Arktia
Arktia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Material
- 3 small «Globus» moogloos in 4 colours
- 3 medium «Diskus» moogloos in 4 colours
- 3 large «Torus» moogloos in 4 colours
- 36 ice tiles
Game Preparation
- Each player receives all 9 moogloos of one colour.
- Depending on the number of players the ice continent (= game board) will be set up according to the following table.
| 2 Players | 3 Players | 4 Players |
|---|---|---|
| 18 ice tiles | 27 ice tiles | 36 ice tiles |
- In the two players game each player receives a small, medium and large moogloo of a neutral colour. These are placed by turns at the beginning of the game, on adjacent ice tiles of the continent (see example in table above). These neutral moogloos will not be moved individually by any player, however they can be part of towers and removed from the game like players' pieces.
Start of the Game, the first two Turns
1st Turn: One player starts by placing the first moogloo on an empty ice tile of the ice continent. The next players clockwise will place one of their moogloos on an empty ice tile adjacent to any occupied ice tile.
In the two players game the first moogloos will be placed on empty tiles adjacent to an ice tile occupied by a neutral moogloo or the opponent's moogloo.
2nd Turn: In the second turn players have to place their moogloos on empty ice tiles adjacent to an ice tile occupied with a moogloo of their own colour.
Game Sequence
In the following turns players have each turn two options:
- either ► to place further moogloos
- or ► move own moogloos or towers
Placing of Moogloos
- Moogloos can only be placed on empty ice tiles which are adjacent to ice tiles which contain at least one moogloo of the same colour. It does not matter whether these adjacent ice tiles also contain moogloos of other colours or by which player these ice tiles are controlled.
(Fig. 1: Moving in a straight line.)
Moving of Moogloos and Towers
- Moogloos may move in a straight line and by any number of tiles on the ice continent (see fig. 1). They may also jump over other game pieces.
- Moogloos may move onto an empty ice tile or onto tiles with any other own or other coloured moogloos (see fig. 2) and form a tower.
(Fig. 2: Forming towers.)
- Moves which would have as a consequence the removal of own moogloos are not allowed (► see «Removal of Moogloos»).
- Towers move just as individual moogloos do.
Forming of Towers
- When several moogloos are placed on one ice tile, only the tower variants as shown in fig. 3 are allowed. The colour of the individual elements is not relevant.
(Fig. 3: Tower options (A), (B), (C), (D).)
- Tower (C)¹ can only result from moving a «Torus» moogloo onto an ice tile containing a «Globus» moogloo. Moving a «Globus» moogloo onto a «Torus» moogloo is not allowed. Elements may only be placed on an «empty» Torus, i.e. no further moogloos may be placed on tower (C).
- Tower (D) can result either from moving tower (A) on top of an empty «Torus» moogloo or from moving a «Globus» moogloo on top of tower (B).
- Towers may also be disassembled by moving only parts of the tower. In the tower variants of fig. 3 the topmost moogloos (green) may be moved alone to other ice tiles. In the case of tower (D) the two topmost moogloos may be moved together. The «Globus» moogloo of tower (C) cannot move as long as it is blocked by the «Torus» moogloo on the same ice tile.
¹) In these rules fig. 3 (C) is also referred to as «tower» even though it is not a tower in the literal sense of the word.
Control of Ice Tiles
- The control of ice tiles is relevant for the movement and the scoring at the end of the game. In case there is only one moogloo on an ice tile, then it controls that ice tile. Ice tiles which are occupied by towers are controlled by the «topmost» moogloo. In the examples of fig. 3 the green moogloos are considered the «topmost» ones.
- Important: Only the player who owns the topmost moogloo can move the tower or parts of it.
Removal of Moogloos
- After each move of a player it is checked whether all moogloos of the same colour are located on adjacent ice tiles of the ice continent. It is not relevant whether any moogloos of other colours are also present on these ice tiles.
- In case there are individual moogloos or groups of moogloos which are not connected with the largest number of moogloos of the same colour, then the player who has completed the last move must take these moogloos out of the game and keep them until the end of the game. These removed moogloos are considered in the final scoring. (For the evaluation, the actual number of moogloos is counted, not the ice tiles they occupy.)
(Fig. 4: The green players move removes three moogloos. Shown as "Before the move of «green»" and "After the move of «green»".)
- In case the number of moogloos in not connected groups of the same colour is equal then the active player decides which groups will be removed.
- Through the removing of moogloos it can occur that the control of an ice tile swaps ► see in fig. 4 yellow «Torus» moogloo and green «Globus» moogloo.
«Melting» of Ice Tiles
- Towards the end of the game, the climate warms and ice tiles begin to melt. If players have placed all their moogloos then they must remove one ice tile from the ice continent after every subsequent move. These «molten» ice tiles are kept until the end of the game, they are points in the final scoring.
- Important for the «melting» of ice tiles:
- ► Only empty ice tiles at the border of the ice continent may be removed (i.e. they are not fully surrounded by other ice tiles).
- ► No islands may be created, the game board must remain in one piece.
- ► Moving moogloos or towers across holes in the ice continent resulting from the melting of the ice tiles is not allowed.
- Attention: Players who have not yet placed all of their tiles on the ice continent are not yet allowed to melt ice tiles!
End of the Game
- The game ends for a player if they
- a) can neither place a moogloo nor move a moogloo or tower.
- b) must remove an ice tile (see above) but there is no empty ice tile at the border of the ice continent.
- c) have only one moogloo left on the ice continent in the course of the game. In this case it is not relevant, whether this player still could place new moogloos.
- d) do not want to carry out any further moves.
- The other players continue playing until the game ends for them individually according to the conditions mentioned above.
The Winner is, ...
... the player who scores the most points at the end. They receive one point for
- a) each moogloo that they have removed from the board during the game
- b) each ice tile they control at the end of the game
- c) each «molten» ice tile that they have removed during the game
Options to the Game Rules
- The initial setup for three players can include nine neutral moogloos in analogy to the two players game. Before the start of the game players place these neutral moogloos on empty adjacent ice tiles. The game is then played according to the normal rules. The first moogloos are placed adjacent to ice tiles occupied by neutral or opponents' moogloos.
- When setting up the ice continent at the start, other shapes can be selected. The number of tiles should be equal to the total number of all players' moogloos in the game.