New Rule

Introduction: In Starshower, players compete to cover the board with stars and patterns, but they may not always be able to call their shots. Each turn you have a chance to hit or miss, and if you miss you could find yourself ruining the very patterns you so carefully created. But even in despair there is hope… the clever player can turn their misfortune around and use it against their opponents.

Players: 2+

Materials:

• One sheet of standard, letter-sized (A4) paper.
• Pens or markers of different colors, one per player.
• One black pen or marker.
• One coin.

Setting Up: Using the black pen, make a grid of even-sized spaces on the paper at least ten lines in width and height (it may be denser as players see fit). Lay the sheet in the center of the table and distribute the colored pens or markers to each player. Roll off to see who goes first; play proceeds to the left.

How to Play: The goal of the game is to establish the greatest presence on the board before all grid points are filled. Players take turns trying to add stars of their color while avoiding drawing or being trapped by black stars. On their turn, player first flip the coin and call their toss. If they are correct they may draw a good star, but if they are wrong they must draw a black star. The pre-existing placement and timing of stars limits where new stars may be drawn, as described below.

Good Stars: Good stars are simply stars drawn in a player’s color that help that player score points. Each live star is worth one point at the end of the game on its own, but stars may also be formed into groups that count double. Groups are defined as three or more stars in a line that the player encircles. In addition to being worth extra points, groups are also invulnerable to black star groups (see below).

To create a group, the player first draws a star that forms or adds to a line of three or more, then draws a loop around the line of stars. Note that this means the player must use the star they added that turn in the new group! Players may not create groups from pre-existing lines of stars unless they add to it that turn. Groups may be any size the player chooses, but they must be linear (horizontal or vertical, not diagonal) and can only enclose stars of the player’s color.

Black Stars: If the player misses the coin toss, they must draw a black star instead of a good star. Black stars may be drawn on any open grid point and do not count for any points. Additionally, black star groups may be formed that kill existing stars or prevent new ones from being drawn. Similar to creating a good star group, black star groups are created by connecting a line of grid points between two black stars. To create a group, the player draws a black star in line with an existing black star. If the grid points between them are free — contain no good star groups — the player draws a line between the two black stars. However, if some part of a good star group exists on the line, the black star group may not be formed: it is blocked by the good star group’s invulnerability.

Any good stars that exist on points along this line are killed – they are no longer worth points and may not be used to form groups. Furthermore, no new stars may be drawn on points on this line, good or black. Black stars already on the line are unaffected.

Winning the Game: Play continues until all grid points are filled or unplayable (blocked by black star groups). Ungrouped live good stars are worth one point each. Grouped live good stars are worth two points each. The player with the highest score wins.

Next: Designing “Starshower:”

Coming Soon…

Tags: Game Design //