Ifrito
Ifrito Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Rules
From the edge of dawn to sunset, from the southern lands to the countries of midnight, the glory of Suleiman the Great thundered: a sage who had no equal since the creation of the world. Many talents were bestowed upon him from birth, and in his long life he mastered all the secret sciences. He gained power so great that he could command even the heavenly djinns. At his command the djinns built cities and moved mountains, and even a single angry glance was feared.
But man is mortal. The earthly path of Suleiman came to an end. The djinns scattered: the most powerful fled to the heights of the empyrean, and some into the very underworld. But the students of the great sage remained, and they desired to subjugate the servants of their teacher once more. Each of them created carpets imbued with secret magic and sent them to the distant borders.
For they knew: whoever gains more djinns under his hand will rule the world.
Goal of the Game
To win, you must capture 9 djinns or capture 3 of your opponent's carpets.
Setup
Assemble the game board as shown in the illustration (see the stacking diagram at the left of the instructions). Place a djinn figure on the board, one on each cell.
Each player receives several carpets of one colour:
- With 2 players, each player takes 3 carpets.
- With 3 or 4 players, each player receives 2 carpets.
Board Layout
The board consists of two planes (worlds):
- World of Order (the upper plane in the layout illustration).
- World of Chaos (the lower plane in the layout illustration).
Each side of the board has a Dungeon belonging to one of the four Rulers: the Dungeon of the Ruby Ruler, the Dungeon of the Emerald Ruler, the Dungeon of the Amber Ruler and the Dungeon of the Sapphire Ruler. Djinns captured from opponents are placed in the dungeon of the capturing player.
Basic Principle of the Game
Each carpet has 9 cushions. One djinn may sit on each cushion. A djinn sitting on a cushion allows the carpet to move in one of nine directions. The more djinns on a carpet, the more movement options that carpet has.
- A djinn sitting on a cushion at the edge of a carpet allows the carpet to move one cell in the corresponding direction, within one plane (one world).
- A djinn sitting on the central cushion allows the carpet to move vertically, from one world to the other.
- A carpet can move in any of the directions indicated by the arrows, and it can also move vertically.
Important: Vertical movement may be combined with horizontal movement. That is, when moving to another plane, a carpet may occupy not only the cell directly below (or above), but also any cell adjacent to it, provided the carpet has djinns that allow movement in that direction.
Turn Order
The player with the longest beard may make the first move. After that, the turn passes clockwise.
On his or her turn, each player may perform one of the following actions:
- Introduce a new carpet into the game.
- Move one of his or her carpets already on the board one cell.
- Capture an opponent's carpet and all the djinns on it.
Introducing a New Carpet into the Game
To introduce a new carpet into the game, simply place it on one of the suitable cells. A cell is suitable if:
- it is on the edge of any plane of the game board;
- there is no other carpet on it;
- there is a djinn on it.
Take the djinn from the cell you have just occupied and place it on the carpet you have just introduced.
(Board illustration: a legend marks a suitable cell with a green check; a cell in the middle of the board with a yellow exclamation mark, which is not suitable; a cell where there is no djinn any more with an orange cross; and a cell where there is already a carpet with a red cross.)
Moving a Carpet
A player may move one of his or her carpets on the board one cell. The directions in which each carpet can move are determined by the djinns on that carpet.
- If the carpet still has empty cushions, it may move onto a cell where a djinn is. In that case the djinn from that cell must be placed on the moved carpet, so as to define its direction of movement.
- If all the cushions of the carpet are occupied, it cannot move onto cells where there are djinns.
(Board illustration: green arrows show the directions in which the carpet may move; red arrows show the directions blocked by djinns on the neighbouring cells.)
A carpet may leave any of its djinns on the cell it departs from. But this can only be done if the carpet moves onto a cell without a djinn. That is, you cannot in one move leave one djinn behind and take a new one.
Capturing an Opponent's Carpet
A player may move one of his or her carpets onto a cell occupied by another player's carpet and capture it. Two conditions must be met:
- The attacking carpet must have at least as many djinns on it as the attacked carpet.
- All of the attacking player's carpets must already be on the game board.
Each time a player captures an opponent's carpet:
- All djinns are removed from the captured carpet. Place them in the attacker's dungeon, on the cells marked with lamps.
- The captured carpet returns to its owner. It may be returned to play by the usual rules.
- The owner of the captured carpet may remove any one djinn from the attacking carpet. This djinn is placed in the attacker's dungeon, on the spaces marked with carpets. In this way each player always knows how many carpets he or she has captured.
Example: The Ruby Ruler's carpet with five djinns attacks the Amber Ruler's carpet (which also has five djinns). The attack succeeds because the numbers of djinns are equal. The Amber Ruler's carpet is removed from the board and returned to its owner. The Ruby Ruler takes all the djinns that were on it and places them in his dungeon, on the spaces marked with lamps. The Amber Ruler removes any one (only one!) djinn from the Ruby Ruler's carpet (damage from the attack) and returns it to its owner. The Ruby Ruler places this djinn in front of himself.
Editor's note on the example: the printed text says the Ruby Ruler places the removed djinn "in front of himself", while the accompanying illustration captions say it is placed in the Ruby Ruler's dungeon on the spaces marked with carpets. Both are transcribed as printed; the illustration and the general capture rule above place the djinn in the attacker's dungeon.
Example: The Emerald Ruler wants to attack the Sapphire Ruler's carpet. The Emerald Ruler's carpet has more djinns than the Sapphire Ruler's carpet next to it. However, the Emerald Ruler cannot move in the required direction: there is no djinn on the cushion that allows movement in the direction of the opponent's carpet. So the Emerald Ruler cannot attack.
Important to remember: If one of your carpets has been captured, you may not make attacks on your next turn. Attacks may be made only after the captured carpet has been introduced into the game again.
Running Out of Djinns
It may happen that all the djinns on the outermost cells of the game board have been gathered. Then carpets introduced into the game afterwards will remain immobile. They cannot be captured, and they act as obstacles to the movement of the other carpets.
If all carpets are on the game board with no djinns on them (so that players cannot move them), the game ends. The winner is the player with the most djinns.
Victory
The winner is the first player to:
- capture three opponent carpets; or
- capture and imprison in his or her dungeon 9 djinns.