Freeze Tag

Freeze Tag
Jeanne Rink Kramer-Smyth
Pyramids race to the other side, trying not to get frozen along the way.
:Players	Players:	2 - 4
:Time	Length:	Medium
:Complexity	Complexity:	Low
Trios per color:		2
Number of colors:		1 per player
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		1 per player
Five-color sets:		2
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Pyramid die, a 5x5 grid (a Volcano board is perfect)
Setup time:		1 minute
Playing time:		5 - 30
Strategy depth:		Medium
Random chance:		Medium
Game mechanics:		Volcano Board, Dice
Theme:		Playground
BGG Link:		131264
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2011
Created in November, 2011

Freeze Tag is a game designed for play with Looney Pyramids by Jeanne Rink Kramer-Smyth.

IceSheet Rule Sheet available

Background

Pyramids race to the other side, trying not to get frozen along the way.

Is there a pyramid on top of the pyramid you want to move? Sorry, that piece is frozen until they run away! Keep moving or you won't get three of your pyramids off the far side of the board before one of your opponents does.

Freeze Tag may be played with 2, 3 or 4 players.

Equipment

• Each player needs 2 trios of a single color of pyramids.
• A pyramid die from IceDice
• A 5×5 grid

Player 1	::SML ::SML	:PyramidDieSL
Player 2	::SML ::SML
Player 3	::SML ::SML	:Volcano
Player 4	::SML ::SML
Materials needed

Goal

Move any three of your pieces off the far side of the board across from where you started.

Board Setup

Each player takes the six pyramids of their color and sets them up along one edge of the 5x5 grid. In the center three spaces along one edge of the 5x5 grid will be (from right to left) a stack of two large pyramids, a stack of two medium pyramids, and a stack two small pyramids.

For two players, the players set up on opposite sides of the board.

For four players, each player takes a side of the board with the setup shown below. For three players, just leave one of the sets of 6 pyramids off the board - one edge of the board will simply be empty.

Below see the close up of the setup for one player's pyramids in a three or four player game of Freeze Tag.

This shows an overhead view of a four player board at the start of the game.

GamePlay

On their turn, players roll the IceDice pyramid die and move one or two pieces of their color corresponding to the size(s) shown on the die.

All sizes shown on die must be moved, if possible, one square in any direction (diagonal included).

Legal Moves:

• into any empty space
• off the edge of the board directly across from the edge you started on
• onto your own single piece of the same size or larger (this freezes the piece beneath it)
• onto an opponent's single piece of the same size or larger (this freezes the piece beneath it)
• onto an opponent's single piece of a smaller size - this forces a relocation of this piece. You may now relocate this piece to any legal location on the board. This can cause a chain reaction, permitting the player to capture and relocate another piece with the piece they relocate. If a small pyramid of your color is sitting in a space by itself, you can use a captured medium to capture this way and move that small pyramid to any legal location on the board (but you cannot move it off the board).

Other Rules:

• stacks of pyramids may only be 2 high
• you may NOT move your pyramid onto your own piece of a smaller size
• you may only move the top pyramid in a stack
• if two sizes are shown on the die, you move a pyramid of each size
• if you cannot move either of your two pieces of the size you roll (i.e., they are all frozen), then you lose that move (NOTE: you can still move the other size if your roll had two pyramid sizes on it and you have a piece the other size available to move)
• if your roll is for a single size: if you have at least one unfrozen piece of that size on the board that can make a legal move, you must move
• if your roll is for two sizes:
  • you may make the moves in any order you prefer
  • if you have at least one unfrozen piece of either size on the board that can make a legal move, you must move
  • once you make one of your moves, if you then have at least one unfrozen piece of the remaining size on the board that can make a legal move, you must move

Play proceeds in a clockwise direction.

Here is a photo of a just concluded four player game - green wins!

File

IceSheet Style Rule Sheet: PDF download

Special Thanks

Special thanks to David Kramer-Smyth and Jacob Davenport for their suggestions of smart improvements to my original rules, and to Kristin Looney for the photos above.