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In Blockade, players move and jump, stack, and then retreat in order to win this counterintuitive, tug of war-style territory control game. As play-space continually shrinks, the game doesn't end until one player's king traverses to the other end, or a player's left without a move.
Built on its simple elegance and straightforward design, Blockade is a territory control game where players claim empty squares by walling off sections of the board from their opponent, giving the endgame an almost claustrophobic feel.
Blockade is a two-player strategy game played on a long, flat game board with ten squares. Each player controls two bridges and one castle, and the winner is the first player to advance their castle into the farthest square on the opponent’s side of the board (or territory), also known as a moat. A player may also win by blocking the opponent’s pieces, preventing the opponent from making a valid move.
Players should sit on opposite ends of the game board, which should be placed vertically as a column between the players. The square closest to each player is that player’s moat, and each player should first place one of their bridges in their own moat; the castle should then be placed in the next square, with the final bridge placed in the unoccupied square next to the castle.
The player who controls the black pieces goes first, and players take turns moving a single piece on their turn. Each player must move a piece on their turn, if able, and all pieces may be moved either forward or backward.
A player’s pieces may never occupy the same square as the opponent’s pieces nor stack on top of the opponent’s pieces, although in some cases a player’s own pieces may stack on top of each other and occupy the same square.
A player’s castle can never occupy that player’s own moat, whether alone or as part of a stack.
A bridge may be moved exactly two squares forward or backward. It may land in an unoccupied square, or a bridge can be stacked on top of the player’s other remaining bridge, creating a high bridge; a bridge cannot land on a castle. And by moving exactly two squares, a bridge will simply jump over any piece in an adjacent square, making bridges an efficient way to traverse squares and enter the opponent’s territory.
A player’s two bridges can be stacked on top of each other, creating a high bridge. The high bridge can be moved as a single stacked piece exactly two squares forward or backward. Or the player may choose to dismantle the high bridge and only move the top bridge piece exactly two squares forward or backward.
A castle moves only one square forward or backward. It may land in an unoccupied square, or a castle can stack on top of its own bridge or high bridge.
The castle can also push or draw one of its own adjacent single bridges, which moves both the castle and the adjacent bridge exactly one square forward or backward in the direction of the block; however, the next square adjacent to the bridge must be unoccupied in order to perform a draw, and the draw must always move the castle and the bridge toward the unoccupied square. The castle cannot draw a high bridge.
A castle can move on top of its own bridge, creating a high castle. The high castle can move as a single stacked piece exactly two squares forward or backward. Or the player may choose to only move the top castle piece exactly one square forward or backward, either into an unoccupied square or on top of the player’s other bridge, creating a new high castle.
A castle can move on top of its own high bridge, creating a tower. A high castle may also move on top of a bridge, likewise creating a tower.
The tower moves as a single stacked piece exactly three squares forward or backward.
The player may also choose to move just the top castle exactly one square forward or backward, or the player may move the castle and the top bridge as a stacked piece (comprising n high castle) exactly two squares forward or backward.
In similar strategy games like chess or Aporia, repetition occurs when a player moves a piece back to the same position as it was on the previous turn. In Blockade, a player cannot repeat or reverse their last move exactly, known as retreating.
For example, if a player advances a high bridge two squares forward, the player may not retreat with that high bridge; the high bridge cannot be moved backward two squares on that player’s next turn, regardless of the opponent’s move.
To avoid retreating, a player must make a different move with their remaining pieces; however, in the case of moving stacked pieces—such as a high bridge, a high castle, or a tower—the player may move the top piece to avoid a retreat, even if the top piece returns to the previous square. (And in the case of a tower, the player can choose to move either the topmost piece or the top two pieces together as one, which comprise a high castle.)
In the above example, for instance, the player could choose to move the top bridge backward two squares. Although the high bridge previously occupied this square, moving a single bridge piece to the previous square does not count as a retreat, since this not a reversal of their last move exactly.
In a basic game of Blockade, players may simply choose to play individual games, and a player can win in one of two ways:
Players can also play a match with rounds of individual games, using a scoring system to determine a final winner. Points are tallied after each round has been completed, and they are then added to the winning player’s overall match total. Round points are determined based on the final positions of each player’s pieces.
Since the game board is divided into territories, with the five squares closest to each player comprising their own territory, advancing pieces into the opponent’s territory will result in a better score.
After each round, players tally their individual scores. If the winning player has more points than the opponent that round, then the winning player subtracts the losing player’s score from their own score; this amount should then be added to the winning player’s overall match point total, while the loser receives 0 points for the round.
However, if the winning player has equal to or less points than the opponent after they tally their scores for a round, then a champion’s victory occurs. In the case of a champion’s victory, the winning player is awarded just 1 point that round, which is added to their overall match total, regardless of the losing player’s score for that round (and the loser receives 0 overall points).
The first player to accumulate at least 11 points during the match is declared the winner.
