Trapture
Trapture Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
Use your yellow or green game pieces, called Squiggles, to zigzag around the board, capturing purple pegs. To trap and capture ("trapture") a peg, you must surround it on at least four sides with your Squiggles. The player who captures the most pegs wins!
Contents
- Game board
- 24 Squiggles (Trapture game pieces): 12 yellow and 12 green
- 13 purple pegs
- Game instructions
Getting Ready to Play
- Each player chooses a set of 12 Squiggles: yellow or green.
- Place the 13 purple pegs into the holes on the board.
- Decide which player will go first.
- Choose a starting position number (1, 2, 3, or 4). Each player's first three moves will begin from this number on one of his/her color bands on the edge of the board.
How to Play Trapture
- Player 1 places a short Squiggle (3 or 4 segments long) on one of her color bands, touching the starting position number (for example, 2).
- Player 2 places any of his Squiggles on one of his color bands, also touching the starting position number (2).
- Players alternate placing any of their Squiggles in the same numbered position (2) at the remaining starting points.
After the first six moves, there are three yellow and three green Squiggles on the board.
Placing More Squiggles
- Player 1 places another Squiggle on the board so that it touches one of her previously placed pieces.
- Players continue to take turns placing their Squiggles on the board, always touching a previously placed Squiggle with a new piece.
A Squiggle must touch another Squiggle of the same color in either of these two ways:
- It can touch at any angle along its length.
- It can touch tip to tip.
Capturing Pegs
Each peg is inside a 6-sided shape. In order to capture a peg, you must surround it on at least four sides with your color Squiggles.
Whenever you capture a peg, remove it and place it in your peg bar.
- Play continues until:
- one player captures seven pegs (this automatically ends the game),
- or all Squiggles have been placed on the board,
- or until no more Squiggles can be placed by either player. If one player still has more moves, he continues to place pieces until he runs out of Squiggles or moves.
Winning the Game
The object of the game is to collect more pegs than your opponent. Because there are thirteen pegs, the first player to capture seven pegs is always the winner. If no additional moves can be made before either player has captured seven pegs, then the winner is the player with more captured pegs.
The instructions show a board diagram captioned GREEN IS THE WINNER!, pointing to the green peg bar.
Tie Games
If both players have an equal number of pegs after all Squiggles have been placed on the board, it's a tie game. To break the tie, count the neutralized pegs (see below) that have three sides surrounded by a player's Squiggles. The player with the most 3-sided neutralized pegs is the winner. In the unlikely event that this produces another tie, count the pegs that are surrounded on two sides. If these, too, are tied, then it's a tie game. Play again!
Neutralized Pegs
If a peg has been surrounded in such a way that it is impossible for either player to surround it on four sides, then the peg has been neutralized.
The instructions illustrate two examples, captioned: Green wins this peg. and It's a tie! No one wins this peg.
Strategy Tips
- Placing your longer Squiggles at the beginning of the game may help you take control of the board.
- The shorter Squiggles may be easier to place later in the game when the board is crowded with pieces.
- If it looks like the game may end in a tie, start trying to surround pegs on three sides.
- Look out for ways to capture two pegs in one turn.