Tink
Under development
This game is currently under development, in the Playtesting stage. Feedback is strongly encouraged! Feel free to give comments on game design or structure on the talk page.
Tink | ||
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Chris Goodwin | ||
A four-in-a-row game with a twist | ||
Players: | 2 - 4 | |
Length: | Medium | |
Complexity: | Medium | |
Trios per color: | 5 | |
Number of colors: | 1 per player | |
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - - | ||
Chessboard | ||
Setup time: | 2 minutes | |
Playing time: | 20 Min - 40 Min | |
Strategy depth: | High | |
Random chance: | None | |
Game mechanics: | Placement, four-in-a-row | |
Theme: | Abstract | |
Status: Not Specified (v0.1), Year released: 2009 | ||
Hoc ludum |
A game for 2-4 players
Object
Get four pieces of the same size in a row. The large counts as a piece of either small or medium size.
Materials required
- A chessboard
- For each player, five smalls, four medium, and one large piece, of their chosen color(s).
If you have three Treehouse sets, you can use the following color pairings for a two player game: red and yellow, blue and green. If you have one Pyramid Arcade, you can use the following pairings: blue and purple, green and cyan, red and orange, yellow and clear. Or whatever makes sense to the players at the table.
Setup
Set the board down on the table. Each player takes all of the pieces of their color(s).
Play
The first player places a small in one of the sixteen interior spaces (any space two or more spaces from the edge of the board). There are no restrictions on subsequent piece placement.
On a player's turn, they do one of the following:
- Place a small in any unoccupied space
- "Spend" (see below) two smalls to place a medium in any unoccupied space
- Spend two mediums to place a large or a small in any unoccupied space
Spending pieces means to remove them from the board and return them to your stash. The pieces must be in spaces adjacent to that of the piece being placed, they can, but need not, be adjacent to one another as well.
Adjacent may be horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, and always means spaces adjacent to the one the piece was newly placed in.
Large is wild: Once a large is placed on the board, it becomes wild. It counts as a small or a medium for all purposes, and may be spent as if it were either. (Including to place itself in another space; it may be moved in this fashion, but still has to follow all of the other rules for placement.)
Placing a small: You can place a small for free. You can also spend two mediums (or a medium and a large) to place a small. The reason why you might do this is if you're down to a single small remaining in your stash; you can return mediums to your stash and keep playing.
Passing a turn: If a player has no moves they can make, but has pieces left, they must pass their turn. They can keep playing if, on their next turn, a move opens up for them. If a player must pass two turns, or runs out of pieces, they lose.
Ending the game
Win
A player wins if they get four pieces of the same size (small or medium) in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). The large may substitute for a piece of either small or medium in this four-in-a-row.
A player also wins if they are able to move, but no other player is; if that player makes a move that opens up the board for another player to play (either by choice or necessity), the game continues.
Lose
A player who is unable to move because they are entirely out of pieces loses.
Draw
If all players are unable to make moves, whether or not they are out of pieces, the game ends in a draw.
License
Permission is hereby granted to Looney Labs to republish this game, in accordance with whatever terms they agree to with other published designers.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.