Offboard
Offboard Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
One gameboard and 12 marbles per player.
Aim of the Game
The first player to score 6 points by touching the targets wins. He must push opposing marbles onto a target in order to touch it. The number of points scored (1, 2 or 3) are shown next to each target.
Gameboard and Starting Set-Up
Marbles placed on the playing surface are called "living". They can always be moved. On the other hand, marbles that have been pushed onto a target are "dead" and remain there until the end of the game.
The marbles are always set up at the beginning of the game as shown in the starting position diagram.
Game Play
Each player chooses a colour. Red always goes first. Players take it in turns to move.
Movement
On his turn, a player can move one or more marbles with the same movement.
- One marble onto any empty neighbouring space.
- Two, three, four, five or more marbles: together onto a space at either end of the line made up by the marbles. There is no limit to the number of marbles that can be moved together in the same move provided that:
- the marbles are all in a straight line;
- there is an empty space at the end of the group being moved;
- there are no opposing marbles in the line being moved;
- the move doesn't result in one of the player's own marbles being ejected.
Push the Opponent
On his turn, if a group of marbles is in contact with an opposing marble or group of marbles that is fewer in number, the larger group is allowed to push. This is never mandatory.
In order to be able to push one or more opposing marbles, there must be an empty space into which each of them can be pushed.
You only score points by pushing your opponent's marbles onto the targets! You are not allowed to move your own marbles onto the targets. There is no limit to the number of marbles that can be pushed, except for the physical size of the board.
Touch: in order to score points, the opposing marbles must be forced onto the targets. Assault: to do this, the opposing marbles must first be pushed.
Victory Conditions
The first player to score at least 6 points by touching the targets wins. The opposing marbles that are pushed off the board fall onto the targets which will then show the value of the ejected marble. An ejected marble will roll and come to a stop in an empty target.
At that moment, the marble is worth the number of points shown alongside the target: 1, 2 or 3 points.
There can only be one marble per target.
If the target is already occupied, the second marble doesn't score any victory points.
If one of your marbles is ejected in the direction of an already occupied target (whether by one of your own marbles, or one of your opponent's), you have two choices:
- you can recover it and place it on any empty space on the board. In that case, however, you do not take any further action in your turn: the act of recovery replaces the normal turn action (move or push); or
- you can simply remove it from the game. The marble cannot be returned to the board in a future turn and does not score any points. You then play your turn as normal (move or push).
End of the Game
A game ends as soon as a player scores at least 6 points.
Note About the Gameboard
A marble that is pushed along one of the main diagonals could in theory reach two targets. However, the board is constructed in such a way that it will always roll towards the lower scoring target.