Chain Games
The Ball and Chain Game, aka, Eclipse, is a 1999 abstract game by Gerardo Iula and Mirko Marchesi, publishes at Gigamic.
The game has as unusual feature: pieces chained together.
At BGG the rules are explained as:
The Ball and Chain Game is an abstract game for two. The oblong board contains hexagonal spaced holes for the ball-shaped pieces to rest. Each player has one large Guard and five pairs of smaller Prisoner pieces. Each pair of Prisoners is connected by a metal chain: two short chains and three long. A Prisoner may move as far as the chain will allow (1 or 2 spaces) while its partner stays put. The opponent's Prisoners may be temporarily immobilized by crossing one of your chains over theirs. The Guard moves one space at a time in any hex-axial direction. If, on your turn, you are unable to move your Guard, you lose.
The next picture shows an earlier ruleset:
Rulebook from an old page:
- With the game board placed the long way between them, players choose colors (dark or light) and who will go first. Chained balls (Prisoners) and the large balls (Guards) are positioned in holes in the game board at each player's end of the board.
- Play: Players, in turn, move either a Prisoner (Chained ball) or their Guard (single large ball). The Prisoners can move to an adjacent hole or as far as the length of chain will permit. The Guards are allowed to move to an adjacent hole. Players are allowed to cross chains, however, prisoners on the bottom chain in a crossover are 'locked down' and cannot move until their chain is free again. Guards can jump over the chains of their own prisoners, but not the chains of the opponent's prisoners.
- Winning: Players move their pieces in an attempt to block or trap the opponent's guard. The first player who is unable to move his/her Guard on the very next move loses the game.
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Another game that uses the concept of chains connecting pieces is Dyade, a checkers-like variant from 1976.
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Check also 2018's Pivot by Dekel Noy:
- Objective: Be the first to form a straight line of 4 pawn in a row (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) in your chosen color.
- First, players choose either Red or White for their pawn color.
- Each player gets 7 playing pieces, each consisting of a red pawn and a white pawn connected by an elastic band.
- Taking turns, players add 1 playing piece to the board, and stretch the band accordingly.
- Note: Players place both their own color and that of their opponent in the same turn.
- The first player to form a straight line of 4 pawns in his or her color wins the game!
- All 14 playing pieces placed with no winner? Players then take turns moving their own pawns until someone wins!
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