Triangulate is an abstract strategy board game that can be played with "found objects." In other words, it's a game, not unlike checkers or chess, but one that can be played with game pieces or other objects that you probably already have at home.

Object of the Game

Players begin with 8 small tokens each, spread around the edge of a regular chess board. Each person attempts to be the first to have 3 of their own small pieces grouped together (or Triangulated) on a single square of the board. They use larger tokens to track spaces on the board that they have already occupied. These tracks allow players a wider variety of movement possibilities as the game progresses.

Required Materials

The materials list for Triangulate is quite lean and should be easy to assemble:

• One standard 8x8 chess or checker board
• 8 small tokens of any single color (small coins or checkers are ideal the tokens should be approx. 1" in diameter)
• 8 small tokens of any single color, so long as they are different than the first set of 8
• 32 large tokens of any single color (poker chips or round pieces of thin cardboard are ideal - the tokens should be approx. 1 ½" in diameter)
• 32 large tokens of any single color, so long as they are different than the first set of 32

Initial Set-Up

Each player should take a set of 8 small and a set of 32 large tokens to use as their complete set of playing pieces.

Using all of the smaller tokens, set up the board to match the diagram shown below. The 'X' and 'O' symbols are simply used to distinguish between the two players. As noted above, the actual playing pieces may be any available set of tokens.

 _______________________________________________
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|     |  X  |     |  O  |  X  |     |  O  |     |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|  O  |     |     |     |     |     |     |  X  |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|  X  |     |     |     |     |     |     |  O  |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|  O  |     |     |     |     |     |     |  X  |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|  X  |     |     |     |     |     |     |  O  |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|
|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
|     |  O  |     |  X  |  O  |     |  X  |     |
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|

Rules of Triangulate

Initially each small token/piece moves almost exactly as a King in chess - one square in any direction, including diagonally and backwards. This changes as the game progresses, but that will be covered in the remainder of the rules.

The complete rules are as follows:

1. Players flip a coin or use any other method to decide who goes first.

2. The player who wins the toss decides which of their small pieces they would like to move first. In order to actually make the move, the player first takes one of their LARGE tokens and places it onto the square to which they intend to move a SMALL token. (The proposed square must be directly adjacent to the original square, touching on any side or corner) They then move their small token from its current position to the new square; placing it on top of the newly placed larger token. As an analogy, think of the small tokens as frogs; while the larger tokens are the lily pads in the pond. You must place a lily pad in front of the frog so that he can leap forward onto it. Remember, if you can get 3 of your own frogs on the same lily pad, you've won.

3. The 2nd player repeats the same process:

• First, decide which square they intend to occupy next, and place a large token upon that square.

• Second, move the small token from it's original square onto the new square, and placing it on top of the large token.

• Additionally, on their first move only, the 2nd player may place one extra large token anywhere on the board, provided it is NOT directly adjacent (orthogonally or diagonally) to any of their existing tokens. This is done to help balance out the disadvantage of going 2nd.

• A player may move one of their small tokens onto a square already occupied by one of their own or one of their opponent's small token. In this case, the player does NOT place one of their large tokens in advance of the move, but simply places their small token on top of the other small token already in place. If this move is onto an opposing piece, that piece is not captured, but effectively blocked. Until the player on top moves their small token, the piece below may not move. In keeping with the analogy mentioned above; one frog may land upon another that is already occupying a lily pad. This may be your own frog, or your opponent's.

• A player may decide to move to a square that has previously been occupied by an opponent's small token. That square should already contain the opponent's large token, which was placed there earlier. The new large token replaces the old one and the player may then occupy the square as though it were their own. In keeping with the analogy; if an opponent's lily pad is empty, you may remove it and place your own pad in it's place. Your frog CANNOT jump onto an opponent's empty lily pad.

• At any time, a player may use their turn to move one of their small pieces any number of squares along the trail left by their own large tokens. The move must be any number of squares vertically, horizontally or diagonally and the move must not be interrupted by blank squares on the board, or those already occupied by an opponent's large tokens. Think of this move much like a Rook in chess, with the additional ability to move diagonally. This includes moving a piece to a square already occupied by another piece, since that piece is already sitting upon a square with a large token on it. You may not, however, pass any other small tokens during this type of move. If another small token is in your way, you may land upon it, but go no further. Back to the analogy; you may move a frog along any number of consecutive lily pads in a straight line, but stopping if you meet another frog.

• Remember that no small tokens are ever captured, but can be blocked from moving, by having an opposing small token moved on top of them. Large tokens, on the other hand, are removed any time an opposing large token is placed on the square that they occupy. In other words, leaving a trail behind, does not guarantee that it will be there when you return.

• At any time, no more than 1 large and 2 small tokens may occupy any single square on the board. This effectively allows a player to bring two of their own small tokens together on a single square and thereby prevent their opponent from placing any tokens on that square. In some ways this is like a 'check' position in Chess, in that it occurs in preparation for the third piece to arrive and for the game to be won. The arrival of the 3rd small token belonging to the same player is the only exception to this rule, for obvious reasons.

Sample Moves

Shown below are a couple of sample moves, to illustrate how pieces move during a game of Triangulate.

Example 1

     A     B     C     D     E
  _________________________________
  |     |     |     |     |     |
1 |     |  O  |     |     | 
  |_____|_____|_____|_____|____
  |     |  _  |     |     | 
2 |  X  | (_) |     |     | 
  |_____|_____|_____|____
  |     |     |     | 
3 |     |     | 
  |_____|_____ 

Example 2

    A     B     C     D     E
  _________________________________
  |     |     |     |     |     | 
1 |     |     |     |     |
  |_____|_____|_____|_____|____
  |  _  |  _  |  _  |  _  | 
2 | (X) | (_) | (_) | (O) | 
  |_____|_____|_____|____
  |     |     |     |
3 |     |     |
  |_____|_____

Triangulate © copyright 2001 Allan Bedford.