Euclidean Dance

Game Designer / Creator

 * Created by Matthew Renner

Game Summary
Euclidean Dance is a two or three player strategy game. Each player has blocks that they rotate or mirror. When they rotate a block next to an opposing player’s blocks, they claim those blocks and add them to their own. A player wins when they capture every other player’s blocks.

The game focuses on several cognitive functions. Players will mentally transform their game pieces and plan several moves in advanced. This game is fast-paced and can change momentum instantly; it will challenge players to develop new strategies while monitoring other players actions. The game can be played casually with friends or setup into a tournament.

Players / Moderators

 * Ages 6-12. 2-3 players.

Game Set-up and Construction
Components:
 * Game board.
 * 15x15 grid.
 * Game blocks.
 * Game blocks are a simple cube. Opposing sides of each cube is colored red, green, and blue.
 * Units are a set of adjacent blocks.
 * Players choose from five starting unit configurations. See Figure 1 for starting unit configurations.

Game Mechanics:
 * Movement (See Figure 2)
 * Adjacent blocks, or units, must move as one.
 * Units can be rotated ±90 and 180 degrees
 * Axis of rotations can be any vertex of any block within that unit (interior or exterior).
 * Units can be mirrored/flipped horizontally or vertically
 * Axis of the mirror can be any edge on the unit (interior or exterior).
 * Units can “pass through” other blocks during rotations, but the resting position of the unit cannot overlap any player’s blocks.
 * If a player has more than one block unit on the board, they may only move one of them for their turn.
 * Attacking (See Figure 3)
 * After a unit moves, any blocks which are adjacent to it are now “captured” and now belong to that player and that unit. Flip these blocks to the appropriate color.
 * Win Conditions
 * Capture all of your opponents’ blocks.

Game Workflow:
 * Choose game order.
 * For 2 player games, a coin is flipped.
 * For 3 player games, a block is rolled. The first color rolled starts, the second color rolled goes second, and the color not rolled goes last.
 * Players choose a starting unit configuration (See Figure 1)
 * Player may place the unit anywhere on the game board, but not adjacent to another players unit. Place these in the game order.
 * For 3 player games, each player gets two units; place the second set of units after the first round of unit placement.
 * Using the game order, players take turns moving and attacking, stating whether they are rotating or mirroring, and which axis they plan to use. See Figure 4 for example game play.

Alternative Game Play:
 * Create dead blocks and place them on the game board. Players may not land on these spaces.
 * Create “colorless” blocks and place them on the game board. These will not belong to a player until a player lands adjacent to it and captures it. This may require additional blocks to be made.

Templates / Diagrams












Related Web Links

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Other Details

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