Masbrur

IntroductionMasbrur (from Welsh: maes brwydr, which means battlefield) is a strategy game for two players. It uses 36 numbered dominoes from 0 to 7, a die with a sufficient number of faces, and three dominoes called medals. The objective of the game is to place dominoes on the playing field strategically, creating formations of sets and sequences to gain points. This game was originally created by Saïd Galdseid in 2009 but took until 2024 to perfect its rules. Setup:The initial setup of the field is done by placing two columns of dominoes. The first column consists of eight dominoes with even numbers, starting with the 0-0 domino and ascending until reaching the 7-7 domino. The second column is placed to the right of the first one and contains eight dominoes with sequential numbers, starting with the 0-1 domino and ascending until reaching the 7-0 domino. It is important to ensure that the adjacent numbers between the columns match. This initial field setup forms a total of sixteen dominoes arranged horizontally. The remaining dominoes are used for the pie offer, meaning they are kept separate from the playing field. The initial setup of the field looks as follows: 　　　7-7 | 7-0　　　 　　　6-6 | 6-7　　　 　　　5-5 | 5-6　　　 　　　4-4 | 4-5　　　 　　　3-3 | 3-4　　　 　　　2-2 | 2-3　　　 　　　 1-1 | 1-2　　　 　　　0-0 | 0-1　　　 Definitions: A square is one of the two halves of a domino domino with values from 0 to 7. The arsenal is the set of dominoes in each player's possession. The wall consists of two discarded dominoes from the arsenal, used to block enemy formations. A row is the sequence of upper or lower squares formed by placing dominoes vertically in the arsenal. The field is the set of sixteen dominoes arranged horizontally on the table. The setup is the arrangement of dominoes on the field. A blocker is a square from a player's wall whose value matches the highest number in an enemy formation, nullifying its strength and causing it to lose against any formation of the player who owns the blocker. Dominance is the property of the wall that determines which of its squares acts as a blocker. Formations:Formations are divided into two types: repetitions and sequences. Repetitions are formations of at least three repeated numbers in the lower row and five in the upper row. Sequences are formations of at least three consecutive numbers in the lower row and five in the upper row. In sequences, 0 can function as the lowest number (e.g., 0–1–2) or the highest (e.g., 6–7–0), in which case it is considered to come after 7. It is only allowed at one end of the sequence. In ambiguous cases (e.g., 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7 or 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-0), the player decides whether 0 occupies the lower or higher end, as appropriate. Formation value:Formations have two ranges: length and height. Length is the number of squares used in the formation. The greater the length, the higher the value. Height is the value of the square with the highest number in the formation. The greater the height, the higher the value. The formation with the greatest length wins, ignoring height. In case of a tie, the formation with the greatest height wins. Pie offerThe offering player is chosen at random, usually by a die that favors higher values. The offerer divides the remaining dominoes from the field into two groups, face-up, to form the arsenals. The second player, called the accepter, chooses one of the groups to form their arsenal. In the next round, the accepter becomes the offerer and repeats the process, alternating roles of offerer and accepter in each successive round. Equipment phase:The offerer starts the game, and players alternate. On your turn, after the cake offer, you may (i) choose to pass your turn, which will end the equipment phase if consecutive passes occur, or (ii) perform these actions in the following order: 1. Choose two of your dominoes and place them face down to form the wall. 2. Place a domino from your hand horizontally adjacent to a domino on the field, ensuring that the numbers on the ends match when touching. In the following example, the numbers 6 touch: 　　　7-7 | 7-0　　　 　　　6-6 | 6-7　　　 　　　5-5 | 5-6 | 6-3 　　　4-4 | 4-5　　　 　　　3-3 | 3-4　　　 　　　2-2 | 2-3　　　 　　　 1-1 | 1-2　　　 　　　0-0 | 0-1　　　 3. Push the selected domino from the field into the field using your newly placed domino, thus removing the domino from the opposite end of the field. In the following example, the 5-5 domino is pushed out to the other side of the field: 　　　7-7 | 7-0　　　 　　　6-6 | 6-7　　　 　5-5 | 5-6 | 6-3　　　 　　　4-4 | 4-5　　　 　　　3-3 | 3-4　　　 　　　2-2 | 2-3　　　 　　　 1-1 | 1-2　　　 　　　0-0 | 0-1　　　 4. Take the domino that you pushed out of the field and place it with your arsenal. 5. Increase the value of the dice by one if and only if you are the offerer and finish your turn. Combat phase:This phase takes place after the equipment phase and will proceed in the following steps: Attack step: The player who forms three formations, with at least one occupying five squares in the upper row and the other two occupying six squares in the lower row, may reveal their dominoes at any time, forcing the opponent to do the same. This step can be used as an alternative to ending the equipment phase instead of consecutive passes. Defense step: Both players reveal the two dominoes of their wall. Then, each player selects up to three formations from their arsenal, choosing those that are most advantageous if multiple combinations are possible. After selecting formations, the wall blocking is determined. In each wall, the domino with the highest square value establishes dominance: this domino nullifies any enemy formation whose height matches that value. If no formations are blocked, dominance passes to the other domino. If any domino in the wall contains a 0 and the opponent has treated the 0 as the high number in a sequence, this 0 must act as the blocker. Afterward, each player may choose to take one or both dominoes from the opponent's wall, provided doing so improves their formations without altering the blocking value. After completing the previous steps, the two players' formations are compared in order from strongest to weakest. For each winning formation, the player receives a medal. If there is a tie for any formation, the players share the corresponding medal. The pieces on the field remain in place, while the remaining pieces are allocated to the new pie offer. Scoring points:Each player adds up the unused squares in their formations along with those of their opponent to obtain the community score. Then, each player multiplies that score by the number of medals earned to calculate their individual score. Finally, the current die value is multiplied by the number of medals and added to the individual score. End of the game:The game can be played for four, six, or eight rounds, depending on the players' preference, and the player with the most points at the end of all the rounds is the winner. Free setup variant:Same rules, except there is no initial setup; players place dominoes in turns, beginning with the starting player, who places a domino in the center of the playing area. From there, the opposing player must place a domino that matches one of the numbers displayed at the ends, and, after doing so, begins the next turn by placing a new domino for their opponent to match, forming a free field that extends to a total of 16 dominoes, with exactly 8 on the left and 8 on the right. Notes:In Masbrur, tiles similar to dominoes are used in terms of shape and size. However, instead of dots, these dominoes are numbered with dashes. In addition, it should be noted that the Masbrur dominoes are a little thicker so that they remain in a vertical position and allow better visualization of the combinations during the game. This also makes it easier to cover these combinations from the opponent during the game. —description from the designer