Shrinks and Ladders -- Rules

Aim

The aim of the game is to be the first player to move two of your three pieces from the Start square to the Finish square on the board.

Equipment

You will need:

The Board
A 12 Sided dice (D12)
4 Coloured Counters per player

Tip: If you do not have a D12, You can use two standard(D6) dice, the game will not be significantly different.

Key Concept: The Shrink Scale

The Shrink Scale is a the line of figures at the bottom of the board. Each player will have one Counter on this to track their Shrink Value.

At the beginning of the game, each player will have a Shrink Value of zero. When a player needs to shrink, they increase it by the required amount.

When a player rolls the dice on their turn, they must subtract their Shrink Value from their role before moving.
If the player rolls a number less than their Shrink Value, they decrease their Shrink Value by 1, instead of moving.

Setup

Each player places three counters of their chosen colour on the Start Square, and one on the Shrink Scale at Zero. Randomly choose a player to play first.

Playing the Game

Each player takes it in turns to roll a dice then choose one of their pieces to move along the track.

The number of spaces it will move is equal to the number on the dice minus your current Shrink Value.

Tip: To avoid people forgetting to apply their Shrink Value -- Get in the habbit of saying, "I got a <<Nine>> which shrinks to <<Six>>"

Landing

Should any piece land on another piece, that (landed on) piece is immediatly moved down a row. If it is already on the bottom row, return it to the Start.

Should any piece land on the bottom of a Ladder, move it immediately to the top of the Ladder.

Should any piece land on the head of a Snake, move it immediately to the tail of the Snake.

Shrink Tubes.

Some spaces on the board, are green and have a Shrink Tube coming out from them. These are the Tube Entrances, and occur on spaces 6, 16, 28, and 38.

Each Shrink Tube also has a Tube End, a few spaces later, which is the last place your piece may drop out of the Tube. These are on spaces 11, 20, 31 and 40.

If your piece starts on, or passes the Tube Entrance, then it may not continue past the Tube End on the same turn. Instead you use up the remainder of your movement by increasing your Shrink Value by that amount.

For example if your piece started on Square 5, You had a Shrink Value of 3, and You rolled a 12:
    Your move would be 9, which ordinarly would take it to Square 14, but it would have to stop at Square 11 -- The end of the shrink tube.

    You would still have 3 left to move, but couldn't so instead you would have to increase your Shrink Value by 3.
The end result: Your piece would be on Square 11, and your Shrink Value would be 6.

If however your piece does not reach the Tube End, then it moves as normal, and does not need to shrink.

Winning the Game

If any piece reaches the Finish, any extra roll, is used up by increasing the players Shrink Value. As soon as a player gets a second piece to the Finish, they win the game.