Help For EmergoIntroductionWelcome to the network Emergo server. The rules of Emergo are below. The commands are the same for all pbmserv games.Rules of Emergo(Copyright (c) Christian Freeling and Ed van Zon)Note: If there's mention of "men" and "pieces", a man is single, while a piece consists of a number of stacked men. If the difference doesn't matter, a man may also be referred to as a piece, for instance 'the number of pieces on the board'. ObjectIf a player has no legal move he loses the game. This may come about either by being eliminated or being blocked completely.This diagram shows the board, which is initially empty. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | | | | | | | | | A - . B - . . . C - . . . . . D - . . . . . . . E - . . . . . . . . . F - . . . . . . . G - . . . . . H - . . . I - . Ohs (Ohs) inhand: 12 Eks (Eks) inhand: 12
Capture
The capture of a single man reduces the number of pieces on the board by one. Since there is no mechanism to increase the number of pieces, a game of Emergo is always 'spiraling upward', that is, the number of pieces steadily decreases while their size increases. The Entering Stage
A player may still have several men in hand while his opponent has all men on the board. This is always the result of one player entering while the other must capture. It is not at all unusual: creating a large shadowpiece is a very valid strategic goal, particularly for black. White may not, on his very first move, enter on the central square (e5). Apart from that there's only one condition for entering a man or the shadowpiece alike:
This is the key rule governing the entering phase! As long as my opponent does not attack any of my pieces, I may not put the piece I enter under attack. If he attacks one of my pieces, however, he releases me from the above condition. The MovementStageIf the player to move cannot make a capture and does not have any men in hand, he must move a piece to an adjacent square. There are no restrictions except that the square must be vacant.Emergo LinksChristian Freeling's MindSports Arena site has more information on Emergo, including complete rules, strategy hints, example games, downloadable Java tutorials, and graphical online play. |
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