112 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
112 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
** To play _Goblet_, run the "Games" application. **
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"Gobblet!" is a board game from Blue Orange Games:
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http://www.blueorangegames.com/
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Our 3x3 version actually corresponds to "Gobblet! Jr.", while the 4x4
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version matches "Gobblet!".
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The Blue Orange web site provides rules for Gobblet! Jr. and
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Gobblet!. The rules below are in our own words; see also the Blue
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Orange version.
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Game Rules
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----------
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The 3x3 game is a generalization of tic-tac-toe:
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* The object of the game is to get three in a row of your color,
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vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Size doesn't matter for
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determining a winner.
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* Each player (red or yellow) starts with 6 pieces: two large, two
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medium, and two small.
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* On each turn, a player can either place a new piece on the board,
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or move a piece already on the board --- from anywhere to anywhere,
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as long as the "from" and "to" are different.
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* A piece can be placed (or moved to) an empty space, or it can be
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placed/moved on top of a smaller piece already on the board,
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"gobbling" the smaller piece. The smaller piece does not have to be
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an opponent's piece, and the smaller piece may itself have gobbled
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another piece previously.
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* Only visible pieces can be moved, and only visible pieces count
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toward winning. Gobbled pieces stay on the board, however, and when
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a piece is moved, any piece that it gobbled stays put and becomes
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visible.
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* If moving a piece exposes a winning sequence for the opponent, and
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if the destination for the move does not cover up one of the other
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pieces in the sequence, then the opponent wins --- even if the move
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makes a winning sequence for the moving player.
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* Technically, if a player touches a piece, then the piece must be
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moved on that turn. In other words, you're not allowed to peek
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under a piece to remind yourself whether it gobbled anything. If
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the piece can't be moved, the player forfeits. This particular rule
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is not enforced by our version --- in part because our version
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supports a rewind button, which is also not in the official game.
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The 4x4 game has a few changes:
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* The object of the game is to get four in a row of your color.
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* Each player (red or yellow) starts with 12 pieces: three large,
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three medium-large, three medium-small, and three small.
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* Each player's pieces are initially arranged into three stacks off
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the board, and only visible pieces can be moved onto the board.
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The initial stacks prevent playing a smaller piece before a
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corresponding larger piece.
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* When a piece is moved from off-board onto the board, it must be
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moved to either (1) an empty space, or (2) a space to gobble an
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opponent's piece that is part of three in a row (for the opponent).
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In other words, a new piece can gobble only an opponent's piece,
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and only to prevent an immediate win on the opponent's next turn.
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These restrictions do not apply when a piece that is already on the
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board is moved.
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Controls
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--------
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Click and drag pieces in the obvious way to take a turn. The shadow
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under a piece shows where it will land when you drop it.
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Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to rotate the board. Use the "-"
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and "=" keys to zoom in and out. Use "_" and "+" to make the game
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smaller and larger. (Changing the size adjusts perspective in a
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slightly different way than zooming.) Depending on how keyboard focus
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works on your machine, you may have to click the board area to make
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these controls work.
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The button labeled "<" at the bottom of the window rewinds the game
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by one turn. The button labeled ">" re-plays one turn in a rewound
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game. An alternate move can be made at any point in a rewound game,
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replacing the old game from that point on.
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Auto-Play
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---------
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Turn on a computer player at any time by checking the "Auto-Play Red"
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or "Auto-Play Yellow" checkbox. If you rewind the game, you can choose
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an alternate move for yourself or for the auto-player to find out what
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would have happened. The auto-player is not always deterministic, so
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replying the same move might lead to a different result. You can
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disable an auto-player at any point by unchecking the corresponding
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"Auto-Play" checkbox.
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Important: In the 3x3 game, you CANNOT win as yellow against the smart
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auto-player (if the auto-player is allowed to play red from the start
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of the game). In other words, red has a forced win in the 3x3 game,
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and the smart auto-player knows the path to victory. You might have a
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chance to beat the red player in the default mode, though, which is
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represented by the "Ok" choice (instead of "Smart") in the "Auto-Play
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Options" dialog.
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Configure the auto-player by clicking the "Auto-Play Options" button.
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Currently, there's no difference between "Smart" and "Ok" in the 4x4
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game.
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