Penguin Soccer Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal
• Setup
• General Rules
  • Possession of the Ball
  • Kicking
  • Standing
  • Sliding
• Gameplay
  • Swimming (off the board)
  • Sliding (on a space, on its belly, pointed in one of 8 directions)
  • Standing (on a space, standing up; direction irrelevant)
• Game End
• Tournament Rules
• Cheat Sheet

Components

A PENGUIN SOCCER set includes:

• A PENGUIN SOCCER 8x8 board.
• 3 white penguins in 3 sizes.
• 3 black penguins in 3 sizes.
• One red ball.

Goal

Get the ball into your opponent's corner space, regardless of whether your opponent has a penguin there. (Penguins are inept at goaltending. Seriously, stop a ball with those flippers?)

Setup

• The two players sit at opposite corners of the board (where the goal spaces are), which sits diagonally between the players.
• Each player takes the three penguins of one color, and sets them off the board (swimming).
• Place the ball at the intersection of the center four squares. It is considered to be in all four squares until a penguin first enters one of them, at which point, it moves into the penguin's space.
• The player with the best penguin impression (as voted by anyone and everyone present) goes first.

General Rules

Possession of the Ball

The only option a penguin in possession of the ball has is to kick the ball. Penguins get a little confused with basketball: They think that once they stop dribbling (and penguins can't dribble — just look at those legs!), they're not allowed to move; they can only pass or shoot.

• The first penguin to slide into one of the four center squares takes possession of the ball, which in this case means the ball shifts slightly from the center intersection to be in only that space, and then the penguin stops sliding, stands up, and takes possession of it.
• Possession of the ball is indicated by putting it under your standing penguin.
• The ball can only be moved by kicking it.

Kicking

• A penguin kicks in any direction and slips on the ice in the process, does a backflip, and lands on its belly facing toward the ball, still in the same space where it was.
  • Mama, the big, strong penguin, kicks the ball 3 spaces.
  • Papa, the medium penguin, kicks the ball 2 spaces.
  • Baby, the small, weak penguin, kicks the ball 1 space.
• If the ball is about to go off the board, it stops. The penguins will always keep the precious ball in play!
• If the ball reaches a square with a penguin, it stops in the penguin's space, and the struck penguin stands up, in possession of the ball.

Standing

Any penguin that is in a sliding position can stand up. When a penguin is standing, its facing is irrelevant.

Sliding

Although a penguin in possession of the ball cannot slide, a penguin in almost any other situation can slide.

• Each penguin can slide in a straight line on its belly, then optionally spin:
  • Mama, the big, slow penguin, must slide 1 square, then may spin up to 45° either direction.
  • Papa, the medium penguin, must slide 2 squares, then may spin up to 90° either direction.
  • Baby, the small, fast penguin, must slide 3 squares, then may spin up to 135° either direction.
• A penguin whose full move would make it slide off the board stops just short and stands up instead.
• A penguin that slides to the ball's location stops sliding, stands up, and takes possession of it.
• A penguin of any size may tackle by sliding into the space with the opponent's ball handler. A tackle is the one and only time a penguin will strike another penguin. Anything for the ball! The attacker pushes the tackled penguin off the ball, and that penguin falls over in the direction it was pushed, moving one space that way. If it hits another penguin, that one also either falls over in that direction (if it was standing), or turns to face that direction (if it wasn't standing), moving one space that way, and so on. Being pushed during a tackle can push a penguin off the edge of the board, back into the sea.
• Otherwise, you may not make a move that would slide a penguin into another's space. Fowl don't foul!
• You may not make a move that would put a penguin in your opponent's corner, by any means.

Gameplay

Each turn, you must select one of your penguins, and you must have it take an action. The actions available to it depend on its current situation. The "(+↺/↻)" at the end of sliding options reminds you that the penguin has the option of spinning after a slide. Penguin situations and the respective available actions are as follows:

Swimming (off the board)

• → sliding, the first space of its move will always be in your corner space, pointed in any of the three directions (+↺/↻) — It's as if the penguin's started the move from just outside the playfield.

Sliding (on a space, on its belly, pointed in one of 8 directions)

• → sliding in the direction it is already facing (+↺/↻)
• → standing

Standing (on a space, standing up; direction irrelevant)

• Without the ball → sliding in any orthogonal or diagonal direction (+↺/↻).
• With the ball, kick it in any orthogonal or diagonal direction → sliding position in the kick direction.

Game End

If you get the ball into your opponent's corner space, even if your opponent has a penguin there, you win!

Tournament Rules

Use chess clocks set to 15 minutes per player. If you run out of time, you lose.

Cheat Sheet

The rulebook includes a second page, a "Penguin Soccer cheat sheet" card, which carries no text and is reproduced here in words. It shows the kick and slide distances of each penguin:

• Baby: kicks the ball 1 space; slides 3 spaces, then may spin up to 135° either direction.
• Papa: kicks the ball 2 spaces; slides 2 spaces, then may spin up to 90° either direction.
• Mama: kicks the ball 3 spaces; slides 1 space, then may spin up to 45° either direction.