Unless blocked by a wall, a piece moves either one square diagonally, or to the second square orthogonally. A piece may move to the first square orthogonally only if the second square is blocked by another pawn; it may jump to the second square diagonally if the first square is blocked by another pawn. A pawn may move either one or two squares to enter one of the opponent’s home squares (unless blocked by a wall). On entering the opponent’s home square a pawn can displace a pawn: at other times a pawn can only move to a vacant square, but you cannot guard your home square by leaving a pawn in it. The walls make the game interesting. A piece cannot jump over a wall. A turn consists of moving a pawn and then placing a wall, unless the player has no walls left. The blue walls must be placed horizontally and the green walls vertically. A wall cannot be placed in such a way that it completely blocks off any of the four goal squares. Besides being an interesting game in its own right, Blockade has historical importance as an apparent inspiration for Quoridor, the recent award-winning game with many of the same rules. I got my copy on eBay, but it wouldn’t be too hard to make a usable set, using matches for walls. As always, let me know if you have more information, especially the author’s name ... |
