Amoeba (1975)
Amoeba (1975) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
1 game board (Legetafel), 50 plastic tiles (49 on the board, 1 reserve), 52 cards.
Game Idea
The game consists of a game board covered with 49 identical plastic tiles, and a set of cards. The lines on the tiles always meet and form the most varied patterns. If you turn a tile by 90°, the pattern at that spot changes. The cards show such figures, and the task for players is to replicate them move by move by turning the tiles. If this succeeds, the player acquires the corresponding card. All patterns are different and require turning between 1 and 5 tiles each time. These numbers are indicated on the cards and at the same time denote the point value of the card. Whoever at the end has reached the highest point total with the cards acquired has won the game.
Setup
The game board is covered with 49 tiles. To create a neutral starting position, the tiles should form a uniform pattern made up entirely of circles. The cards are shuffled and placed face down in a stack next to the game board. Each player takes 3 cards and keeps them hidden. Now the players only need to agree on who makes the first move — then the game can begin.
Course of Play
At the start, the players should briefly consider which tiles must be turned to reach the patterns depicted on their own cards. One will first try to achieve one of their figures, although very soon the moment may come where another one seems easier to reach.
The players may alternately lift any tile, turn it by 90° and put it back. There is, however, one restriction: one may not turn the tile that was just turned by the opponent. Each player tries to turn the tiles so that, step by step, the intended figure emerges. At the same time one tries to guess which pattern the opponent intends to complete, because often one can thwart this intention with one's own move.
It does not matter whether a pattern is completed by one's own move or by a move of the opponent. As soon as one of the 6 patterns that the players hold in hand has emerged, the player who holds the corresponding card reveals this card. The picture on the card and the pattern on the board are compared — they must match exactly. One can easily be fooled by mirror images! There is, however, no difference between top and bottom; the cards may be turned as desired. If the patterns match, the player has acquired the card and may set it aside. He immediately takes a new card from the face-down stack.
If the player himself carried out the last move with which he could acquire one of his cards, he may, after taking the new card, make one additional move without fail. Then the opponent is again on turn. If a pattern was completed by a move of the opponent, the player acquires the corresponding own card and comes on turn with the next move, but may not make an additional move.
Occasionally one move can create two patterns. If both belong to the player who carried out the last move, then after taking the two new cards he may immediately make two additional moves. If only one of the patterns belongs to the player, he is entitled to one further move.
End of the Game
The game continues until the face-down card stack has been used up and one of the players holds no cards in hand any more. The length of the game can easily be varied by setting aside part of the cards from the game at the outset. The points on the acquired cards are added up. The winner is whoever reaches the highest point total. The player who was first able to set aside the last card in his hand has, in addition, a right to the card or cards that his opponent still holds, and adds the points on these cards to his point total.
Another possibility for determining the end and the winner is to agree on a certain point total — e.g. 50 or 100. Whoever reaches this point total first wins.