Strato-Sphere

War-game like action for Two or Four players.

Object of the Game

To outmaneuver your opponent and gain control of all three nodes in his/her zone of play.

Starting

Three nodes are dealt out in front of each player in a V shape, then six cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards are placed in a pile in the centre of the playing arena. The four player version requires two packs of cards shuffled together. Starting with the player left of the dealer, each player takes his turn.

Node Layout

A player's three nodes are adjacent to each other in a line. Also the end nodes of each player are adjacent to those of the player next to him/her. So, in the two player game the nodes form a hex-ring as illustrated.

Player Turns

A player's turn consists of three moves, any of which can be any of the following: During the course of the game, no player is allowed more than seven cards in his/her hand at any time. If drawing a card from the 'resource' pile would take a player over this limit, he/she is not allowed to draw and must perform some other action(s) to use up his/her turn.

Node Control

At the start of the game no one knows what color (two player version) or suit (four player version) will be their controlling 'force'. The first player to turn a node card face up, during the course of their turn, has the revealed color/suit as his/her controlling 'force'. (In a two player game if the first color revealed is red, then the second player is automatically black). This continues until the penultimate player has been allocated a color/suit. The last player then automatically has the remaining color/suit.

Note: This all takes place during the course of normal play, so the first few turns are quite critical for determining the state of the game.

The Attack

A controlling card can only attack if there will at least one face down card left at that node, and it can only attack a viable target. A viable target is any adjacent node with:
  1. an opponent's controlling card of face value equal or lower than the attacking card.
  2. at least one face down card remaining underneath.
The attack, if allowed to proceed, destroys both of the controlling cards and the two nodes become uncontrolled once again. This will allow the attacker a possible opportunity to take control of either or both nodes.

Preventing the Attack

Any player may prevent the attack by playing from his/her hand a card equal or higher in face value to that of the attacking card, of the same 'force' (i.e. in a two player game a black card attacking a red node can be prevented by the playing of a black card from the hand of the controller of the red card). This destroys both the played card and the attacking card, leaving the defending node card safe where it is. This does however mean that the attacking node is left uncontrolled.

Winning the Game

The winning player is the first one to control all three nodes in any opponent's zone of play.

Credits

Devised by Andy B, Francis and Alan.

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