Jalabyrinth

Originally posted on http://www.heywetried.com/jalak by: CarlPalmner

Jalabyrinth is so-named because it was sort of loosely inspired by the board game "Labyrinth". It has gone through several stages of rule-modification and playtesting, and the result is what I hope to be a balanced strategy-game in which the second player CAN gain advantage over the first player with skillful playing, and which is unlike (as far as I know) any other game in the registry.

***SETUP***
Flatten the board to the bottom. Place one small cube in each corner, one player in the corners with the cubes, and raise the corners with the cubes one level.

***GOAL***
To be the first to get your cube to the opposite corner (I know, you've seen this before...but wait until you see the rules).

***RULES***
Turns:
Players take turns. When it is NOT your turn, you must remain in one place. You may turn in place but not jump or move. A turn has two phases--a mandatory row-raising phase and an optional cube-movement phase. The row-raising phase must come first.

Row-raising phase: You must raise one ENTIRE ROW of five columns. The row can be horizontal or vertical on the board, but NOT diagonal. You may not move your cube during this phase. You may NOT lower any columns during this phase. You can move and jump around the board as much as you want, and as much as the current configuration of the columns allows, provided you do not touch your cube or the other players'. As long as you can reach all the columns in a row with your KI-ray, you can raise that row.

Cube-moving phase: After you have raised a row of columns, you may move your cube ONE column to any adjacent column (no diagonals). It should be impossible to move the cube to a higher level, but this is against the rules just in case. You CAN move the cube to a lower level, but doing so comes with a price: your opponent will get one extra cube-move on his next turn. You can never move your cube onto a space occupied by your opponent's cube.

Ending your turn: You can move your cube around a bit on its new column, even move it onto other columns to help you position it, so long as it is back on the new column before you say you are done. Your turn is over when you say it is over. At this point your opponent is free to move--and you are NOT, so make sure you and your cube are positioned how you want before you say you're done.

***STRATEGY TIPS***

The first player has the usual obvious advantage--s/he gets to go first and so, if both players advance one space each turn, the first will inevitably win. What balances this out is the cube-drop rule--if you drop your cube a level, your opponent gets to advance TWO spaces on the next turn, gaining the advantage.

So as Player 1, your best strategy is to do your best not to have to drop your cube's level, or to block off Player 2 in such a way that the extra move won't help her/him if you do. If you're Player 2, your best strategy is to try to raise rows in such a way that Player 1 will be forced to drop his/her cube, giving you 2 moves and thus, the advantage.