DICE ISOLATION
The idea for this game came to me in a dream.
It is loosely based on the game Isolation, made by Leisure Dynamics of Canada, Limited, a Lakeside product.
For 2 players, ages 8 and up
Equipment
18 double-sided game boards
3 dice in each of 2 colors
20 flat round tokens in each of 2 colors
Preparation
1.
The players select one of the 36 game boards and place it in the center of the table.
2.
Each player selects a color and takes the dice and one token of that color.
3.
A player is selected randomly. That player will take the first turn, and then play will alternate between the players.
The game is played in two phases. Both of the players begin the game in phase A.
Phase A
1.
On a player's first turn, they take one, two, or three dice, roll them, and take the number of tokens of their color that is equal to the sum of the values on the dice.
2.
On each of the player's subsequent turns in phase A, they may do one of two things.
2a.
They may choose to proceed to phase B. They indicate this by placing their dice in the game box. They then take their first turn in Phase B (below).
2b.
They may take one, two, or three dice and roll them. If the total number on the dice is less than the number of tokens that they already have, they must proceed to phase B on their next turn, indicating this by placing their dice in the game box. Regardless, they take the number of tokens of their color that is equal to the sum of the values on the dice.
Phase B
1.
On a player's first turn in phase B, they must place one of their tokens that they collected in Phase A on a white space on the game board that is not occupied by a token.
2.
On each of the player's subsequent turns in phase B, they must place one of the tokens that they collected in Phase A on a white unoccupied space on the game board that is adjacent, orthogonally or diagonally, to a space with one of their tokens. If this is not possible, they must pass.
When both players have passed, the game is over, and whoever has the most tokens on the board wins. Ties are possible. Start over and play again with the loser going first. In case of a tie, turn order does not change. Whoever wins 10 games first is the final winner.
Here are
some sample boards. If the players can't agree on which one to use, a board can be randomly selected by rolling two dice and matching the numbers in the upper-left corner of a board. Note: If either of the players is taking too much time analyzing the board, the players can agree in advance to delay randomly selecting a board until a player moves into Phase B.