Peacekeepers of Jar-Zabonia

Peacekeepers of Jar-Zabonia
Development Period: January 2014, June 2014-July 2014
Status: Playtesting
UnPub Links: View Game | Provide Feedback


Back StoryIn the magical land of Jar-Zabonia the six major races, Wizards, Elves, Dwarfs, Trolls, Giants, and Faeries have been fighting for centuries. Queen Moxie has decided to bring peace to the land and has assigned her greatest philosopher, the Great Michuel, the task of finding each creature in her kingdom a place to live peacefully. This is no easy task, however. Most of the races have been feuding for centuries and refuse to live next to several other races. Each race (represented by a color) will only live adjacent to other races whose colors are adjacent on a color wheel.

• Red - Dwarves will only live next to other Dwarves, Faeries, or Trolls.
• Orange - Trolls will only live next to other Trolls, Dwarves, or Giants.
• Yellow - Giants will only live next to other Giants, Trolls, or Elves.
• Green - Elves will only live next to other Elves, Giants, or Wizards.
• Blue - Wizards will only live next to other Wizards, Elves, or Faeries.
• Purple - Faeries will only live next to other Faeries, Wizards, or Dwarves.

In the land of Jar-Zabonia there are also Mountains, Volcanoes, Temples, and Goblin Hordes. Mountains get placed on the playing field before the game starts. Volcanoes (black) and Temples (white) can be next to any race’s color. Temples protect adjacent inhabitants from Goblin Hordes. Goblin Hordes attack the perimeter of the settlements, chasing off races. Volcanoes may occasionally erupt and wipe out many inhabitants.

In addition to being very picky about whom their neighbors are each race has some special abilities.

• Red - Dwarves survive and block volcanic eruptions.
• Orange - Trolls can chase off or replace one inhabitant when they move in, except Giants.
• Yellow - Giants must live next to at least one other Giant, can’t be chased off by Trolls.
• Green - Elves allow you to re-roll one other cube in your hand or your opponent’s hand before being placed.
• Blue – When placed, Wizards let you take another turn.
• Purple - Faeries can’t be chased off by Goblin Hordes.

Also:

• White - Temples can’t be removed once played. They can’t be destroyed by Volcanoes (although they don’t block a volcano’s destructive forces) and can’t be chased away by Goblin Hordes. They also protect adjacent inhabitants from Goblin Hordes.

Game SummaryThe object of the game is to place as many races into peaceful positions as possible within the area allowed by Queen Moxie. Players score points for the number of pieces in their ‘zone’ - side of the board (2 players) or quadrant (4 players) as well as for cubes captured from their opponents.

The game is for 1, 2, or 4 players (other numbers of players can play Collaborative or Puzzle Solver modes) ages 10 and up and should take 15-45 minutes for each game. Multi-player games should take close to 45 minutes; solo games can be played in less than 30 minutes.

There are six ways to play the game:

• Solo for Points – Start with a single cube and expand out, seeing how much of the area you can fill out, following the standard rules.
• Multi-Player Collaborative – Start with a single cube and expand out, seeing how much of the area you can fill out, following the standard rules. Players can collaborate to develop strategies for filling the largest area.
• Multi-Player Competitive – Multiple Games for Points, or Single Games without Points – Start with a single cube and expand out, seeing how much of the area you can fill out, following the standard rules. Each player tries to fill their claimed sections of the playing area as much as possible. See the additional rules for Multi-Player Competitive play.
• Solo Puzzle Solver – Three Difficulty Levels – a Set up the field of play according to the supplied puzzle arrangement, start with the cubes listed, and see if you can complete the square by placing all the cubes successfully. See the additional rules for Solo Puzzle Solver.
• Solo Puzzle Solver – Create Your Own Puzzle – Set up the field of play according to the rules for Solo Puzzle Solver – Create Your Own Puzzle.
• Multi-Player Puzzle Solver – Set up the field of play according to the rules for any Solo Puzzle Solver variant and take turns working to solve the puzzle.

Credits

Game design by: George Jaros

Special Thanks: Julie Zaborac, Mike Jaros, Sam Jaros

Copyright © 2014

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.