Paradox Island

Paradox Island Rulebook

Table of Contents

About the Game

Beyond our reality, there are many alternate versions of it. In one, dinosaurs survived and replaced humans, in another, a hero of myths became a real person, in the third, only birds inhabit the planet — and so on endlessly. Because of its own richness, the multiverse became fragile, so it had a law of stability: if a creature in any of the realities gets into an impossible situation, it immediately finds itself outside of time and space.

Once a certain god tried to materialize the paradox of omnipotence and created an island, from which it is impossible to escape: since then, new victims of paradoxes began to be moved here. Thus, beings from different realities with different destinies gathered in one place. Each of them was eager to return home and desperately searched for ways to escape...

In this game, one of you will take on the role of the Omnipotence Paradox — the creator of this mysterious island. The rest of you will play as the captives of this island. Each captive has a personal mission. It has to do with moving around the island, but the catch is that only the Omnipotence Paradox can see the island. The others are forced to explore the environment blindly, recreating the layout of the map spaces on their boards. The player who completes their mission first wins.

Omnipotence Paradox screen
6 character boards
3 reference cards
3 dry-erase markers
6 character pieces
3 Omnipotence Paradox pieces
9 stands
30 character markers: 5 markers per character
6 island frames
17 island tiles
10 anomaly tokens
12 Omnipotence Paradox power tokens
This rulebook

How to make your markers last longer

Before you start the game, shake the markers without removing the caps. Make sure to store the markers in the box with the caps on. It is also recommended to put the caps on the markers whenever you are not using them during the game.
To make the erasers on your markers last longer, use them only for small corrections during the game. At the end of the game, wipe all markings off the boards with a dry paper towel. It is recommended to wipe off dried marks with a slightly damp wipe or, in difficult cases, an alcohol wipe.

Character Board

Character name and symbol. You can use this symbol to tell your piece and markers apart from the rest.
Character mission depicting spaces that you must visit to win.
Character ability.
Compass that shows possible movement directions.
Fruit bonuses.
Number of health points and energy points.
Action reference.
Island map. Mark the spaces you are sure about here.
Notes area. Mark the spaces you are not sure about yet here.
Ocean part borders and spaces to mark the location of the Wave.

The island consists of: parts of the frame (ocean parts), tiles, and spaces (each tile consists of spaces).

The action reference on the board ("During your turn") lists: move to an adjacent space; move 2 spaces over (1 space over for most characters, at the cost of 1 energy point); move to an adjacent space safely (1 energy point); move 2 spaces over safely (1 energy point).

Setup

The following rules describe the setup and game flow for 3–4 players. The two-player game is described under "Two-Player Game".

Decide which player will take on the role of the Omnipotence Paradox. The others become captives of the island. The rules below refer to the Omnipotence Paradox as OP and the other players as captives. If the rules reference the players, the term refers to both OP and the captives.
OP places a screen in front of themself so that none of the captives can see behind it. Behind the screen OP builds a hexagonal ocean out of the 6 island frames (hereafter in the rules they are referred to as parts of the ocean), and inside they place 17 island tiles facing up in any way they wish, or randomly — this is the map of the island. The tiles must completely fill the area inside the frames, leaving no gaps. Tiles can be rotated before laying them out. Each tile consists of spaces — further in setup and in the course of the game they are what you will interact with most. The orientation of the map must match the orientation of the island map on the captives' boards.
OP shuffles all 10 anomaly tokens facing down, takes 5 random tokens out of them and lays them out on each anomaly space with the anomaly symbol facing up. OP places the remaining 5 tokens next to their screen facing down so that they are able to reach them and the captives are able to see them. You will use these tokens to keep track of OP's mission during the game.
OP takes 12 power tokens, shuffles them, and stacks them in their play area facing down.
Then, OP takes 3 of their pieces: the Wave, the Rock and the Bush. These are the embodiments of OP, that they can use to keep players from completing their missions. OP inserts their pieces into stands and places them onto the island:
- The Wave is placed onto any of the 6 parts of the ocean, i.e., any one of the 6 island frames;
- The Rock is placed onto any anomaly space atop the anomaly token that OP placed there beforehand;
- The Bush is placed onto any space with a fruit (see the list of fruits below). OP must announce which fruit the Bush is on and the captives can mark it in the notes area on their board.
"Fruit" is an in-game term, which is why cherries, strawberry and grapes, oddly enough, are also considered fruits.

If you have chosen a character you are not familiar with, we recommend that you study your character's characteristics (see "Characters, Missions and Abilities") before starting the game.

