Kotra
(originally Martian Backgammmon)
Designed by Glenn Overby
Equipment
• Two sets (stashes) of Icehouse pieces in different colors.• A chessboard.• Two four-sided dice.• Number of players: Two. (A four-player variant can also be played.)• Playing time: About 20 minutes.
Overview
All pieces begin off the board. The object is to enter your pieces on your side of the board, movethem across to the opponent’s side, and score points by moving them off the board on the other side faster than your opponent.
Play
On your turn, roll both dice. Then play one piece corresponding to the number on each die. (Youmay play the same piece twice, if the numbers you roll allow it.) You may play the two dice ineither order.1: Play a small pyramid (pawn).2: Play a medium pyramid (drone).3: Play a large pyramid (queen).4: You may use a 4 to play any pyramid.There are three ways to play a pyramid.•
Enter:
You can enter a pyramid from your off-board stash onto a vacant square in the rowclosest to you.
If you have any pyramids in your stash, you must enter at least one on your turn.
If you have pyramids awaiting entry, and the dice do not permit you to enter any of them, youlose your turn.•
Move:
You can move a pyramid straight forward or diagonally forward anumber of spaces exactly equal to its size. (One space for pawns, two for drones, three for queens.) You cannot move a pyramid onto a spaceoccupied by one of your own pyramids. (But you can move over pyramids of either player in intervening spaces.) If you move a pyramid onto a spaceoccupied by an opposing pyramid, the opposing pyramid is
hit
and returnedto the opponent’s stash.•
Score:
A pyramid that has moved as far forward as it possibly can (7
th
rowfor queens or drones, 8
th
row for pawns) may be eligible to score. If none of your pyramids of the same size are now waiting to enter, you can move such a pyramid forward off the boardand score it. A scored pyramid is worth one point, regardless of size. Scored pyramids take nofurther part in play.
Legal moves for:
Blue pawn (upper left)Red drone (upper right)Green queen (lower)
Game End
The game ends when either player has scored all of their pyramids of one size, or when either player scores a small pyramid. At that time, the player with the most points wins. If the score istied, the player whose play ended the game wins.Kotra is an Icehouse game (
http://www.wunderland.com/icehouse
) – © 2001 by Glenn Overby
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