Ice Castles

by Chris Goodwin

Equipment: One set of Icehouse pieces. Black Ice pieces or homemade Icehouse pieces may be added if there are more than four players.

Additional Equipment: A flat surface (such as a floor or table) upon which to play.

For three or more players, up to as many players as you have stashes of separate colors for.

Each player starts with a 15-piece stash of Icehouse pieces of one color (five small, five medium, and five large). These should be placed on a stash pad or marked off stash zone.

The object of the game is to use blocks and posts to build lines of pieces (walls) around regions on the board.

Definitions

A block is a piece in play that is laying down.

A post is a piece in play that is standing up.

Two blocks are considered connected if:

Two blocks are not considered connected if the point of one points at the point of the other, or if the point of one points away from the base of the other.

A block is considered anchored to a post if the block is pointing directly toward or directly away from the post, from no further away than the length of a large pyramid, with no pieces between the two.

A wall is a line of blocks in which each block is connected to two others.

A complete wall is a wall in which the end blocks are each anchored to a post. A complete wall could theoretically have both end blocks anchored to the same post.

A region is an area of the playing surface that is surrounded by three or more complete walls.

Playing the Game

On the first turn, each player places a post somewhere on the playing surface. No post may be placed closer to another post than the length of a large pyramid (if desired, one may be utilized to measure the distance). There may not be more than one small, one medium, and one large post of each color in play at any time.

After that, players take turns placing pieces. The following rules govern the placement of pieces:

  • Pieces placed may be of any size.

  • A block may only be placed in a position where, after it is placed, it is either connected to a block already in play, or anchored to a post already in play.

  • A block may not be placed pointing toward or away from the junction of a pair of connected pieces.

  • A new post can only be placed where a block already in play would be anchored to it, no closer to any other post than the length of a large pyramid.

  • A post may have up to three blocks pointing toward it. If a post already has three blocks pointing toward it, no more blocks may be played pointing toward it. A post may not be placed in a position where there would be more than three blocks pointing toward it. No post may have more than six blocks anchored to it.

  • If there is sufficient space between two pieces, another piece (block or post) may be played between them, as long as it follows all other rules for piece placement. Yes, even if the space is part of a complete wall, or is between two pieces that are connected or anchored (though recall the rule on placing posts).

  • No block may be placed inside a region, unless that region already contains one or more posts, or unless there is an incomplete wall inside the region; any new blocks placed must be connected or anchored to pieces already there. No new posts may be placed inside a walled-off region.

  • Once a piece has been placed, it may not be moved.

  • If a player has pieces of another color, he or she plays them as though they were his or her own pieces. At the end of the game, they still count toward their original player's score.

    Crashing

    If, in placing a piece, you accidentally move a piece that has been played, this is a crash. If you crash, you must:

    Ending the Game

    Play ends when all of the pieces have been played. If one player runs out of pieces before another, that's all right; the other players should continue playing until they all run out of pieces.

    Scoring

    For every block of yours that is part of a complete wall:

  • If a block is connected to a block of the same color, double the scores for both blocks. Example: A red large block connected to a red small block would be worth 8 points for the combination.

  • If a block is part of a complete wall, and is anchored to a post of the same color, double the score for that block. Example: A blue medium block anchored to a blue post is worth 4 points.

  • If a block is part of more than one region (for example, it is part of a wall separating two complete regions) it is scored once for each region of which it is a part.

  • If a block is part of a complete wall, but does not bound any regions at all (such as a complete wall that is anchored to the same post on both ends) none of the pieces in that wall scores any points.

    The score for a single block could theoretically be multiplied by 8 (anchored to a post of the same color, connected to a block of the same color, part of a wall separating two regions).

    The player with the highest score wins.

    Notes

    This game is still under development. If you play this game (and I hope you do!) please let me know how it went. If any situations come up that aren't covered by the rules, make a decision and let me know what you decided and how it worked.

    "Ice Castles" is a working title. If anyone has a better title, and better color to add, please let me know!

    Things to do

    Try it with two players. Does it work?