Knockabout
Knockabout Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set-Up
Each player has nine dice: four four-sided dice (D4), three six-sided dice (D6), and two eight-sided dice (D8). To begin the game, the dice should be placed as shown on the figure in the rulebook (a hexagonal board of hexagonal spaces, ringed by a gutter of spaces around the edge). The numbers in the diagram are the numbers which should be showing on the face of each die at the start of the game.
Starting layout for each player, from the player's back edge toward the centre: two D8 showing 3, then three D6 showing 2, then four D4 showing 1. (Figure legend: triangle = D4, square = D6, diamond = D8.)
Movement
The two players take turns moving their dice, attempting to knock their opponent's dice off of the board. The dice are the playing pieces, and each can move in a straight line (vertically or diagonally) along any column. They must move exactly as many spaces as is showing on their face unless they collide with another die or run into the gutter.
In the diagram, the D6 with the "2" showing can move in any direction. The D8 with the "5" showing has only two moves that don't take it into the gutter. Once in the gutter, the dice can still move, as is seen by the D4 with the "3" showing, but cannot move out of the gutter.
Collisions
When the path of a die is blocked by another die, the first die stops and the second die receives the rest of the movement along the same column. When a collision happens, and only when a collision happens, the last die that is hit is rerolled, changing its movement ability.
In the first diagram, a D8 with the movement of four moves one space and collides with a D4. The D4 then continues along the column the remaining three spaces. The D4 is then rerolled (shown as "?").
A collision can lead to a chain reaction of other collisions. In the second diagram, a D8 collides with a friendly D4, which then collides with an enemy D6, knocking it off the board. Notice that the D8 and the D4 are not rerolled; only the last die moved, even if it's knocked into the gutter.
When a chain reaction leads into a gutter space which is already occupied by a die, the last die stops in the space before the gutter, and the die that occupies the gutter space is rerolled.
You may move your dice that are in the gutter space during your turn. They only can move within the gutter, though their momentum takes them around the corners of the ring. If they collide with other dice in the gutter, the same collision rules apply. In the example, the D8 moves around the corner and runs into the D4. Moving a gutter die can sometimes be useful for preserving your dice in danger of being knocked off the board by blocking their entry into the gutter.
Object
The object of the game is to knock five of your opponent's pieces off of the main playing area and into the gutter.