| Por'rika | |
Designed by Terry Alber
The game board (Figure 1 below) is laid out on a 4x7 grid of squares, each bisected to form four equilateral triangles per square.
The outside triangles on the last two rows are blocked off, to form a pointed playing surface. The two spaces at the pointed tip of the game board are the Por'rika, the Sacred Waters (marked with "P" below).
The four spaces marked with "X" at the pointed end are the aeries (starting points) of the Ser'ra. The spaces marked with "X" at the flat end of the board are the starting positions for the Schelati. There are four Ser'ra (represented by dimes) and there are six Schelati (represented by pennies). Two of the pennies are placed heads up to denote the Egg-Carriers. The other four are placed tails up and are the Guardians.
The six Schelati may be placed in any of the starting positions.
Object
The object of the copper side is to get both Egg-Carriers into the Scared Water spaces. The object of the silver side is to stop that from happening.
Movement
No piece may occupy or pass thru a space occupied by another piece.
Each player moves one piece per turn, starting with copper.
Each piece moves two spaces per turn, the first move to the space directly across the square, and then to any space touching an outside corner of that space, that does not touch a side. This is shown in Figure 2 (a & b) below, the piece starts in space "0," moves to space "1," and then can move to any non-occupied space marked "2." The piece cannot move to any space marked "*" on this turn.
In order for a Ser'ra to capture an Egg-Carrier, or a Guardian to capture a Ser'ra, a piece can lock up another piece by landing directly across the square from the first piece. This then blocks the first move of either piece (directly across the square). Both pieces remain on the board (locked in mortal struggle). These captures are shown in Figure 3, below. "E" is an Egg-Carrier (heads-up penny), "G1" & "G2" are Guardians (tails-up pennies) and "S" is a Ser'ra (dime). Depending on whose turn it is, "G1" could move "<1>," "<2>" and lock up "S" where he sits, or "S" could move ">1<," ">2<" to capture "E," thus ending the game. "G2"'s move is irrelevant at this point since there can be no immediate interaction between this piece and "S."
Just as in chess, a player may not cause his own king to come into check, so a Por'rika player cannot lock up his own pieces.
For 2 players
Por'rika(c) (Sacred Waters) is an old Schelati(c) game. The Schelati are a species of amphibians that have, since the beginning of recorded history, laid their eggs in the Sacred Waters. These Sacred Waters, however, happened to be located in the prime hunting territory for the Ser'ra(c), large birds of prey that were the Schelati's only natural enemy. The game is based on this conflict.
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Related Resources
• Unequal Forces Finalists
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Figure 1
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\/ | X \/ | \/ X | \/
\ | /\ | /\ | /
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\ | / X \ | / X \ | /
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\ /|\ /
\ / | \ /
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\/ P | P \/
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Figure 2a
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| \ / | \ / | \ * / | \ 2 / |
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| \ / | \ / | \ 2 / | \ 2 / |
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Figure 2b
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| \ / | \ 0 / | \ / | \ / |
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| \/ 2 | * \/ * | 2 \/ | \/ |
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| / 2 \ | / 1 \ | / 2 \ | / \ |
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| \ 2 / | \ * / | \ 2 / | \ / |
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| \/ 2 | 2 \/ 2 | 2 \/ | \/ |
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Figure 3
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| \ / | \ G1 / | \ / | \ / |
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| E \/ >2< | \/ | \/ | \/ |
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| / \ | / <1> \ | / \ | / \ |
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|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|
| \ / | \ G2 / | \ / | \ / |
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| \/ | <2> \/ S | \/ | \/ |
| /\ | >1< /\ | /\ | /\ |
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|/ \|/ \|/ \|/ \|
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This game © copyright 2002 Terry Alber.
