C-Cross
C-Cross Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Equipment
- 32 x 20 cm relief-style design gameboard made of solid beechwood
- 16 tiles as cover pieces (8 light, 8 dark)
- 24 pawns (12 light, 12 dark)
Essentials for Understanding the Actions and the Object of the Game
C-Cross is a connection game. Each of the two players tries to use his tiles to create an uninterrupted connection between two opposite sides of the gameboard. The tiles need to be adjacent to one another; if there are gaps, it is not a connection.
Players have to connect either the two short or the two long sides of the playing area. The shortest connection between two sides consists of four fields. Corner fields can count for the short as well as for the long side.
It is not predetermined which opposite sides each player connects; both players can choose the same direction. You don't have to decide this in advance.
Illus. 1: The long sides of the playing area are marked in red, the short ones in blue; the corner fields have both colors. The player with the dark pawns wins, since he has created an uninterrupted connection between the short sides of the gameboard. The connection of the light tiles is interrupted.
Set-up of the Game
Initially, the gameboard is empty and is placed between the players. Each player takes eight tiles and 12 pawns of one color and puts them in front of him.
This Is How It's Played
1) Placing pawns
Each field provides space for a maximum of five pawns (five spaces per field). Players alternate turns. The player with the light pawns begins; on his first turn, he places one of his pawns on any field. After that, you can choose: On your turn, you either place one pawn on any unoccupied field or two pawns on spaces of two different fields that are directly adjacent to each other, separated only by a raised edge.
Illegal! You may place 2 pawns only directly adjacent to each other.
2) Conquering a field
If you gain the majority of pawns within a field (at least three pawns of your color), you take possession of this field. Normally, this is the case as soon as you place your third pawn there. However, you can also gain the majority through the exchange of pawns. Once you have the majority, you have to accept this field as your own; you cannot refuse it.
If only you have pawns in this field, you take these pawns back into your own supply and put a tile of the respective color on the field.
If your opponent also has pawns in this field, play continues as follows: You still take your own pawns back into your supply. Then you put the opposing ones on the edge of the gameboard for now. You place your tile on the conquered field.
Now, the opposing pawns are brought back into play: You have to remove the respective number of your own pawns from the board and put them back into your supply, and place the opposing pawns from the edge of the board on the now-vacant space(s). If you don't have enough of your own pawns on the gameboard for this exchange, you cannot carry out this entire turn.
Illus. 3-1 (on the left): On the turn of the player with the dark pieces, he places the two marked pawns and thus gains the majority in one of the fields.
Illus. 3-2 (on the right): He takes his own pawns back into his supply and places a dark tile. With this turn, he has conquered an important field. Now he has to place the light pawn anew, most likely on the still-open field at the right bottom that is of no importance to him.
Domino Effect
The exchange of pawns can also entail that the non-active player wins a field. He, too, has to accept it and can't refuse it. He even has to exchange opposing pawns with his own – if possible. If he can't, the turn may nevertheless be made and the opposing pawn is returned to his opponent's supply. For the non-active player, the exchange is no longer a requirement.
It is possible that several fields are conquered during one turn. The active player determines the order in which a tile is placed and pawns are exchanged. In any case, though, fields have to be resolved one at a time.
Illus. 4-1 (on the left) and 4-2 (on the right): The dark pawn still has to be exchanged.
The Domino Effect: Through the exchange on the field at the bottom right (as shown in illus. 3-2), the player with the light pawns has gained the majority there. Even though he is not the currently active player, he gets this field and has to place his tile and take his own pawns back into his supply (illus. 4-1). If he can exchange the opposing pawn there, he has to do this. This ends the turn of the player with the dark pawns; now, it's the turn of the player with the light pawns (illus. 4-2).
Ending and Winning the Game
You can win the game in either of two ways:
- Be the first to create a connection between two sides of the gameboard. This ends the game immediately; no exchange takes place any more.
- Render your opponent unable to move.