WreckTangle

WreckTangle
Carlton Noles
Abstract Strategy Game
:Players	Players:	2 - 4
:Time	Length:	Medium
:Complexity	Complexity:	Medium
Trios per color:		2
Number of colors:		1 per player
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		1 per player
Five-color sets:		2
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Chessboard, one coin, Treehouse die
Setup time:		1 minute
Playing time:		20 - 40 minutes
Strategy depth:		Medium
Random chance:		Medium
Game mechanics:
Theme:		Abstract
BGG Link:		34921
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2007

Setup

Using a chessboard bandanna or a chessboard, block off the four corner spaces; these are not to be used by any player. On the outside rows of the board, set up six pieces for each player, two of each size of one color, with the pawns on the outside, the drones inside them, and the queens on the inside. When complete, the board should look similar to the figure below for a four-player game. The row that a color starts in is that color's 'Home Row'.

	::SPN	::MPN	::LPN	::LPN	::MPN	::SPN
::SPN							::SPN
::MPN							::MPN
::LPN							::LPN
::LPN							::LPN
::MPN							::MPN
::SPN							::SPN
	::SPN	::MPN	::LPN	::LPN	::MPN	::SPN

Place the coin off to the side with the heads side up.

Movement

You may move one piece per turn with your normal movement. Movement varies for each piece in WreckTangle. Normal movements are as follows:

Pawns can move exactly
two spaces orthogonally

		:SPN
		⬆
:SPN	⬅	::SPN	➡	:SPN
		⬇
		:SPN

  

Drones can move exactly
two spaces diagonally

:MPN				:MPN
	⬉		⬈
		::MPN
	⬋		⬊
:MPN				:MPN

  

Queens can move exactly two spaces
either orthogonally or diagonally

:LPN		:LPN		:LPN
	⬉	⬆	⬈
:LPN	⬅	::LPN	➡	:LPN
	⬋	⬇	⬊
:LPN		:LPN		:LPN

In addition to the normal movement, roll a Treehouse die each turn, and you may move any piece on the board in accordance with the result, including your opponents' pieces. You do not have to use your Treehouse move, but you must make your normal move. You may make your Treehouse move before or after your normal move. Therefore, it is a good idea to roll before moving.

:TIP	Move a pyramid 1 space directly away from its home row
:SWAP	Swap the positions of two pyramids on the board
:HOP	Move a pyramid 1 space diagonally toward its home row
:DIG	Move a pyramid 1 space diagonally away from its home row
:AIM	Move a pyramid 1 space directly toward its home row
:WILD	Choose one of the above

Capturing

Once you form a rectangle with four of your pyramids, you will then capture other pyramids. If the coin is showing heads, you capture all of your opponents' pyramids inside of the rectangle, excluding the edges. If the coin is showing tails, you capture all of your opponents' pyramids along the edges of the rectangle, but none inside of it. After you form a rectangle, flip the coin over to its other side.

Heads captures inside the rectangle

	::MPN			::LPN
	::MPN			::LPN

  

Tails captures along the
edges of the rectangle

	::MPN			::LPN
	::MPN			::LPN

You can only capture on the turn the rectangle is formed. You may not make captures with any parts of your rectangle in a home row (yours or anyone else's. You may move into a home row, just not capture from there). You may not make consecutive captures with the same rectangle. In other words, after a capture, you may not simply move one pyramid then move it back again for another capture.

Winning

When three of a player's pieces are captured, that player is out of the game. The last player left in the game is the winner.

Links

• WreckTangle is listed on BoardGameGeek.

Entered in the Icehouse Game Design Competition, Winter 2008
Winner: Martian 12s - Runners-Up: WreckTangle, Timelock
Other Entries (in alphabetical order): Chicken Run, Hunt, Martian Gunslinger, Timberland, Virus Fight