Game Objective

Each player has a mission, and the player who completes their mission first wins. Detailed explanations of each character's mission can be found under "Characters, Missions and Abilities".

The captives' missions are indicated on their boards as symbols of the island spaces as well as on the inside of OP's screen. At any moment of the game (it can happen even during someone else's turn), when a captive visits a required space or fulfills a required condition, they cross out the corresponding symbol below their mission. This means that this space is counted towards the mission. The captive gives OP one of their respective markers and OP places it on the space the captive visited to remember that it has been visited. The same space cannot count towards the mission again. By crossing out all the required symbols, the captive wins.

For example, Theseus has already visited the space with the portal 2 and one space with the oracle. He crosses out their symbols and OP marks them on the map with Theseus' markers.

OP's mission is stated on the inside of their screen and is contingent on the captives perishing. Each time a captive perishes, OP takes their own marker from the table next to the screen and places it in front of themself behind the screen. After the captives perish five times, OP wins the game.

Thus, by the number of markers and pieces on the table, players can see who is closer to victory.

Ground Rules

"Paradox Island" is not just an adventure game, but also a deductive game. It is designed in such a way that captives do not see the map: their pieces are moved around the island by OP and they tell them what spaces the captives are on and what is happening to them. All captives hear this information and can use it for their own gain. Try to keep notes on the movement of pieces on the map, both your own and of other players — this can be done in the notes area of your board. If you are certain about the location of a space on the map, you can transfer it to the island map. The sooner you understand what the island looks like, the easier it will be for you to complete your mission.

You can take notes in any way you like: sketching pictures from the spaces (they are intentionally simplified), marking them with letters or other symbols.

The following ground rules also apply during the course of the game:

OP cannot lie to the captives and always gives them clear and honest feedback.
Captives are not allowed to look at each other's boards or look behind OP's screen. However, they can ask OP at any time what space a particular captive piece is on, and OP answers honestly. OP can, but is not obliged to, disclose the location of their own pieces — the Bush, the Rock, and the Wave — unless the rules require them to do so.
All information on the captives' boards is open to OP. OP can ask captives about their health and energy points, available fruits, and other info. Captives must answer honestly.
Giving hints and helping each other is left up to the captives. Remember that there can only be one winner. However, if a player gets distracted and misses something, it would be fair to at least repeat the information for them.

Game Flow

The captive to the left of OP begins the game. The captives then take turns going clockwise, and OP always going last. This continues until one of the players wins. The captive's actions are described in detail below, while OP's actions are described under "OP Actions".

Actions of Captives

During their turn a captive can perform up to 2 actions. Actions are indicated with a star symbol.

One action can be used to:

Restore up to two energy points: erase the crossed out energy symbols on your board. You cannot restore more energy than is indicated on your board.
Move around the island from your current space in any of the six directions indicated on the compass. By default, you move to an adjacent space and it activates automatically. However, you can use 1 energy point to move a space over or to move safely. To move a space over means to move not to an adjacent space, but to the next space in the same direction. Moving safely allows the captive to choose whether or not to activate the first space visited during this action after OP reveals it. If you want to move a space over and move safely, you must spend 2 energy points. Moving around the island has a strict sequence of stages (see "Moving Around the Island").

Examples:

A: Phil says, "I am moving southwest." Phil spends no energy points, OP moves his piece to an adjacent space, Portal 3, announces it and activates it immediately as the movement was unsafe.
B: Phil says, "I am moving a space over to the northeast safely." Phil spends 2 energy points, OP moves his piece across one space to an Escher knot, names it, and asks if Phil wants to activate it.

The captive can also use the bonus of any circled fruit as a free action. An unlimited number of free actions can be performed. Some bonuses can be applied during someone else's turn (see "Fruit Bonuses"). The character's ability is always in effect.

A captive who has completed their actions passes the turn to the player on the left.

Moving Around the Island

The captive chooses and announces the direction of their movement to OP: northwest (NW), northeast (NE), east (E), southeast (SE), southwest (SW), or west (W). Use the compass at the top of your board to guide you if needed.
The captive decides whether they want to use energy points to move a space over and/or move safely. You can't perform an action that requires using energy points if you do not have enough of them. The captive crosses out the corresponding number of symbols on their board.
The captive announces their action to OP with the following wording: "I'm moving in such-and-such direction (a space over) safely/unsafely". You can announce an action as "I'm moving in such-and-such direction", which would mean that the captive is moving to an adjacent space unsafely.
OP moves the captive piece on the island behind their screen according to the declared action, then names the destination space where the piece stopped. This space is considered visited by the captive and may be counted towards the mission at this point.
If there is at least one piece on that space, an encounter occurs. If it is an encounter with an OP piece (Wave, Rock, or Bush), either a scare-off or an interaction may occur (see "Encountering Pieces").
Finally, if the move was safe, the captive decides whether or not to activate the space. The captive piece can stand on an inactivated space without consequence. If the move was unsafe (a regular one), the space is automatically activated. Activating spaces is described under "Space Activation".

