Users > Sedelyan > The Test Of Rising Pillars

This is intended as more than simply a Conflict game, but also a test of how effective you are at placing Towers in the Test Of Towers.

A discussion of this game is at: http://www.atitd.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8628

Synopsis

The goal of an architect is to commission, to trade, to find others willing to help her meet an objective. But what if you had to do it yourself? Place towers on a grid of hexagons, moving or placing each turn. Your resources and time, as in the Test of Towers, is limited. The player whose towers encompass the most space at the end of the game wins.

The Opening

An isometric grid is presented to the players at the beginning of the game. This is on an equally hexagonal table, ten to twenty hexagons to a side. The game may be played with anywhere from two to six players -- they begin at opposite ends of the field, with one space open if there are five, and opposite each other in a triangle formation when three players are available. When the game begins, chariot stops equal to the numbers are placed randomly across the board. Chariot connections are random, and may only be revealed when a player stops there. Additionally, approximately 50% of the 'connections' between hex junctions are immediately blocked, also at random.

Each turn, a player may make one of four actions.

1. Move one to three points away, if the adjoining line is not blocked.
2. Build one tower.
3. Use a chariot stop to skip to another one joined to it, and skip your next turn.
4. Do nothing.

Unlike other Conflict games, all players move at the same time. When all players have chosen their move, the board is updated with the new information. Players may not cross over their opponents' towers, and they may not cross each other.

When a set number of towers have been placed by each player, or the maximum number of turns has elapsed, the game ends.

The Scoring

The board is, as was already stated, ten to twenty hexagons to each side. When a tower is placed, a marker with a shining light is set on the board, and a 'dye' is applied to all the isometric junctions which are closer to that tower than any other. Isometric junctions which are equally close to two towers give half a point to each player; if it is equidistant from more than two players, each nonetheless gains one half point. This allows a score of above 100% to be reached in games with many players.

Options

Suggested options for alternate modes of play are:

A maximum limit of towers on board. This forces players to build towers early.
Two to six players, selected in the opening menu.
Blitz play, where all moves must be made within 10 seconds or the 'do nothing' option is automatically selected. (The exception is the first move, which may take up to one minute.)
Capture-the-flag mode, where territory encompassing randomly-placed flags give bonus points.
A settable limit on time (anywhere from 0 turns to 150) and towers (anywhere from 3 to 10 per player).
Alterable 'effective' board size, with unused hexes marked off.