Triablo Cameron Browne (2010)

Triablo is a strategy game of capture with special interlocking pieces, for two or three players.

Rules

Pieces: Two players, White and Red, each have 10 pieces of their colour, as shown in Figure 1. The third player (if any) is Black.

Figure 1.  The three piece types for three players.

Two singletons can interlock to form a doublet with six tips, as shown in Figure 2. Doublets of the same colour are called kings.

Figure 2.  Two singletons interlock to form a doublet.

Start: The game starts with a white and red king in opposite corners, surrounded by the remaining eight singletons as shown in Figure 3. The pieces must occupy the positions shown but may be oriented as the players wish, provided that no piece directly points to an enemy piece.

Figure 3.  A typical starting position for two players.

Piece Movement: Players take turns moving one of their pieces as described below. Doublets and kings move as one piece. The piece being moved can rotate to a new orientation at its destination point as part of the move.

	Singletons: Singletons can move in any of the three directions they point to, any number of empty spaces.
	Doublets: Doublets can move any number of empty spaces in any direction, but can only be moved by the owner of the covering piece.
	Kings: Kings can move one space in any direction. Instead of moving, the king may instead abdicate its crown (covering piece) to another same-coloured singleton any number of empty spaces away in any direction.

Capture: An enemy piece is vulnerable to capture if three or more tips of the attacker's colour point towards it in unobstructed line of sight; one of these pieces must make the capture. Singletons can only capture enemy singletons, which they cover to form a doublet. Doublets and kings can capture any enemy piece by replacement to remove them from the board.

Aim: A player loses if their king is captured, cannot move or abdicate, or if there are less than three pieces under their control.

Three Players: The third player uses black pieces, and again each player has 10 pieces of their colour. The kings are placed in the three non-adjacent corners and surrounded by eight singletons. Rules are as per the two player game, except that a player's pieces are removed from the board when they are eliminated (except for covered doublets, which remain active in the game) and the game is won by the last surviving player.

Home - Games

Site © Cameron Browne 2010.