Note: after activating some spaces (e.g., portals, Escher knots, anomalies), the captive piece may end up on a new destination space, which will also be considered visited.

Fruit Bonuses

Each captive has three unique bonuses listed at the top of the board. Each bonus corresponds to 2 or 3 different fruits, so that the captive has the opportunity to use it several times during the game. When a space with a fruit is activated, the captive obtains that fruit by circling it on their board. The bonus of this fruit is now available to them. At the start of the game, you already have one circled fruit — your starting fruit.

To use a bonus, the captive must cross out one circled fruit. This fruit is now unavailable to them for the rest of the game, but the captive can obtain other fruits that correspond to the same bonus.

Note that each bonus has a sun or half-sun symbol:

Sun: this bonus can only be applied during your turn.
Half-sun: this bonus can be applied during your turn or during someone else's turn.

For example, Theseus' starting fruit is a banana. During the game Theseus also visited spaces with the orange and the cherries — in total he has 3 fruits circled. On his turn, he crosses out the banana to use the bonus and safely move to the space with the orange. To apply the same bonus again, Theseus must cross out a cherry or obtain grapes.

Space Activation

This section describes all of the island's space types and the effects of their activation.

Fruits

There are 7 spaces with different fruits on the island: orange, banana, grapes, cherries, strawberry, lime, apple. When activated, the captive obtains (circles) the fruit from the visited space on their board in the bonus area — the bonus of this fruit is now available to them. If that fruit has already been circled or crossed out, the captive does nothing.

Camp

There are 2 spaces with camps on the island, where the captive can rest and recharge. They are labeled A and Б (B) for the players' convenience. When activated, a captive regenerates either 2 health points, 2 energy points, or 1 health point and 1 energy point.

Oracle

There are two identical spaces with oracles on the island. When activated, the captive chooses up to two directions, and OP names the spaces adjacent to the captive in those directions.

For example, Schrodie visited the oracle space safely and, after OP announces this, she decides to activate it. She announces the directions she chose to OP, "Northeast and West." OP replies, "To the northeast is an arrow anomaly. To the west is a triangular lake."

Mirage

Mirages cast eerie visions that make captives weak. The three mirage spaces contain different visions — snakes, zombies, and UFOs. This is done to make it easier for the captives to identify them on island tiles on their reference cards. When revealing such a space to the captive, OP must reveal which vision it contains. When activated, the captive loses (crosses out) 1 health point.

Escher Knot

There are 3 different Escher knot spaces on the island. An Escher knot consists of three arrows, each redirecting the captive from the side they came from to a new destination space on the other side of that arrow. When activated, OP moves the captive piece strictly following the arrow, without disclosing its direction, and names the destination space. It is automatically activated. Pieces can also be encountered on this space (see "Encountering Pieces").

For example, Theseus moves from the cherries unsafely and lands on an Escher knot. The space activates automatically, OP moves Theseus' piece along the arrow and announces: "You've landed on a space with an oracle." Very lucky — Theseus counts this space as part of his mission, then it activates.

Portal

There are 3 different pairs of portals on the island. Each pair is marked with a different color and number to make it easier for players to name and mark them on their boards. When naming a space to a captive, OP must indicate the color and/or number of the portal. When a portal is activated, OP immediately moves the captive piece to the other portal with the same number, but does not tell the player where that portal is located. Activation at this other portal doesn't occur (the captive doesn't move back). Pieces can also be encountered at this portal (see "Encountering Pieces").

For example, Phil moves southwest unsafely. OP moves his piece to an adjacent space and says, "You're on Portal 3, I'm moving you to another Portal 3". OP does not tell Phil anything more about his new location.

Anomaly

There are 5 spaces with anomalies on the island. OP always names the effect of the anomaly in question during the game (e.g., when activating an oracle). When activated, the effect of that anomaly is applied:

Heart (health loss): The captive who visited the anomaly loses 1 health point.
Lightning bolt (energy loss): The captive who visited the anomaly loses 1 energy point.
Palm tree with minus (fruit loss): The captive who visited the anomaly crosses out one circled fruit of OP's choice on their board.
Rock / Bush / Wave: OP immediately (out of turn) performs 1 action with the specified piece — the Rock, the Bush or the Wave — according to standard rules, as long as it is on the map (see "OP Actions").

