
Now that you've mastered basic game play (perhaps without even playing) we'll tell you why we called it 'basic.' You want variations on game play? We've got 'em. Some are relatively minor and just alter the feel of the game a little. Most add some element of randomness in varying degrees, and some - to the novice player - make the game completely arbitrary.
We'll start off with a couple of easy ones. These variations on the basic game give you a little more freedom to work.
The simplest major variation involves the addition of weakened floors to the board. One or two spaces on the board will be too weak to support a glob. If you move onto one of those spaces the glob will fall through, leaving a gaping hole in the floor. No capture of opposing globs is made. Once a floor is broken, it is generally not a legal destination for a move. Weak floors add a small amount of randomness to the game. See Weight Loss and Potion of Levitation in the Treasures section below for related information.
If weak floors are too tame for you, we also have a group of variants that affect the behavior off the dead blocks - the spaces that can't be occupied by globs. These add more randomness to the game and will sometimes turn the tide of victory in a single turn. These are still comparatively tame against the next set, though.
This variation lets dead blocks grow into columns or shrink back to normal. A column cannot be jumped over if it is directly in the path of the move. Additionally, two adjacent columns will prevent a knight move over them.
If you select this option, one of the dead blocks will house a ravenous monster. Every so often, if there is an adjacent glob, the troll may reach out and grab a snack. The block housing the troll is normal in every other respect, and if it moves, the troll goes with it. See Vaccination under Treasures for related information.We're starting to get into the options that can really impact game play. This group represents a collection of powerful items or forces hidden under the squares on the board. When a glob lands on a space holding an artifact, it will be found and activated.
The Medusa square, like the gorgon of myth, will turn any glob landing on it to a dead block. A glob which has turned into a dead block is an entirely normal dead block thereafter, and any related variations apply equally to that one. If the dead block moves, Medusa can strike again. Vaccination under Treasures has an impact on this artifact.
The disruptor is a tool of great power. When found, it can greatly affect the outcome of the game. The player who finds this may select any dead block on the board (by clicking) and disintegrate it immediately. The downside is that you have to choose quickly. If you take too long this artifact will blow up with the same result as a land mine. Once found and used up, it is lost to the world forever - or until the next game.
The sphere is a potent tool, indeed. When found, the glob that discovered it can hurl it in any of the eight primary directions by clicking in an adjacent square. It will travel in a straight line and potentially destroy every glob or dead block it encounters. Every time it destroys something, it loses a little potency, and may eventually fail. Otherwise, it reaches the edge of the board and disappears. Like the disruptor, the sphere is a single-use artifact. Vaccination is a related treasure.This is the silliest variation in the game. If the players take too long to resolve their issues, a tornado will appear to prod them along a little. The tornado will sweep across the board and turn everything in its path into something else. Note that "something else" may even be something which wouldn't normally appear in the game.
Some of the variations discussed above cause the placement of treasures in the board. Like artifacts, these are buried under the board and found by the first glob which lands on them. Most give the glob some attribute which is related to the selected variation. When a glob with some mutation grows, the mutation is passed on and lost by the parent. Globs don't believe in Darwin.
When a timed game is started, one or two spaces on the board will have an hourglass buried underneath. When an hourglass is found, the player whose glob found it gets an additional ten seconds on their turn clock.
The glob finding this will become lighter than normal. A light glob will not break through a weak floor or set off a mine.
The glob which finds the potion of levitation will rise up into the air. A floating glob will not break a weak floor or find any other artifact or treasure, but has the advantage of being able to move onto a hole as if it was a normal space.
A vaccinated glob is immune to many of the problems that might befall its comrades. It will destroy Medusa if it finds her. The sphere of annihilation will bounce back at its thrower. The troll will still eat the glob, but will get such indigestion that it will not attack during the current game.
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