Looking for feedback on tumble

[Chris Nash <chris_nash@prodigy.net>]

Hi folks,

I'm hoping to get together as much information as I can on Michael Shuck's "Tumbling Down"
(implemented as "tumble" on this server). One of the things this game needs is more players to try
it - if you have tried it, I'd be interested in hearing some opinions offlist. I'm also always
open to challenges (my userid is crnash).

If you don't know much about tumble, you can read about it at

http://boardgames.about.com/library/games/on/bl-8x8-tumblingdown.htm

and in Spanish ("Demolicion") at

http://enciclopedia.us.es/wiki.phtml?title=Demolici%F3n

and of course "tumble help" to the server. (Note the about.com page illustrates the start position
that's *not* the default on this server, but you can choose either start position with the
challenge). I believe it has a lot to offer and a lot that will interest fans of other games here,
for example:

- "tumble" moves are very much like stone moves in wari, except on a 2-dimensional board!;
- opponent stones are "imprisoned" by placing your own piece on the top of the pile, like plakoto;
- good play uses both the straight and diagonal lines of the board, much like LoA;
- there are distinct opening, middle, and endgame phases, "check" and "checkmates"
- it's a game of pure strategy, no dice luck here!
- forming a winning attack requires a lot of forward planning, because there are more ways to
escape than you might first think!
- the "energy" of a position decreases as the game goes on, much like "entropy", so it's unlikely
games will last indefinitely.

The rules are quite simple (with a few subtle points that are easily missed at first), and games
can last between about 10 and as much as 70 moves depending on player skills.

Let me know what you think.

- Chris