Post by XeloX58 in Devlog 1: The 5x5 Sprint and Crafting Hoppsi in a Two-Week Game Jam comments

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Tak has that! It’s pieces actually do have a direction! (See my foto)

As you can see the board has a nice shading. On the dark side are the dark pieces. I think that’s neat. On your print and play you could make a board with a red and black “back row”, and 3 blank (or green) middle rows.

I love the game. It’s funny, it’s fast, but deep enough to give it the “wait let me think about this” feel! The you can only move forward rule provides perfect play time.

Question: What happens when there is a situation where a player can choose between capturing one piece or capturing multiple pieces? Is that player obliged to do the multi-capture?? If so, or if not so, it should be mentioned in the rules. I think it is nice to set up a trap for your opponent, letting them think they can take one piece, but after you move they are obliged to take two and it then makes the way free for you to score….

Riffle Shuffle & Roll9 days ago (2 edits)

Oh that is awesome! I have started looking for a Tak set on Ebay. I might pick one up soon. If you don't mind, I'd like to add your picture to the BoardGameGeek page once it is active.

For your question, the rule is currently: If you have more than one capture option on your turn, you may choose which to take. Thank you for pointing this out! I have amended the capture section to say the following:

I will also add an image to illustrate continuing a multi-capture after rebounding ASAP.

Thank you so much for the feedback! I am so happy to hear you are enjoying the game. ALSO, I do like the idea of a colored home row for each player. In my mind, Hoppsi is very much a field game of tag!

XeloX587 days ago (2 edits) (+1)

I’d be honored if you’d use my picture! :)

As for scoring: what if I was to wipe all my opponents remaining pieces from the board with a multi-capture, could that maybe be worth 5 points? So far I have not been able to do so,but I was close a few times.

Here is a video of what could happen if white is obliged to do a multi-capture instead of having the choice between a single or multi

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bdLRDlrob4kvYJL81QnXzy5A

So yeah, imo the multi-cature should be an obligation, but it is up to you ofcoarse

Riffle Shuffle & Roll7 days ago

Thank you for sharing the video! The game looks great with Tak pieces. I realized last night that the game is easily playable with checkers as long as they are two sided (one side plain, one side with a crown or a design). Each runner would start the game with the plain side up. Once your runner hits your opponent's home row, it is flipped over to the design side. This means it is now heading the other direction. Once you hit your own home row again, the piece is flipped back so the plain side is showing. For the captain, simply stack two checkers and treat it as one piece. I bring this up because I am working on how to do a simple production of the game, and checkers pieces are easily attainable. BUT the game would look much more unique and perhaps more elegant with special pieces. Your Tak setup makes me want to produce special pieces (perhaps isosceles triangles, and a circle for the captain).

Right now, there are three ways to win the round, and they are all worth different points. Capturing your opponent's captain gets you 1 point. Breaching your opponent's home row with your captain gets you 2 points. A wipeout, capturing all of your opponent's pieces is worth 3 points. The wipeout happens so rarely, that it might actually be worth an "automatic win" as far as the match points go.

As far as making the longest multi-capture the mandatory choice... I will start testing that idea! It makes sense for a game that is so focused on setting up traps like Hoppsi. My first priority was finding balance between the mandatory rules and player choice to make the game feel as open as possible on the small board. Leaning into the forced trap setting might be the more enjoyable choice though.

I will start testing this week. Thank you again! = )

XeloX586 days ago(+1)

Hi,

I am hooked. lol ! And I stumbled uppon another issue.

I’ve been thinking about the capturing all pieces. It is not possible to do that!!…… Why??

Well, before capturing the very last piece, during the multi-capture move, a win situation occurs!

Either you capture the captain before capturing the last runner, or you capture all runners before capturing the captain!!

Respectivally that would urn 1 or 3 points.

Now you could make an exception for this if you’d like. Cause so far I’ve not been able to do a total wipeout.

For me the counting is perfect:

1 pt for capturing el Capitano

2 pts for el Capitano on the opposite side

3 pts for capturing all runners

Optional:

5 pts (immediate win) for total wipe-out,……. this option/exception than should be explained in the rules with the above or if you don’t go for this option you should explain it as well, haha

The Tak pieces are indeed very pretty for your game, but not everybody will be willing to buy it for Hoppsi, so the idea with the chekkers is indeed a very good one!

Oh by the way, starting a game with a capitan move will result in an instant capture of your captain. Starting with two runners on one side of the captain, both doing a single step forward will get the opponents captain on your end row. (These are scholar mates, so to speak, haha!)

Well…. Again something for you to think about….. cheers :)

Riffle Shuffle & Roll6 days ago

You are discovering my game's secrets! You will be the first Grandmaster of Hoppsi. =^)

I have been playing many games against a computer opponent, and I discovered the blunder of the captain opening move! Moving two pieces on the same side to open is also a mistake if your opponent quickly exploits it! I have also discovered that you cannot be afraid to bring your captain into play because it is good at controlling the center as along as you do not set it up to be captured by accident.

You must be willing to sacrifice your runners in order to get your captain into the open for a breach.

You are also right about how a Total Wipeout (meaning capturing all the runners and the captain) is impossible due to the rules. In fact, just getting a regular wipeout (capture all the runners) will require great skill or great blunder!

One thing I have started looking at is to make the board 5 squares wide and 6 squares tall in order to improve the number of possible opening moves. This is a double edge sword because it might improve the game, but I move away from a somewhat standard board. I have tried 7x7, 8x8 and 5x7 with different piece counts, but none of them feel right. There is an elegance in using the 5x5 and 5 pieces.... but a 5x6 might better serve the game.

itch.io

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