Gnaqush

Gnaqush

Designer: Nash
Publisher: Invisible City Productions
Type: Board, Icehouse
Status: Free
Available at: http://www.invisible-city.com/play/271/gnaqush

It’s not just the nickname of the game’s designer – it’s what you’ll do with your teeth as your carefuly-laid plans get thwarted and blocked over and over again in this strategic Icehouse game for 4 players.

Original game design and concept by Nash, with addtional modifications and variants by The Monday Night Games Group.

Object: Promote your one-pip pieces up to two-pip pieces, then three-pip pieces – eventually promoting the three-pip pieces to Nirvana. The first player with all pieces in Nirvana wins.

You Need:

• One Icehouse stash for each player. Each player must have a different color.
• A chessboard.
• (optional) – 16 blocker tokens to fill spaces to modify the board for two or three players.

Normal Play: On your turn you can Jump over an adjacent piece or Slide (Move) one of your valid pieces Move to an adjacent square. When you move a piece or stack into a space occupied by another piece or a stack of pieces, you must cap that stack with the piece(s) you moved.

Ascension: If one or more of your pieces is in your goal square at the end of any turn and your home square is vacant, you must remove one of your pieces from your home square. Set it on its side in front of you, off the board. Put a piece that’s one pip larger point up in your home square. If the piece you removed was a three-pip piece, it has ascended to Nirvana – do not put a piece in your home square.

Winning: If you’re the first player to send your last three-pip piece to Nirvana, the game ends and you win.