Oklahoma Boomers
Oklahoma Boomers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the game
You are the head of one of the boomer families. Your three boomers each claim a homestead for their family as you try to push its boundaries as far out as possible.
The player that manages to claim the largest part of the game board wins the game.
Components
- 6 Boomers (3 per colour)
- 40 Cornerstones
If you run out of cornerstones during play, you can use other pawns to keep on playing.
Setup
Preparations - Starting position.
For the first few games it is best to place the cornerstones and boomers on the game board as depicted in the illustration to the right.
One player chooses a colour; the other player starts the game.
Game turn
In your turn, you:
- Must move one of your boomers and
- May place cornerstones
When you are done, it is the other player's turn.
Moving a boomer
Move a boomer – Purple can move boomer A to any of the squares with a transparent purple boomer on it.
In your turn you must move one of your boomers.
A boomer can move any number of vacant squares in a horizontal or vertical direction.
This means that on your turn, you can move one boomer in a single direction only (without any change in direction).
A boomer can never jump over a cornerstone or another boomer.
A boomer can never end on the same square as another boomer or a cornerstone.
You may not move an exhausted boomer (see Exhausted boomers).
Active boomer
Once you have moved your boomer, this boomer is the active boomer, until the end of your turn.
Placing cornerstones
After you have moved one of your boomers, you are allowed to place cornerstones. You are not obliged to do so.
If you place cornerstones, you must place exactly two cornerstones.
You can only place cornerstones on the spots that can be reached by your active boomer and one opposing boomer. In other words you can only place them at a spot where both boomers would meet, if they were to move toward each other.
The player whose turn it is chooses which opponent boomer to "use".
You can only place a cornerstone, when all fields between both boomers and the desired location of the cornerstone are empty.
Especially later in the game, it can happen that you can only place one cornerstone because of the constraint mentioned above. In that case, the second cornerstone is not placed.
Note: The active boomer can never "use" an opponent boomer that is standing in the same row or column to place cornerstones.
Placing cornerstones – Yellow has moved boomer C and decides to place cornerstones "using" Purple's B. The cornerstones are placed on the spots marked with a circle.
Placing cornerstones - Yellow could also choose to use Purple's A. In that case he places one cornerstone on the circled spot. Yellow is not allowed to place the other cornerstone, because there is a cornerstone between Purple's A and the desired location.
Placing cornerstones - Purple has moved boomer E. He can not use Yellow's F to place cornerstones.
Homesteads
Closed areas
A chain of cornerstones on the game board serves as a border. Because of these borders, some areas become isolated from other areas.
An area is considered to be a closed area once it is impossible to move a boomer from this area to another part of the game board.
Exhausted boomers
As soon as there is only one boomer left in a closed area, this area becomes a homestead. The boomer in this closed area is considered exhausted.
If there is more than one boomer of the same colour left in a closed area, these boomers share this homestead and are considered exhausted.
You are not allowed to move exhausted boomers.
Closed areas and exhausted boomers - Boomer C from Purple is in a closed area (= his homestead). Boomers E and F from Yellow are in a closed area (= their homestead). All these boomers are exhausted and can no longer be moved.
End of the game
The game ends, when the player whose turn it is cannot move any of his boomers.
This is almost always the case when all boomers have obtained their own homestead.
In rare cases it can happen that not all boomers have their own homestead, but the player whose turn it is cannot move any of his/her non-exhausted boomers. If this occurs the game is over.
Scoring
After the game ends, players calculate their scores. The player with the highest score wins.
You score one point for each square in each of your homesteads. Squares with a boomer on it count. Squares with a cornerstone do not count.
If there is no boomer in a closed area this area counts for neither of the players.
In the rare case that there are non-exhausted boomers from both players in a closed area, this area is not scored.
Scoring - Purple has: 39 points (boomers A and B) + 2 points (boomer C). Total score: 41 points.
Yellow has: 11 points (boomer D) + 20 points (boomer E) + 19 (boomer F). Total score: 50 points.
Yellow has won the game.
Advanced players
Advanced players do not use the starting position but place the playing pieces themselves. Preparations:
- Player A places a cornerstone.
- Player B places a cornerstone.
- Player A places a cornerstone.
- Player B places one of his boomers.
- Player A places two of his boomers.
- Player B places his last two boomers.
- Player A places his last boomer.
- Player A starts the game.
Expansions
The following expansions for Oklahoma Boomers are described on the rules sheet.
Sooners
Sooners were boomers that cheated!
They would enter the prairie before the official start of the Land Run. Even though that was not allowed.
As penalty they must help the boomers by placing cornerstones.
But beware! Sooners can suddenly change from a good help to a big threat!
Santa Fe Railroad
The Santa Fe Railroad opens up the prairie.
A homestead can only be lying on one side of the track however.
This means that you can not be sure that the player with the largest area simply wins the game!
Silver mines
They have found silver! Let's start digging!
The silver mines score extra points at the end of the game. In fact, they score so many points that you will prefer a smaller area with a mine above a larger one without.
This turns Oklahoma Boomers into a completely different game!
Red River
The Red River is filled with water again. The drought has finally ended!
It takes some time to cross the deeper parts of the river however.
The Red River adds a whole new dynamic to a game of Oklahoma Boomers!