Note: when the following four anomalies are activated, there may be encounters of pieces on the destination spaces (see "Encountering Pieces"). OP always names the destination space and can activate it at will.

Fruit arrow: OP moves the captive who visited the anomaly to a fruit space of OP's choice.
Lake arrow: OP moves the captive who visited the anomaly to any space of any lake. OP discloses the shape of that lake (see "Lake").
Adjacent arrow: OP moves the captive who visited the anomaly to any adjacent space, disclosing the direction.
Double-arrow (Escher-like) anomaly: This anomaly works like an Escher knot: it consists of two sets of arrows, each of which redirects the captive from the side they came from to one of two spaces. When activated, OP moves the captive who visited the anomaly along the arrow to one of the two destination spaces of OP's choice, without revealing the direction of the arrow.

Lake

There are three lakes of different shapes on the island: triangular, L-shaped and straight. Each lake is made up of three spaces. When a captive visits any of these spaces, OP tells them that they have entered a lake and names its shape. OP always names the shape of the lake in question during the game (for example, when activating an oracle).

When activating a lake, OP immediately places the captive piece on its side on the same space the captive visited. When the captive wants to move and names a direction, OP picks up their piece and moves it in that direction from any space of that lake of OP's choice.

For example, Theseus is lying in a triangular lake and says on his turn, "I move northwest." OP can move Theseus to either the banana space or the Escher knot space. If Theseus were to move in the same direction but a space over, OP would have a choice between Camp A and the anomaly with the Bush.

Note: OP cannot move a captive from a lake to the ocean if there is an option to move them to an island space. Also, they cannot move a captive from one space of a lake to another space of the same lake if the piece is laying on its side.

In case of a safe movement, if the captive does not activate a lake space, their piece stands on the same space they moved to. Their next movement will start from that same space. As long as a piece stands in the lake and as long as the captive moves safely, they can visit different spaces of the lake. However, if the captive moves unsafely from one space of the lake and to another, OP puts their piece on its side and the usual lake activation rules apply.

For example, with his first action, Theseus moves from portal 2 to a lake space safely — his piece stands, the lake is not activated. Theseus declares a second action, "Moving northwest a space over safely". OP moves his piece across the lake space and says, "You're on an anomaly with health loss, would you like to activate it?" — "Of course not," Theseus replies.

Ocean

The island is surrounded by an ocean consisting of six parts. The ocean is not a space, but a captive can move in its direction from a space of the island. When this happens, OP tells the captive that they are in the ocean, and the consequences depend on whether or not there is the Wave piece in that part of the ocean:

If the Wave and the captive are in the same part of the ocean, in case of an unsafe move, the Wave attacks the captive: the captive loses 1 health point (if it was their last health point, the captive perishes according to the rules under "Captives Perishing and Revival"). If the move was safe, the captive scares the Wave off (see "Encountering Pieces" for details).
If the Wave is not in the same part of the ocean, nothing happens.

Then, if the captive has not perished, OP moves the captive's piece from the ocean to that captive's starting fruit. The captive may then continue their turn if they have any actions left.

Note: if a captive encounters the Bush on the starting fruit while doing so, the Bush cannot attack them.

For example, Theseus moves southwest a space over unsafely and into the ocean. The Wave piece is located in the same part of the ocean. OP informs him, "You are in the ocean with the Wave, it attacks you". Theseus crosses out 1 health point on his board. OP then asks: "Remind me, what's your starting fruit?" — "Banana," Theseus replies, and OP moves his piece to the space with the banana.

Example of a Captive's Turn

Schrodie starts her move on the space with Camp A. With her first action, she tells OP, "I move southeast safely" — and crosses out one energy point on her board for the safe move. OP moves her piece to an adjacent space in the southeast and responds, "You're on Portal 2, would you like to travel through it?" Schrodie decides to take a risk and agrees. OP moves her piece to another space with Portal 2, "Done, what's your second action?" Schrodie could restore energy, but is more interested in scouting the island and says, "Moving west." OP moves her piece and reports, "You're in an Escher knot, you moved unsafely, so you move along the arrow." — "Wait," says Schrodie, "I've got a banana, I'm using its bonus to not activate the Escher knot." — "Okay," OP replies and leaves her piece on the space with the Escher knot. Schrodie crosses out the circled banana and passes the turn to Theseus.

OP Actions

To impede the captives, Omnipotence Paradox uses the rest of its divine powers to twist the laws of the island, and turns into dangerous obstacles in the form of bushes, rocks, and giant waves.

