Arkantar
Arkantar Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Elements and setting up (fig. 1)
- 49 tiles, each one with a Path face (fig. 1a) and a Wall face (fig. 1b).
- 7 black pawns, 7 white pawns. Each color set includes 1 Queen/King (fig. 1c) and 6 Knights (fig. 1d).
The game area is a square of 7 rows of 7 tiles slightly spaced between to allow turn overs. The tiles are placed with the Path face up, except the 2nd row in front of each player (fig. 1e). Each player chooses a color and places his pawns on his first row, the Queen/King in the middle and the Knights on each side from the taller to the smaller (fig. 1f).
Objective of the game
Capture the opponent's King/Queen.
Principle of the game
By turning over the tiles, each player builds or destroys Walls, creating either ramparts that protect their pawns, or Paths that allow their movement and the capture of the adversary's pawns.
Game procedure
The players take turns. Black pieces start the game. There are 3 possible types of actions:
- build a Wall (by turning over a Path tile to show its Wall face)
- destroy a Wall (by turning over a Wall tile to show its Path face)
- move a pawn (with or without the capture of an adversary's pawn)
During his turn, a player can decide to do 1 (minimum), 2, or 3 actions. The same type of action can be repeated. No turn over of a tile can be played as soon as a move of a pawn has been made. A pawn capture immediately ends the player's turn.
End of the game
The player who captures the opponent's Queen/King is the winner.
Turning over a tile (fig. 2)
- the construction of a Wall: the player can turn over whatever Path tile on wich there is no pawn.
- the destruction of a Wall: the player can turn over a Wall tile if there is a pawn of his color on an adjacent tile (on a side, not diagonally) (fig. 2a). A suite of 2 or 3 Walls can be destroyed if it forms a continuous line with a pawn of his color; the Walls have to be turned over one after the other, from the nearest to the farthest from the pawn, each turning over being 1 action (fig. 2b).
During his turn, the player can't turn over more than one time the same tile.
Movement of the pawns (fig. 3)
- simple movement:
The pawns can be displaced and stay only on Path tiles. The movement action of a pawn corresponds to its move in a straight line to the last Path tile before an obstacle, wich can be either a Wall, a pawn or the edge of the game area (fig. 3a). The direction chosen for the movement can be forward, backward, leftward or rightward, but not diagonally. When more than one movement action is played, each one can be performed with the same pawn or with different pawns (fig. 3b).
- movement with pawn capture:
A movement can end with the capture of an opponent's pawn. The pawn then takes the adverse pawn's place, which is taken out of the game area. Each pawn can capture a pawn of the same height (fig. 3c). A tall Knight can capture a medium Knight. A medium Knight can capture a small Knight. A small Knight can capture a tall Knight (fig. 3d). Each Knight can capture the Queen/King. The Queen/King can capture any Knight (fig. 3e). When the player captures a Knight with his Queen/King, he can get back one of his pawn captured during a previous turn, if that is the case. If the adversary captured more than one Knight, the player get back the one of his choice. The back Knight is placed on the Path tile where the Queen/King was at the beginning of his turn before moving.
A possible capture is not obligatory (fig. 3f).