Ground Control (itch) (rarelikeaunicorn)

Claim territory to deny your opponent ground control!

Rules:

• Each player must take exactly 3 steps during their turn
• Blue goes first. The colored icon in the border reflects the current player, and the dice icon represents the remaining steps for the active player's turn
• You may not step on the same tile twice in one turn
• When your turn ends, tiles you stepped on are changed:
  • If this is the first time a tile has been stepped on, it becomes Marked in your color
  • If you already Marked the tile on a previous turn, it becomes Claimed in your color
  • If you already Claimed the tile on a previous turn, it becomes Blocked
  • If your opponent already Marked the tile on a previous turn, it becomes Blocked
• Any player may pass over any Marked tile
• Players may only pass over their own Claimed tiles
• Blocked tiles are impassable for all players
• The first player unable to take 5 steps during their turn forfeits

Currently, the game doesn't trigger the win/loss state. Please feel free to press R to start a new game when a player becomes boardlocked.

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An initial prototype from 2018, with added polish for release to make it not-terrible to look at and parse information from. A full version would include a classic play mode while also allowing for custom matches: grid size, starting locations (always bisymmetrical), and number of steps per turn would all be straightforward options. Extended options could include 4-player support (1v1v1v1 for sure, possibly 2v2) and movement rule modifiers.

Two versions of the game, 3-Step on a 5*5 board and 5-Step on a 9*9 board, are available for download in addition to the browser-playable 3-Step above.