Power Tokens

At the beginning of the turn, before performing an action, OP takes the top 2 power tokens from the stack. They choose one of them and place the other under the bottom of the stack. OP reads the text from the chosen token aloud — it is a specific rule that will be in effect until the start of OP's next turn. OP can place the token on the table where everyone can see it so that the captives remember it. At the beginning of their next turn, OP puts this token under the bottom of the stack and replaces it with another token, again chosen from two.

Note: if a rule from a power token conflicts with the basic rules of the game, with abilities, missions, and/or fruit bonuses, the power token overrides them and its effect always applies.

Explanations of some of the power tokens can be found under "OP Power Tokens Explained".

Actions

OP can perform up to 3 actions per turn, which they distribute among their three pieces on the map — the Bush, the Rock, and the Wave. The same piece can take more than one action per turn. The following general rules apply to OP pieces:

The Bush and the Rock can only activate Escher knots and portals. There is no concept of safe and unsafe movement for OP pieces as there is for captives. They move through all spaces on the island without consequence, but when moving to Escher knots and portals, they may, if OP chooses, move under the normal activation rules.
When the Bush or the Rock ends up in the ocean as part of any player's turn, that piece's current action ends. OP removes it from the map and places it back at the end of that player's turn: the Bush returns to any fruit with no other pieces on it, the Rock returns to any anomaly with no other pieces on it (OP does not reveal or name these spaces).
For OP pieces, lakes are considered one big space. While in a lake, an OP piece can leave it to move to any space adjacent to the lake.
The Wave can only be in the ocean. The "Flood" power token gives the Wave the ability to move into lakes, but the Wave cannot move to any other space on the island.

Wave Action

In one action, OP can:

either move the Wave piece to any other part of the ocean
or attack one captive whose piece is on a space adjacent to a part of the ocean the Wave is in: that captive loses 1 health point. The Wave cannot attack that captive again until the end of OP's turn.

The ocean consists of six parts, which coincide with the six parts of the island frame. There are 4 island spaces adjacent to each part of the ocean. Corner spaces are adjacent to two neighboring ocean parts at once.

Note the specifics of attacking captives in lakes the spaces of which are adjacent to the ocean:

If a captive piece is standing on a lake space, the Wave can only attack it if that space is adjacent to the part of the ocean the Wave is in;
if the captive piece is lying on its side in a lake, the Wave can only attack it if any one of the spaces of the lake is adjacent to the part of the ocean the Wave is in.

Wave Action Example. OP sees that the Wave can attack Hempel because he is standing on a corner space adjacent to the part of the ocean the Wave is in. It cannot attack Theseus, since the space with him is adjacent to a different part of the ocean, or Schrodie, since the space with her is not adjacent to the ocean at all. OP spends the first action to move the Wave to another part of the ocean, the one to which both Theseus' and Hempel's spaces are adjacent. Now OP can spend their second action to attack one of them. If they want to attack both of them, they will have to spend both of their remaining actions to do so.

Bush Action

In one action, the Bush can move one space and attack captives on that space, if there are any. OP announces the direction of movement and moves the Bush piece to an adjacent space in that direction. OP then names the space it landed on and all pieces on it.

If it is a space with a portal or an Escher knot, OP decides aloud whether or not to activate the space. If the space is activated, OP moves the Bush piece according to the standard rules of the space and again names the space it landed on and all pieces on it.

Important: The Bush cannot visit the same space twice in one turn, including the space from which it began its movement.

Rock Action

The Rock action is complex and consists of a move and a push in any order, but you must fully perform one before performing the other. You may perform only the movement or push action if you wish.

Movement. OP announces the direction of movement and moves the Rock piece to an adjacent space in that direction. OP then names the space it landed on and all pieces on it. If it is a space with a portal or Escher knot, OP decides aloud whether or not to activate the space. If activated, OP moves the Rock piece according to standard rules of the space and again names the space it landed on and all pieces on it.

Note: unlike the Bush, the Rock can re-visit spaces.

Pushing. The Rock can push a captive standing on an adjacent space strictly to the next space in a straight line. In doing so, OP names the direction in which the Rock is pushing the captive. They also name the destination space. Its activation is left to OP's choice.

For example, in this situation, the Rock can push Schrodie southwest, and she will end up in the lake, with OP putting her piece on its side if they wish. Or the Rock could push Theseus to the east, and he would end up on a space with a mirage.

Note the specifics of pushing captives that are located in lakes:

If the captive's piece is on a lake space, it can be pushed strictly from an adjacent space and only to the next space in a straight line across the entire lake;
if the captive's piece is laying on its side in the lake, it can be pushed from any space adjacent to the lake and only to the next space in a straight line across the entire lake.

