die. You then move your tube along the current ring
you are in counterclockwise the number of spaces equal to the die roll. An ace is one, the
#2 through #5 are face value and the null is a six. Tubes may only move orthogonally along
the ring they are in. If your tube lands on a corner coin (a rope) during its movement it will
take a 90 degree left turn. At no time can two tubes occupy the same space, nor can a tube
move over another tube (these are tubes in the water not airplanes). If there is a tube in your
path and there are less spaces between to two of you then you have to move, then that is
a bump. In a bump your tube stops on the space behind your opponent's tube and his tube
continues moving the remainder of the spaces. Also in a bump the player that gets bumped
loses one of his lowest value water balloons if he has any (the sudden bump made him drop
it into the pond), that player places the balloon value side up in the water balloon stash (all
used and lost water balloons will end up here to be taken later). It is possible to cause
multiple bump where you push a opponent's tube into another player. Follow the basic rules
of bumping and both players lose a balloon.




                            4                                              4

                                     Diagram 2
Example of a bump. The Blue (Arms) player rolls a 4, which causes him to bump and push
Black (Moon).

       After you move your tube you may do one and only one of four actions; that is if you
can. Sometimes you will have several actions available for you to choose from and sometimes
you will have none. The four actions are:

        1) Throw a water balloon at another player and cause him to lose control of his tube.
Water balloons travel in a straight line in any of the eight directions (orthogonally or diagonally)
from your tube and can_not travel further then the distance marked on the coin. A null coin
can travel up to six spaces, the #5 coin can travel up to five spaces and the #4 will travel
up to four spaces. Water balloons can travel over other tubes. To use a balloon select a
player and demonstrate the path it took to hit him then place the used water balloon in the
water balloon stash (so it can be reused) and move his tube orthogonally (diagonally if he
is on a corner space) one ring closer to the center of the whirlpool (possibly into the center
of the whirlpool). If there is already another tube on that space you can_not do this action.
If the tube you hit is on the smallest ring it goes into the center of the whirlpool. When your
tube ends up in the middle of the whirlpool two things happen. All water balloon's in your
possession go to the water balloon stash (so they can be used by the other players) and
your tube is removed from the game (you lost).
 
        2) Extort water balloons from your opponent. "If you give me a water balloon,
I won't hit you with this one" If you have an opponent in your sights and are ready to hit
him with a water balloon, you have the choice of extorting water balloons from him that
he currently has. You and your opponent can barter over how many balloons and which
ones it will cost him for you not to hit him. If you come to an agreement and he pays you;
you can't hit him. But remember, you have the advantage and at anytime during the
negotiations you decide you don't like the deal you can simply hit him with a balloon and
end it. You can also call the deal off and do a different action if you choose.

        3) Have a friend toss you a new water balloon. Balloons can only be tossed to
you when you are near a rope, so your tube must be on a rope coin or one space
orthogonally next to a rope coin to do this action. Also, you can only get a water balloon
if there are water balloons available in the water balloon stash. If there are balloons
available you can take one of your choice. There is no limit to how many water balloons
can be in your possession at a time.

       4) Grab your rope and pull yourself away from the center. If you land on a rope
coin that has one of your coins in it you can move your tube diagonally up one ring away
from the center. Note: Crowns and Arms share one rope, and Moons and Suns share the
other. So if your are playing as Crown you can move your tube up one space if you land
on a Crown or an Arms coin. If you try and do this action on a rope that doesn't belong
to you; you will be severely pummeled by water balloons from that people on shore, so
don't even think of it. You can_not do this action if their is another tube in the way and you
can_not do this action if you are already in the outside ring.

Game Over
      The game ends when there is only one tube left on the board and that player is the
winner.




Copyright © 2004 by Tim Schutz and tjgames.com Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify
this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version
published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-
Cover Texts. A copy of the license can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.