gamerules

Sneaky Octopuses

Octo Specialists - Rules

Overview

Up to Four team of octopuses who live in an aquarium love to steal fish from the Fish Tanks in the aquarium and bring them back to their own Octopus Tanks.

The Keepers in Lab Coats wish they wouldn't do this.

Players control a team of octopuses, each member with a special ability. Sliding around the aquarium, collecting fish, and throwing them into their own tanks. All while avoiding the Keepers, who are simply trying to keep them in their own tanks.

Aim

To be the first player to bring 10 points worth of fish back to your tank.

Each of the same colour is worth one more point than the last, so getting more of the same colour will help you win more quickly.

Equipment

• 1 Board
• 16 Octopuses ( 4 types, 1 of each type per player.)
  • Skater
  • Spy
  • Squisher
  • Shooter
• 4 Keepers
• 25 Fish Counters - 5 in 5 different colours
• 1 d6 dice

Stadard Setup

Place the board in the middle of the playing area.

Deal the fish randomly among the tanks on the board. One fish per square. Fudge the random so that no tank has 2 of the same kind of fish.

Place the Keepers in the entrances to each of the showers, facing the baord.

Each player places their octopuses in their coloured tank.

Game play

Starting with a randomly chosen player.

Players take turns to:

• Perform up to 1 Action per Octopus.
• Activate a Keeper
• Clear the Showers.

Octopus Actions

On your turn, you may perform 1 action for each octupus.

Every action makes Noise which the Keepers may react to. See below.

Escape your tank

Move an Octopus from the tank to any square touching the tank.

Steal a Fish - 1 Action

Take a fish counter out of an tank adjacent to an octopus, and place in on the Octopus. That octupus is now holding the fish.

An octopus may hold as many fish as they like.

Move an Octopus

An Octopus can move up to 3 spaces in any direction, and change direction as they wish.

The octopus may only take 1 fish with them. If they are holding more than 1 fish, the other fish, must be left behind on the ground.

An Octopus may move freely past their own team mates.

To move past an opponent Octopus, your octopus must start and finish their movement next to that opponent. (This means that they will only move 2 spaces).

If your Octupus steps onto a Keeper, The keeper catches them, and returns them to their tank. You choose the shower he goes back to.

If your Octopus's movement takes it over a fish on the ground, the octopus may pick it without stopping.

Throw a Fish - 1 Action

Throw a fish as far as you like in any orthagonal direction.

Either :

• To a team mate.
  • The team mate can either keep the fish, or throw it again immediately, without using their own action. (Leading to chain shots)
• To an empty space. To pick it up later.
• At another Octopus
  • That octopus is returned to their tank.
  • The fish stays in the square where it hit them.
• At a Keeper
  • The keeper returns to the shower of your choice.
  • The fish stays where it hit them.
• Into a tank
  • You can only do this with an octopus in a square next touching the tank.
  • If getting that fish into the tank brings your total points to the required value. You win the game immediately.

Activate a Keeper

Nominate a Keeper, and roll the D6 dice. The number on the D6 will tell you how to move the keeper. While the mechanism may seem tricky at first. You should find that their movement makes an intuitive sense relatively quickly.

The Keeper counters have the numbers 1 - 6 on their edges.

Odd numbers are on the right, and even on the left. These indicate their turning preference.

The following table shows the movement for each number.

Keepers can move into empty spaces, or onto spaces with an Octopus. They cannot move though walls, fish tanks, into a shower or into each other. They also may not move back onto the space they started on this turn.

So depending on what you rolled move the keeper according to the table.

Forward means step forward 1 space. Rotate means rotate by 90 degrees in their preferred direction.

If they cannot move forward, rotate them by 90 degrees in their preferred direction until they can, and move them. If they cannot move in any direction, leave them where they are.

note: 

This should mean that if there is only 1 natural path for a keeper to follow, then they will follow it.
They will leave the shower on a 5 or 6.

Noise

If an octopus does any action within line of sight of a Keeper, the Keeper will either hear it, or see it.

If a fish, or jet of Ink is fired past any square within line of sight of a Keeper, the Keeper will either see it or hear it.

If the keeper is facing the direction of the action, they see it, And will move one space towards it.

If the keeper is facing any other direction, they hear it, and will turn to face it, but they will not move.

Note : Line of sight is always orthagonal, and is blocked by fish tanks, other Keepers, or octopuses that are not involved in the current action.

Specialists

Each Octopus on your team has a speciality. Take advantage of these to evade capture and cover more area on the board.

Tako - Stealth.

Tako does not make any noise. Keepers will not react to him, but if they happen to step on him, they will catch him.

If Speedy is not holding a fish, he may move as far as there is space orthagonally - 1 Action

May shoot a jet of ink within line of sight.

If it hits an octopus, they return to their tank. If it hits a Keeper, they return to the sink. The shooter chooses their direction. If it hits a tank or wall. It has no effect except to make noise along it's path.

May not shoot from the corner spaces on the board. Octopuses in these corner spaces are safe from Ink Jets.

Squish - The Squeeze

May squeeze through gaps too small even for the other Octopuses. Notably, the gaps underneath the middle fish tanks. Squeezing from one side to the other is considered moving 1 space.

Ending the Game

As soon as one player reaches the agreed upon target, by placing fish into their own tank, they win the game.