If both the Rock and the captive piece are in the same lake, the Rock can't push the captive piece, because to the Rock, as well as to other OP pieces, the lake is considered one big space.

(Illustrated examples: the Rock can push Schrodie and she will end up in the ocean; the Rock cannot push Schrodie.)

Encountering Pieces

When more than one piece ends up on the same space, it is considered an encounter.

Encountering Captives

OP names the captive that has been encountered.

Encountering OP Pieces

If a captive encountered an OP piece in the course of an unsafe action:

When encountering the Wave or the Bush — OP names the piece that has been encountered and it attacks the captive (the Bush makes the captive lose 1 health point and 1 energy point, the Wave makes the captive lose 1 health point);
When encountering the Rock — OP names the piece that has been encountered.

Scaring Off OP Pieces

If the captive visits the space with an OP piece while moving safely, the captive is considered to have scared it off. OP names the piece that was encountered and removes it from the map, and the captive gains an additional action for that turn. At the end of their turn, OP returns the piece secretly to the map:

the Wave returns to any part of the ocean;
the Rock returns to any anomaly with no other pieces on it;
the Bush returns to any fruit with no other pieces on it.

Note:

If an OP piece is in a lake, the encounter or the scaring off occurs when the captive visits any space of that lake.
You may see the term "interaction" in the rules. Interactions include being attacked by an OP piece, pushed by the Rock, and other possible situations in which an OP piece affects a captive piece.

Captives Perishing and Revival

When a captive crosses out the last health point on their board, whether during their own turn or someone else's, they perish and announce it immediately. OP takes the anomaly token from the table and places it in front of themself, counting the captive perishing as part of their mission.

If the captive perishes during their own turn, they are revived immediately: they choose camp A or Б (B), and OP places their piece on that camp, naming other pieces on it, if there are any. No interaction with these pieces takes place. The captive then regains full health and energy (erases all markings off of the symbols) and may continue their turn if they have any actions left.

If a captive perishes during the turn of OP or another captive, the captive is revived in a camp according to the same rules, not immediately, but at the end of that turn. If more than one captive must be revived in this way, they do so in turn order, starting with the one closest to OP on their left.

End of Game

The game ends immediately as soon as one player, captive or OP, completes their mission. That player wins and their character returns to their reality:

Granddead becomes Pierre again and starts a new life with thoughts of his freedom and no anger towards his grandfather;
Achilles leaves his career as a champion, preferring to live a life of peace and anonymity;
Hempel continues to develop his fruit fields and becomes world famous;
Theseus finds his real body and, coming to terms with its frailty, begins to experience his travels even more vividly;
Phil continues to work on historical and philosophical works, but recognizes that it is impossible to know absolutely everything;
Schrodie begins an independent life without her father and ambiguity;
The Paradox of Omnipotence regains its divine power, but no longer uses it to assert itself.

The losers become the island's eternal captives.

Note: If multiple players completed their mission in the same turn, it must be determined who visited the space or fulfilled the condition required for their mission earlier. The order of the stages is defined in the section "Moving Around the Island".

Two-Player Game

Any interference with the laws of the island has consequences... Attempts to return to their reality have played a cruel joke on the captives: one personality has split into two bodies, and now it needs not just to leave the island, but to become one again...

In a two-player game, the person who plays as the captives takes 1 board and 5 character markers, but two pieces at once. One of them must match the board, and the other piece can be chosen at random. Both pieces will have the same number of health and energy points to match the board, and one mission and ability.

The captive draws a line across the health and energy symbols, dividing them in two. Below the energy symbols, the captive writes the name of the character that matches the second piece that does not match the board. Now the top of each symbol "belongs" to the character on the board, and the bottom to the second character, and the captive marks off or erases halves of the symbols at a time.

For example, the captive chose to play Schrodie's board and took two pieces, Schrodie and Theseus. During the game Schrodie lost 1 health point (the upper half of the first symbol is crossed out), and Theseus lost 2 health points and 1 energy point (the lower halves of the symbols are crossed out).

During setup, the captive chooses one starting fruit for each piece in turn, as usual, after which OP marks the location of the first one on the board. OP places only 4 anomaly tokens facing down on the table, which they will use to count how many times the captives have perished. Return the fifth token to the box. The rest of the setup rules remain the same.

The goal of the captive is to accomplish the mission indicated on the board using both pieces. The goal of OP is to have the captive pieces perish a total of 4 times.

During the captive's turn, they perform actions according to the standard rules for both pieces — first all actions for one, then all actions for the other, in any order. Then, they pass the turn to OP, for whom the rules do not change.

