Package War! is a two player game where each player takes on the role of a package shipping mogul determined to dominate the industry and crush the competition. In this cut-throat game, each shipping magnate tries to foil the competition by crushing their packages and stacking their own packages as high as they can. Be the first to dominate the package shipping industry!
Equipment
Package War! requires a minimum of 16 six-sided dice, and pencil and paper for noting points scored. 26 six-sided dice are recommended.
Setup
The six-sided dice are set to one side where each player can reach them. A column for each player is noted on the pad of paper, with five starting points marked for each player.
Both players roll a single die; the one with the highest number goes first.
Game Play
Packaging Phase:
Player one rolls one die, placing it between the two players, with the value rolled facing up. The dice represent the packages that the shipping companies are going to handle. Player two then rolls a die, placing it next to the first die. Play alternates between the two players, with dice being arranged in a horizontal line between them in the order they are rolled (see the Packaging Phase Diagram). When the line becomes longer than five packages, the first die is removed and goes back into the pool of packages.
Distribution Phase:
As soon as a player rolls a six, packages stop being added to the line, and the distribution phase begins. The die that rolled a six is put back in the package pool, and the player who rolled the six begins and either takes a package from the line or pushes a package from the line to the opponent's shipping center. Each player has two tables for stacking packages and decides on which table the new packages are stacked (even if they were sent by the opponent). See "Stacking" for more detailed rules about stacking packages.
Play then alternates back and forth between the two players until there are no more packages left in the line. At the end of the distribution phase the scores are tabulated, and play resumes with the packaging phase. The player that did not roll the six begins the packaging phase. If a six is rolled when there are no packages in the line, the distribution phase is ignored, and the packaging phase continues.
Stacked packages that are not crushed remain on their stacking tables until they are crushed in subsequent rounds.
Stacking
Each player only has two tables for stacking packages, one right next to the other. You can only stack packages on top of each other, you cannot put packages under packages that are already on the table. Every package that ends up on a player's side must go onto these tables, and when the player has more than two packages, any subsequent packages must be stacked.
The higher the number showing, the heavier the package is, with one being lightest and five being heaviest. You can stack lighter packages on heavier ones, but if you stack a heavier or same weight package on another package, all the packages below are crushed. The negative points generated are immediately subtracted from the player's total and the crushed package is taken out of the player's stack, returning to the dice pool. For example, if a player stacks a four or a five on a package marked four, that package, and all packages below it are crushed.
Scoring
Each player begins the game with five points. Scores are tabulated at the end of the distribution phase.
Each player gets a negative point for every package on his table that was crushed during that round.
Each player also gets positive points for stacking packages successfully. The higher your stack grows, the more points you earn. A package stacked on top of another package is worth 1 point, a package stacked on top of two packages is worth 2 points, a package on top of three packages is worth 3 points, etc. A stack of five packages (the highest stack you can get) would be worth 1+2+3+4=10 points.
Crushed packages are always worth -1 point, regardless of how high they are stacked.
Stacked packages that do not end up crushed remain on their stacking tables. They will continue to generate points in subsequent distribution phases, until they are crushed out of existence.
See the Scoring Diagram for an example.
Game End
The game ends when either the winning condition or the losing condition is reached. A player automatically loses the game when his score drops to 0 or below. A player automatically wins the game when her score reaches 20. If both players win (or lose) the game at the same time, the player with the higher final score wins.
Package War! © 2004 Rasmus Pechuel and Monica Shellman.
