King's Cross
The game begins set up like so:
The white King
starts in one of the four center squares, while two pawns and one
defender stem from each of the four corners. The King can only move
North, South, East, and West (board either says which side is which or
players agree on the directions); same with the pawns. There are two
knight defenders, and two rook defenders, and they retain their range of
movement from the original game of chess, except that they can also
move backward. The movement of all pieces, including the king, can go
off the side of the board and continue on the opposite side, as long as
there is nothing blocking the move. For example, if a player moved
North from the top left corner, the next space it would enter would be
the bottom left corner. If it moved West from the top left corner, it
would move to the top right corner, and so on.
The game starts
with the King's move, which is two dice rolls or two die. One roll
determines the number of squares it can move (1-6), and the other roll
determines the direction it moves (1=N, 2=S, 3=W, 4=E or any agreed upon
arrangement). Then one player moves, and they move first their
defender and then a pawn (if they so choose). The object of the
movement is to either block the King from eating a pawn, or to try to
trap the King by surrounding it on all four sides. The other player
then moves; they can move the same pieces as the first player if they
wish. Then the King moves again in the same manner.
If the King
runs into a defender, it's turn ends in that spot. Neither piece is
otherwise affected, they just can't move past the other. In the below
example, if the King rolled to move 6 spaces West, it would only be able
to move one square before it's movement was stopped.
The game
continues on in this way until the King encounters a pawn. In the
example below, the King would encounter a pawn if it was moving West as
it made this move. The King only eats a pawn if it is in the path of
its movement.
When the King
hits a pawn, it eats it and the pawn is gone from the board. After it
eats a pawn, the King earns a new roll. After the first pawn it eats,
it then has two moves per turn (two separate rolls of the two die).
When it eats another pawn, it earns a third move per turn. The King
will continue to move three times per turn until the game is over, even
if it eats more pawns.
If the King
is blocked on any side at the beginning of its turn, it can't complete a
move in that direction. If it has more than one roll per turn, it has
another chance or two to move in another direction. Thus, if it is
surrounded on three sides, it has to wait until it gets a roll in the
one direction it can move in.
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