The character's abilities and fruit bonuses on the board apply to both captive pieces, but each bonus can still only be used once: for example, if one piece uses the orange bonus and crosses out the fruit, the other piece can no longer use the orange bonus.

Otherwise, the rules remain the same.

OP Power Tokens Explained

Seaweed

The Bush's movement is similar to Phil's when using his ability (see Phil). When the captive encounters the Bush, OP can cross out any fruit, even one that has not been circled.

Lithophytes

The Bush's pushes work the same as the Rock's pushes, and the Rock attacks and moves according to the rules of the Bush.

Flood

While the Wave is in a lake, it can, as part of its action, attack a captive on any space adjacent to that lake. Subsequently, if captives move into the lake with the Wave, standard encounter or scare-off rules apply. After the token expires, the Wave remains in the lake until OP moves it to any part of the ocean as part of their action or until it is scared off by a captive.

If there is a captive in the lake to which the Wave has moved, the Wave attacks that captive according to the encounter rules. If there are more than one captive in the lake, the Wave attacks each captive.

Ivy

In other words, the Bush and the Rock can "teleport" between anomaly spaces. When an anomaly is activated as a portal, any other anomaly is considered an exit portal. After "teleporting", the OP piece gains an additional movement (not an action!) to exit the exit portal to any adjacent space.

Hurricane

The rules apply when visited by any piece, both of a captive and OP. Any portal means any of the other five portals. When moving, OP must name its number and/or color.

Characters, Missions and Abilities

The game features 6 characters with unique missions and abilities. In this section you will find descriptions of them.

Granddead

Mission: "I Came Before You" — Scare OP's pieces off 5 times.

To do this, safely visit the space where the Bush or the Rock is, or safely step into the part of the ocean where the Wave is. When Granddead gives his marker to OP, they place it not on the space where the scare-off occurred, but next to themself, in the same place where they keep their own anomaly tokens.

Ability: "What Is Dead..." — You use energy instead of health. When you run out of energy, you perish. Each time you are revived you get 1 less energy (4 minimum).

Granddead has 6 energy points, which is used as both health and energy. When restoring or losing health as per the rules, Granddead crosses out or erases the markings off of the appropriate number of energy symbols.

Note: when Granddead has 1 energy point left, it can only be used as health. In other words, Granddead is considered to have 1 health point and 0 energy points left.

By crossing out the last energy point, Granddead perishes and is revived according to the standard rules. However, after each revival he recovers 1 less energy point. Thus, after the first revival Granddead erases his markings off of only 5 energy symbols on the board, and after the second and all subsequent revivals, he restores only 4. This is the new maximum of energy, you cannot restore energy above this maximum.

In a two-player game, both pieces start with energy symbols divided in half by a line. The ability works for each piece separately.

Grapes and Strawberry Bonus: When two OP pieces encounter each other, this bonus also works.

Achilles

Mission: "Run, Achilles, Run" — Move into the ocean from 5 different corner spaces.

The map is a hexagon surrounded by a frame — the ocean. To win, Achilles must visit 5 of the 6 corner spaces and then move into the ocean from them. Once in the ocean, Achilles returns to his starting fruit according to the standard rules (see "Ocean"). If Achilles moves into the ocean from a lake where his piece was lying on its side, and one of the spaces of the lake is a corner space, it counts towards the mission. Moving into the ocean from a corner space outside of his turn also counts towards Achilles' mission.

(An illustration marks in red all spaces that would count towards Achilles' mission and all directions in which Achilles would have to move off of them into the ocean.)

Ability: "Second Wind" — When you scare one of OP pieces off, you can cross out its symbol and gain 2 actions instead of just 1.

When scaring off any OP piece, Achilles may cross out its symbol under his ability to gain 2 additional actions this turn instead of one. The next time he spooks a crossed-out piece, this ability no longer applies and Achilles gets 1 extra action like everyone else.

Hempel

Mission: "Crows Are Black" — Visit 5 different fruits (besides the starter fruit).

There are a total of 7 fruits in the game. Excluding the starting fruit, Hempel has 6 different fruits to choose from, 5 of which he must find and visit.

In a two-player game, the captive has 2 starting fruits, as they are playing as 2 pieces, which means that they must visit the 5 remaining fruit spaces.

Ability: "Fruits Are Colorful" — When visiting a space with a new fruit, draw it in an empty space with a palm tree. If you visit it again and it has been crossed out, replenish it. You cannot draw the same fruits on different palm trees.

