Cubo
Cubo
by Brian Hollenbeck
(c) 2007
These rules are in beta form, but have been playtested quite a bit. Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments by using the form below, or by e-mailing me @ touch.the.monolith@gmail.com. Also – let me know if this game already exists out in the world – I’ve done a lot of searches for something similar, but haven’t found anything.
OBJECTIVE
Capture all of your opponent’s cubes.
MATERIALS
- One standard chessboard – or a Cubo Board.
- 32 dice, 16 each of two different colors (the player’s cubes).
- Two dice of a third color (aka Capture Dice).
THE CUBES
Each of the players cubes has two important attributes to keep in mind. The number facing up is the cube’s rank. The four sides of the cube are the faces. The rank and the orientation of the faces of the cube are important when capturing an opponent’s cube. You may only attempt to capture a cube if the value on the face of the cube pointed at your opponent’s cube is equal to or higher than the value on the face of your opponent’s cube.
If they are equal, or your cube’s face is of a higher value, you may attempt to capture the cube.
The diagram below illustrates this:
The blue cube is trying to capture the blue cube. The side of the blue cube facing the red cube is a 6 (which is always on the other side of the die from the 1 on standard dice). Since the blue cube’s face is higher, the player may attempt to capture the red cube. The red cube cannot capture the blue cube in its current orientation – the red player would have to first rotate the cube so that the 6 was facing the blue cube in order to attempt a capture.
SETUP
Each player rolls all 16 of his or her dice. The player then proceeds to place each cube on the ‘home rows’ on his or her side of the chess board. Cubes can be placed in any way the player sees fit (see The Cubes below for . Once all cubes are placed, the players roll their Capture Dice and compare the rolls – highest roll goes first.
PLAY
During each player’s turn, they may perform five actions. The basic actions are:
- Move a cube one space (not on a diagonal).
- Jump another one of your own cubes.
- Rotate your cube to a new facing.
- Promote a cube by one rank.
- Demote a cube by one rank.
- Attempt to capture an opponent’s cube.
The player may elect to perform any of these actions on any die, in any order. The only exception to this rule is that a player may not attempt a capture with a cube that has been promoted or demoted. For example, the player may:
- move a cube two spaces and promote it by three ranks
- move five cubes one space
- move one cube four spaces and capture
- move on cube three spaces, rotate it, and capture
- move three cubes one space, then attempt two captures
The player may also elect to take fewer than five actions in a turn, if so desired.
ACTIONS
Move: Cubes in Cubo move like rooks in chess – horizontally or vertically. Each space that a cube moves into costs one action.
Jump: Cubes may jump the player’s own cubes. The space that the cube is to land in must be empty in order for the jump to be legal.
Rotate: Cubes may be rotated to a different orientation (so a different face points towards an enemy cube, for example). Rotating it by one face (90º) or two (180º) cost the same.
Promote: A cube’s rank can be increased by one using one action. For example, a two becomes a three. Included in the promotion is a ‘free’ rotation. Cubes can be promoted multiple times: a single cube can be promoted from Rank 1 to Rank 6 if the player spends all five of his actions in a turn doing so.
Cubes that have been promoted cannot capture other cubes in the same turn as their promotion.
Demote: Similar to promotion, a cube can be demoted to a lower rank by spending one action. Likewise, cubes which have been demoted cannot be used to capture cubes in the same turn.
Capture: As noted above, in order for a cube to capture an opponent’s cube, the side of the cube attempting to capture (the attacking cube) facing the cube to be captured (the defending cube) must be of an equal or greater value. When a capture is announced, both players roll their Capture Dice and add the rank of the cube involved.
If the attacking cube wins the roll, the defending cube is removed, and the player may (but is not required to) make a free move into the square previously occupied by the defender.
If the defender wins the roll, the attacking cube is removed from the board, but the defender may not move. Also, the attacking player may not attempt to capture that die again for the remainder of the turn.
If the roll is a tie, the attacking and defending cubes remain on the board. The attacking cube may not perform any more actions, and the defending cube cannot be captured for the remainder of the turn.
WIN CONDITIONS
The last player with cubes on the board wins the game.
BASIC STRATEGY
1. Rank 6 cubes are the strongest in the game for offense, but Rank 5 are the strongest for defense, since they have a 6-face which must be matched with another 6-face in order to be captured. Since Rank 5 is the highest possible rank cube to have a 6-face available, you’re always at 50/50 odds.
2. Start with as many 6-faces forward as possible during setup to create a defensive wall to deter early fast-attacks.
3. In the opening of the game, jump your second row over the first instead of moving the first row forward.
4. Try to make a hole in your opponent’s defenses and get dice around the back and sides, where they will likely be vulnerable.
5. Promote as often as possible, and try to keep your opponent busy so they can’t spend free actions on promotions.
6. Don’t spin all your cubes up to 5′s an 6′s if you don’t have to – try instead to match your lesser ranked cubes against your opponents’.
VARIANTS and NOTES
During playtesting, there have been a lot of variants that offer different game experiences – here are a few you might want to try:
1. Vary the number of actions in a turn between 1 and 8. Lower number of actions create a much slower, more deliberate game; higher numbers create a more dynamic flow of play.
2. Instead of rolling all of the dice in the beginning, start with the following cubes:
o Rank 1 – 8
o Rank 3 – 4
o Rank 5 – 2
o Rank 6 – 2
3. Start all of the dice at Rank 1.
4. Promote and Demote cost 2 actions instead of 1.