Esagek
Esagek Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
General Rules: Allowed Moves
Applicability depends on the chosen game.
Each turn consists of one of the following actions (the table below shows the permitted moves with examples; the set of allowed moves depends on the game being played):
- Move a playing piece: move one of your own playing pieces onto an empty field adjacent to it.
- Rotate a hexagon: rotate a hexagon (a seven-field section of the board) on which at least one of your own playing pieces stands, by one side to the right or to the left.
- Capture: capture one or more opposing playing pieces.
- Swap: swap the position of one of your playing pieces with the position of an adjacent opposing playing piece (Invasion and Surrounder only).
The turn is considered finished when the hand leaves the moved playing piece or hexagon.
| Before | Move | Rule | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hexagon | Rotate the hexagon one side to the right or to the left. | One may only rotate a hexagon on which at least one of one's own playing pieces stands, and only if it was not rotated by the opponent in the previous turn. | The hexagon is turned by one side. |
| Red playing piece in the outer ring | Move the red playing piece forward or backward, right or left, onto an adjacent empty field. | One may move a playing piece only onto an empty field at one of the three neighbouring sides, and not through the vertex. | The red piece stands on the adjacent empty field. |
| Blue and red playing pieces | Capture a playing piece. | One can only capture a playing piece that is located on one of the three neighbouring fields at the sides (not at the vertex), by moving one's own piece onto the empty field opposite the vertex, beyond the bounding side. See the examples on the following pages. | The captured playing piece is removed from the board. |
| Empty field | Place the red playing piece. | One can only place a playing piece on an empty field. | The red playing piece stands on the field. |
General Rules: Surrounding a Playing Piece
How to surround a playing piece.
A playing piece is defined as surrounded when the three playing pieces on the adjacent fields at its sides all belong to the same opponent.
- The red playing piece is surrounded by blue playing pieces.
- The green playing piece is not surrounded by red playing pieces.
- The red playing piece is surrounded, the green one is not.
Alone (One Player)
Objective: only one playing piece may remain.
Start: to start, arrange the playing pieces as in one of the drawings, or in any arrangement.
Course of play: rotate one hexagon by one side (optional move). Capture one playing piece. See the examples on page 3 of the booklet.
Rules:
- The hexagon may only be rotated by one side.
- You may not rotate two hexagons in a row: at least one playing piece must be captured between the rotations.
- The playing pieces may not be moved, only captured.
- You score more "Ruhm" (fame) if the game ends with the last playing piece in the middle hexagon, or better still in the upper field.
Classic (Two Players)
Players: two. Each player has nine playing pieces.
Board: the blue hexagon is at the top and the red hexagon at the bottom of the board.
Objective: with three playing pieces, reach the opposite hexagon of the opponent, or leave the opponent with only two playing pieces.
Start: arrange the playing pieces as shown in the drawing. Players alternate turns; the first turn is determined "by lot" ("nach Verlosung").
Turn: each turn consists of one of the following three actions:
- Move one of your own playing pieces onto an empty field adjacent to it (one of the three neighbouring sides).
- Rotate a hexagon on which at least one of your own playing pieces stands by one side to the right or to the left.
- Capture one or more opposing playing pieces (up to three).
Rules:
- You may force the opponent to capture: he must be warned beforehand. He keeps the choice of which playing piece to capture if several possibilities exist.
- A hexagon may not be rotated if the opponent rotated it in his previous turn.
- A player may not rotate the same hexagon more than three times in a row, and this includes rotations in different directions (to prevent unlimited defensive moves).
- Playing pieces that reach the opponent's hexagon are "frozen" ("eingefroren"): they cannot be captured, cannot capture, and cannot be moved. However, the hexagon they stand on may still be rotated. To avoid confusion with "living" pieces, frozen pieces may be played in a neutral colour.
Tips:
- Force the opponent to capture, to avoid a strong defence.
- Use rotations to move several playing pieces in a single turn.
Classic: Examples
The examples are on page 3 of the booklet.
- Before / after (1): the red playing piece captures the blue playing piece, which is removed from the board. These two fields are NOT adjacent.
- Before / after (2): the red playing piece captures the green and the blue playing pieces, which are removed from the board.
- Protected piece: the red playing piece cannot capture the green playing piece, because it is protected by another green playing piece.
- No landing field: the red playing piece cannot capture the green playing piece, because there is no free landing field. These two fields are NOT adjacent.
Invasion (Two to Six Players)
Objective: with a certain number of playing pieces (see the table), reach the central hexagon.
| Players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playing pieces per player | 12 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Objective | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Start: at the beginning, arrange each player's playing pieces according to the number of players, as shown in the drawing. Players take turns; the first turn is determined "by lot" ("nach Verlosung"), and play then continues clockwise.
Turn: each turn consists of one of the following three actions:
- Move one of your own playing pieces onto an adjacent empty field.
- Swap the position of one of your own playing pieces with the position of an adjacent opposing playing piece.
- Rotate a hexagon on which at least one of your own playing pieces stands by one side to the right or to the left.
Capture is also part of a turn: "one or more opposing playing pieces are captured / knocked out (schlagen/rauswerfen): maximum three, maximum two in a game with more than three players."
Rules:
- One can capture up to three playing pieces (also from different opponents); knocking out is not compulsory.
- A hexagon that was rotated by an opponent may not be rotated again.
- A player who has fewer playing pieces remaining than were placed at the start may no longer take part. His playing pieces remain on the board.
- The game ends when a player (the winner) has placed the number of playing pieces set at the start in the central hexagon.
Surrounder (Two to Six Players)
Summary: one captures ("erobert", i.e. removes from the board) all opposing playing pieces that are surrounded at the end of one's own turn. This applies both in the placing phase and during play.
| Players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playing pieces per player | 15 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| To conquer | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
3–4 neutral playing pieces are needed.
The booklet's diagram marks one green playing piece as NOT surrounded and another green playing piece as surrounded, and two red playing pieces as surrounded.
Objective: conquer a certain number of opposing playing pieces (see the table).
Start: begin with the empty board. First, each player places one playing piece on an empty field. When the last playing piece has been placed, all neutral playing pieces must be removed from the board, and play begins with the turns.
Turn: each turn consists of one of the following three actions:
- Move one of your own playing pieces onto an adjacent empty field.
- Swap the position of one of your own playing pieces with the position of an adjacent opposing playing piece.
- Rotate a hexagon on which at least one of your own playing pieces stands by one side to the right or to the left.
Rules:
- To prevent another piece from being placed on the same field, each conquered playing piece is replaced with a neutral piece.
- Opposing playing pieces that are surrounded by your own pieces can only be conquered at the end of your own turn. (That is, opposing pieces surrounded by your own pieces are left on the board at the end of another player's turn.)
- You may conquer several playing pieces with a single turn, including pieces of different opponents.
- You may neither rotate the hexagon that the previous player rotated, nor swap back the positions of two pieces that the previous player swapped.
- A player who has fewer than three playing pieces remaining can no longer play. His playing pieces remain on the board.