Hempel's bonuses are not strictly tied to fruit — when obtaining a fruit, Hempel draws or writes its name in any palm tree box on his board. When using a bonus, he crosses out the palm symbol. Later, if Hempel activates a space with a previously obtained but already used fruit, he erases the palm symbol of the box in which he marked the fruit (afterwards the bonus of this fruit can be used again). Each box must contain one unique fruit, with no repetition. When the game rules require a fruit to be crossed out or erased, for Hempel, this means crossing out or erasing markings off of the palm symbol.

Theseus

Mission: "Collect Yourself" — Visit one space of each of the pairs of portals and 2 oracles.

There are 3 different pairs of portals on the island. Only the space from a pair that Theseus visited first is counted towards the mission.

For example, Theseus had previously visited a space with portal 2 and counted that portal towards his mission. After that he ended up on the other space of portal 2 — this space does not count towards the mission.

Ability: "Figure Yourself Out" — Circle the leftmost available additional bonus when visiting spaces with other pieces on them. During your turn you can use the circled additional bonus by crossing it out.

When Theseus's piece encounters another player's piece, OP announces it and Theseus circles the leftmost available (i.e., not circled or crossed out) square on his board below the ability — this is an additional bonus. During his turn, he can cross out any circled squares as a free action and apply these bonuses:

Restore 1 energy point.
Restore 1 health point.
Gain an additional action.

Phil

Mission: "So Many Questions" — Visit 5 anomalies.

In each game OP puts 5 different anomalies on the map. Phil must visit each anomaly to win.

Lime and Cherries bonus: by applying the bonus, Phil calls the OP piece. Until the start of Phil's next turn, if OP's piece must interact with Phil's piece (attacking it or pushing it), it cannot do so.

Grapes, Apple, and Strawberry bonus: OP names all spaces in any order in the chosen direction, starting with the space adjacent to Phil and ending with the space adjacent to the ocean.

Ability: "Leave the Ocean" — When moving into the ocean, you can unsafely move to an opposite space of the island. You are allowed to not activate lakes if you like.

After stepping into the ocean, Phil can choose not to return to his starting fruit, and instead move unsafely to a space on the other side of the island opposite to the one he moved from in a straight line. After visiting a lake, Phil can choose not to activate it, even if the movement was unsafe.

In the illustrated example, Phil moves into the ocean and, after learning this from OP, applies his ability:

if Phil moves east, he moves to the space with Portal 1 and the portal is activated;
if Phil moves southeast, he moves to the space with the anomaly and it activates;
if he moves southwest, he moves into a lake and his piece is laid on its side, unless Phil uses his ability.

Schrodie

Mission: "Dead or Alive?" — Visit 5 different mirages and Escher knots.

Visit a total of 5 mirages and/or Escher knots. There are 3 mirages and 3 Escher knots on the island. Schrodie must visit any 5 of these 6 spaces. Schrodie can't always know which of the three Escher knots she has visited, so she can cross out any one.

Ability: "A Cat's Grace" — You either move to an adjacent space or 2 spaces over.

During her turn, Schrodie can move either to an adjacent space or 2 spaces over in a straight line. If she moves 2 spaces over, only the last (third) space is considered visited. Schrodie cannot step one space over like the others. To move safely (either to an adjacent space or 2 spaces over), she must use 1 energy point like everyone else. Schrodie does not spend any energy points to move through 2 spaces unsafely.

Paradoxes

The game's setting is based on famous philosophical paradoxes. They are slightly altered in the characters' backstories for the sake of conveying the idea of alternate realities and for creative purposes. In this section you will find commonly recognized names and summaries of these paradoxes. You can look them up to find extensive articles on the nature of each paradox.

Omnipotence Paradox: The paradox of omnipotence, or the paradox of the stone: "Can an omnipotent god create a stone so heavy that he himself cannot lift it?"
Granddead: The paradox of the time traveler, or the paradox of the murdered grandfather: "I went back in time and killed my grandfather. Then how could I have been born to do it?"
Achilles: Zeno's Paradox, or Achilles and the Tortoise: "The slowest — when it runs — will never be caught up to by the fastest. For before this can happen, it is necessary that the pursuer arrive at the place from which the pursued started; so, it is necessary that the slower one should always be somewhat ahead."
Hempel: Hempel's paradox, or the crow's paradox, demonstrates that inductive reasoning sometimes conflicts with intuition.
Theseus: The paradox of Theseus, or the ship of Theseus: "If all the constituent parts of the original object have been replaced, does the object remain the same object?"
Phil: The chicken and egg problem: "What came before, the chicken or the egg?"
Schrodie: Schrödinger's cat: the thought experiment known by this name demonstrates the concept of quantum superposition.