Attakube
Attakube Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Place the 7x7 gameboard on the table so that each player is located in front of his Celestial Doors. Then each player gets 12 cubes of the same color.
The players turn their 12 cubes so that their symbols face them and the opponent can not see the symbols. Each player chooses 7 of these cubes to start the game (the others will enter the game later). (See: Cubes and their abilities).
Then the players distribute their 7 cubes on their 7 Celestial Doors as they see fit.
The faces of the cubes indicating their ability must face their owner so that the opponent can not see them during setup and until they are revealed; the same applies for the five remaining cubes.
Goal of the game
The goal of the game is to cross the Celestial Doors of the opponent with your cubes. All the Doors do not have the same value: The Celestial Door in the middle is worth 3 points when it is crossed by an opponent's cube. The number of points gained (1, 2 or 3) depends on the Door crossed by a cube. A player is declared victorious when it succeeds in scoring 5 points or more with his cubes.
A starting player is randomly selected. The player whose turn it is has the choice between only one of the following three actions:
A. Move one of his cubes on the gameboard
All cubes move only one space horizontally or vertically. Cubes must move on a free space (except when they pass the opponent's Celestial Doors and in this case they can leave the gameboard). The Star and Comet cubes can move differently when their ability is activated.
B. Activate the ability of one of his cubes (see Cubes and their abilities)
To use the ability of a cube, the player has to reveal the cube's symbol (if it isn't already revealed) by turning the cube with its symbol pointing skywards. Once revealed the cube's ability will remain visible until the end of the game.
NOTE: the player cannot move his cube and activate its ability simultaneously, except for the cubes:
- "Star" and "Comet" - which can be revealed and moved at the same time, and
- "Eclipse" - which can be revealed and jump on another cube at the same time.
C. Add a cube on the gameboard (choosing among the 5 remaining cubes not used during setup)
This cube must be placed on one of the free Celestial Doors of the player (if there are several free Celestial Doors, the player is free to choose the door of his choice to place his cube).
This action is only possible if the player has less than 7 cubes on the gameboard. On the other hand, the player is not constrained to have 7 cubes in play all the time (for example, a player can play with 4 cubes or less and add some cubes later).
Then it's the next player's turn. In the same way the next player has the choice between the above 3 actions. So the players choose in their turn only one of the 3 possible actions.
A door is considered crossed and scores points when a cube leaves the gameboard through this door.
End of the game
A player is victorious when he scores a total of 5 points or more with his cubes.
Cubes and their abilities
Each player has 12 cubes (each cube has an ability and both players have cubes with the same abilities).
Note: the ability of a cube remains active throughout the game from the moment that the cube's ability is revealed (and the cube is turned over).
There are 2 types of abilities:
Movement abilities
The Star: it can move one space diagonally if that space is free (when its ability is activated, the player can move the Star diagonally but he can also move it normally).
The Comet: it can move two spaces in the same direction. These two spaces must be free (when the ability of the Comet is activated the player can move the Comet two spaces, but he can also move it normally).
These two cubes can activate and move immediately in the same turn.
Action abilities
These are divided into 3 types:
A. Attackers
The Earthquake: it destroys all cubes on the same column or row (player's choice) including itself (self-destruction) and including cubes of the same color.
The Tsunami: it pushes an adjacent cube one space horizontally or vertically. If the cube is pushed out of the gameboard, then it is eliminated from the game. The Tsunami doesn't move when it is using its ability.
The Cyclone: it destroys all horizontally and vertically adjacent cubes including itself (self-destruction) and including cubes of the same color.
B. Defenders
The Wall of Fire: it blocks one horizontally or vertically adjacent cube (player's choice). Turn the Wall of Fire so the base of the fire points to the blocked cube as a reminder.
The Eclipse: it blocks the cube on which it jumps on.
The Shield: it is invulnerable to the other cube's abilities during the full game.
C. Special
Celestial Keys: they double the number of points of the crossed Celestial Door.
Eye: this cube makes it possible for a player to reveal an opponent's cube. It can reveal a cube anywhere on the gameboard only once (when the Eye is revealed). Then it can only reveal horizontally or vertically adjacent cubes.
Other rules for the cube abilities
- A cube does not lose its ability once revealed (except the Earthquake and the Cyclone which self-destruct).
- The player can use several times the ability of his cubes during the game, but only once during each turn.
- A player can neither move nor use the ability of a blocked cube.
- Cubes destroyed, as well as cubes having crossed the Celestial Doors, are removed from the game. If an eliminated cube were already revealed, this cube remains visible for both players. An unrevealed eliminated cube will remain unrevealed.