Strategio
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Strategio is a turn based strategy game for three players, played on a paper grid. It should not be confused with the better known and similar sounding board game, Stratego. Strategio has more in common with Chess and Go. The objective of Strategio is to be the first player to draw a line (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) of four Circles, anywhere on the grid. Achieving this goal is highly non-trivial, as there are several different types of move a player may make. In the advanced game there are a limited number of special moves which are purchased before commencing the game proper.
There is no definitive grid size. Approximately 50 by 50-100 grid squares is a good size. This can easily be achieved using wide ruled graph paper or narrow ruled squared paper.
The main game proceeds by players making moves in turn. The order of play is decided before the first move, and remains constant for the entire game. A player most commonly makes a move by drawing one of the standard Strategio Pieces into an allowed grid square, or by destroying (scribbling out) an opponent's unprotected piece (see below for an explanation of "allowed/unprotected"). Each player uses a different colour pen to draw his pieces. The traditional colours are black, red and blue, but any distinguishable colours can be used.
[edit] Standard Moves
The standard Strategio Pieces are listed as follows:
- Circle
- Square
- Cross
- Arrow
The Circle is the most simple piece. If a player manages to draw four Circles in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line, he/she wins the game. The Circle can be destroyed if it is not protected.
When a Square is drawn, the grid squares directly above, below, left and right become protected. An opposing player may not draw a new piece inside a protected grid square. An opposing player may also not destroy a piece which is inside a protected grid square. The Square may be destroyed if it is not protected. A group of two or more Squares in direct contact will protect each other. Such a group is known as a Base.
The Cross is identical to the Square except that it will instead protect the squares directly to the top-left, top-right, bottom-left and bottom-right. Crosses can also form parts of Bases.
The Arrow is drawn to be pointing in one of 8 directions. It will protect the one adjacent square which it is pointing towards. The Arrow is special because it cannot be destroyed as easily as the other pieces. In order to destroy an Arrow, a player must have a clear path to the arrow directly above, below, left or right of a Square, or clear path directly diagonal from a Cross. The way a Square (Cross) can attack an Arrow can be thought of as similar to moving a Rook (Bishop) in chess. In the diagram to the right, Red's Arrow can be destroyed by Black as the black Cross has a clear diagonal path. Red's Arrow cannot be destroyed by Blue as the blue Square does not have a clear line-of-sight path. The path must be totally clear - it should not be blocked by friendly pieces, enemy pieces or destroyed pieces.
If two or more players protect the same grid square, then that grid square is protected by both players and off limits to everyone. No player may build anything in these grid squares (except perhaps with a special move), but a line of sight attack to destroy an unprotected arrow may pass through.
If a grid square is protected by Player 1, and contains a piece owned by Player 2, then Player 3 may not destroy Player 2's piece. It is protected, even though it is not protected by the owner of the piece in question.
[edit] Special Moves
There is no definitive list of special moves in the Strategio game. Players are encouraged to be creative before commencing the game and decide on / invent the special moves, how much they should cost, and how much in total each player may "spend".
Some ideas for special moves are:
- Nuke - A player may destroy any 3 by 3 square area of the board, protected or otherwise.
- Smiley Face - A player may draw a smiley face (in order to directly block a row of circles) in any grid square, even one protected by another player.
- Cheap Nuke - A player may destroy any 3 by 3 square area of the board, protected or otherwise, upon tossing a coin and getting Heads. If the coin is Tails, the Nuke fails and is wasted.
- Reverser - The order of play is reversed. For instance, if Player 1 makes a standard move, then Player 2 uses the Reverser special move, it will be player 1 to move again. Followed by Player 3, 2, 1, 3 etc.
Each player could for instance be allowed 10 "credits" to spend. The Nuke being worth around 3 credits, the Smiley Face, Cheap Nuke and Reverser being worth around 1 credit.
Most Importantly: Before commencing the game, each player must write down which special moves he/she wishes to purchase. Players do not get to see which special moves their opponents can use until the game is over. It is this which brings an element of bluff and added interest to the game.
