The Great Martian Ice Machine (working title)

Un jeu de Chris Goodwin.

An Icehouse game for 2-4 players (with a variant for up to 6)

What you need:

For each player, a stash of 15 Icehouse pieces of one color or color scheme.
For the board, 24 colored chips. There should be six chips in each of four colors. Of each color, three should be marked 1, two should be marked 2, and one should be marked 3. The colors should in some way match the color schemes of the Icehouse pieces being used; each player should have one color of chips. If there are fewer than four players, there should still be 24 chips in four colors.
One additional chip in a neutral color (numbering doesn't matter).
A 5x5 grid. The Black Ice chessboard would work; you can fold away the portions you're not using.
An opaque bag. (Black Ice....)

Setup:

Place the board/grid in a place accessible to all players. Place all of the chips into the bag. Mix them up well. Players take turns drawing a chip out of the bag and placing it into a space on the grid, with the number side up. One player will draw the neutral colored chip; this will be the player who moves first. After all of the chips have been drawn and played, each player places two small pyramids on chips of eir color marked 1.

Playing the game:

During your turn, you may do one of the following things to a pyramid of your own color:

Move a pyramid from one space to an adjacent space.
If a small pyramid of your color is on a chip of your color marked 2, it may grow from a small to a medium pyramid (replace the small pyramid with a medium without making any movement), iff there are medium pyramids left in your stash.
If a medium pyramid of your color is on a chip of your color marked 3, it may grow from a medium to a large pyramid.
If a large pyramid of your color is on a chip of your color marked 1, you may place a small pyramid of your own color in the same space (ignoring any space limits), iff there are small pyramids left in your stash.
If any size pyramid of your color is on the neutral colored chip, as your next move you may teleport (move) it anywhere on the board. This counts as a move.

No other combinations of pyramid size and chip marking or color do anything.

(Author's note: Iff is not a typo, but mathematics-speak for "If and only if".)

Some notes regarding space limits:

If there are two or more pieces on a chip, no pieces may move onto it.
If there is one piece on a chip, of any color, only the owner of the chip may move onto it.
The neutral colored chip (the teleporter) may have any number of pieces on it. Any number of pieces may move onto this chip.

There are no restrictions regarding usage of a chip's ability based on the number of pieces there are on the chip.

Winning the game:

The first player to have five large pieces of eir color on the board is the winner.

A variation for 5-6 players:

You need:

48 colored chips. There should be eight chips in each of six colors. Five of each color should be marked 1, two of each color should be marked 2, and one of each color should be marked 3. If there are fewer than six players, there should still be 48 chips in six colors.
A 7x7 grid.
Everything else as in the 2-4 player version (including one chip in a neutral color).

Setup, play, and winning the game are identical to the 2-4 player version, modulo the differences in materials.

Some thoughts on the game:

We haven't tested with two players on a 7x7 grid. We also haven't yet tested it with more than two players.
For strategies, you want to place chips of your color close together, preferably in order from 1-2-3. You don't want to place your chips, or non-player chips, in the corners; you want to place your opponent's chips in the corners or on the edges. Placement is important.
You won't want to waste any time. The best tactic is to spawn and grow your pieces as quickly as possible.

See other games I've designed.
Go home.

Created 17 June 2001.

Changes:

19 June 2001: Removed ", iff there are large pyramids left in your stash" from the medium-to-large growth rule. If there are no large pyramids left in your stash, you've won! Also changed the rule for large pieces spawning small ones to keep it consistent with the rules for small and medium pieces growing. Clarified space limits. Clarified number of chips to start with.

18 June 2001: Added "Some notes regarding space limits".