Cephalopod

Cephalopod is a two-player game which employs a 5x5 board, 24 dice of one color, and 24 dice of another color. The board starts out vacant.

Players take turns adding dice of their own color to the board, one die per turn. A newly placed die must show a one, unless it’s a capturing placement, in which case it must show a two or higher. Each player will always have a placement available and must make one. Players cannot pass on their turn.

Once the board has been completely filled, the player whose dice occupy the majority of the squares wins. Draws and ties cannot occur in Cephalopod.

Capturing placementIf a die is placed horizontally or vertically adjacent (hereafter “adjacent”) to two dice, and the sum of the pip counts (number of spots on the top surface of a die) on those two adjacent dice is six or less, then the currently played die must show the pip sum of its two adjacent dice, and the player must remove those two adjacent dice from the board immediately, while it is still his turn.

Similarly, if a die is placed adjacent to three or four dice, and if two, three, or four of its adjacent dice have a pip sum of six or less, then two, three, or four of those adjacent dice (whose pip sum is six or less) must be removed, and the played die must show the pip sum of the removed dice.

Captures are mandatory only when placing a die onto a square from which captures are possible.

Non-capturing placementA player can make a non-capturing placement simply by adding a die to a square from which no captures are possible. A non-capturing placement must show a single pip.

Players always begin their turn by adding a die. Only dice which are adjacent to the currently added die, and whose pip sum equals the pip count of the currently added die may be removed during the current turn.

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