Help for the Game of Lava


Welcome to the network Lava server. The challenge command is described here. Other commands are the same as for all pbmserv games.

  lava challenge
  [-num_dice=n] [-blob_size=n] [-blob_extent=n] [-dice_own|-dice_any]
  [-win_own_colour|-lose_own_colour] [-dice_per_turn=n] [-adjacent|-non_adjacent]
  userid1 userid2 [userid3]

Starts a new game for two or three players.

The -num_dice option specifies the number of dice to play with (default 48).
The -blob_size option specifies the minimum number of necks for a closed blob to be counted (default 0).
The -blob_extent option specifies the maximum extent that a blob may reach, counting necks horizontally and vertically (default 0).
The -dice_own option specifies that players can only use their own die each turn.
The -win_own_colour option inverts the winning condition to closing a blob of your colour (lose if close enemy blob, but blue is neutral).
The -dice_per_turn option specifies how many dice players must play each turn (default 1, maximum 2).
The -adjacent option specifies that all dice placed per turn must be adjacent.

Introduction

Lava is an abstrac strategy game in which players strive to complete Lava... but not of their colour!

Note: The game is much easier to play using the graphical web interface than the ASCII email version!

Rules

Players: The players are called Red and Green (two-player game) and Blue (three-player game). The three colours are denoted by the symbols 'o', '#' and '.' in ASCII games.

Pieces: Lava is played with three types of dice. Each die is a red, green or blue cube with corners of the opposing colours (two each).

Start: Red starts by placing a die face showing all three colours in the centre of the playing area.

     +oo---+
     oooo..|
     xxooo.|
     xxxoooo
     +xxxoo+

Play: Players then take turns adding a die adjacent to at least one existing die such that edge colours match all neighbouring edges and corners.

Auto Moves: If a placement creates a concave corner that matches only on dice face in one rotation, then that dice face is also played as part of the move. Rule of thumb: Any concave corner at which all three colours meet constitutes an auto move.

Each auto move may trigger subsequent auto moves that turn.

Aim: A players loses by completing a closed blob of their colour. A player loses if an open blob of their colour extends 8 or more tiles in any direction (counting necks). A player wins if they complete a closed blob of any other colour or if they are the last surviving player.

The following example shows a game with a completed '#' blob; if 'o' completed the blob then they win else if '#' completed the blob then they lose.

     +ooo--+--ooo+oo###+
     ooo.......oooooo###
     oo...###...oo.ooo##
     |...#####......oooo
     +..#######.....ooo+oo###+
     |...######......oooooo###
     oo...#########...oo.ooo##
     ooo......######......oooo
     +ooo.....#######......oo+
     oooo......#####......oooo
     ##oooooo...###...oooooo##
     ###oooooo.......oooooo###
     +###oo+ooo--+--ooo+oo###+

If the tiles run out before a player wins then the game is a draw.

Three-Player Game: Played as per the rules above.


Notes

In the two-player game, blue is a neutral colour that either player may use to win. There is no limit on the extent of neutral Lava.

A winning or losing blob may be of any size or shape, as long as it is closed.

Each die has three unique faces, for example the Red die has two of each face {gRg, bRb, gRb}. These may exist in eight unique rotations, hence there are 24 unique rotations over all three dice types.

 +oo###+  +###oo+  +oo---+  +---oo+  +oo---+  +###oo+  +oo###+  +---oo+
 oooo###  ###oooo  oooo..|  |..oooo  oooo..|  ###oooo  oooo###  |..oooo
 ##ooo##  ##ooo##  |.ooo.|  |.ooo.|  ##ooo.|  ##ooo.|  |.ooo##  |.ooo##
 ###oooo  oooo###  |..oooo  oooo..|  ###oooo  oooo..|  |..oooo  oooo###
 +###oo+  +oo###+  +---oo+  +oo---+  +###oo+  +oo---+  +---oo+  +oo###+
    a        b        c        d        e        f        g        h   


 +##ooo+  +ooo##+  +##---+  +---##+  +##---+  +ooo##+  +##ooo+  +---##+ 
 ####ooo  ooo####  ####..|  |..####  ####..|  ooo####  ####ooo  |..####
 oo###oo  oo###oo  |.###.|  |.###.|  oo###.|  oo###.|  |.###oo  |.###oo
 ooo####  ####ooo  |..####  ####..|  ooo####  ####..|  |..####  ####ooo
 +ooo##+  +##ooo+  +---##+  +##---+  +ooo##+  +##---+  +---##+  +##ooo+
    i        j        k        l        m        n        o        p   

 +--ooo+  +ooo--+  +--###+  +###--+  +--###+  +ooo--+  +--ooo+  +###--+
 |...ooo  ooo...|  |...###  ###...|  |...###  ooo...|  |...ooo  ###...|
 oo...oo  oo...oo  ##...##  ##...##  oo...##  oo...##  ##...oo  ##...oo
 ooo...|  |...ooo  ###...|  |...###  ooo...|  |...###  ###...|  |...ooo
 +ooo--+  +--ooo+  +###--+  +--###+  +ooo--+  +--###+  +###--+  +--ooo+
    q        r        s        t        u        v        w        x

History

Lava piece design and rules by Cameron Browne and copyright (c) Cyberite Ltd 2009.

Each die face is a tritone Truchet-like tile. These pieces work better in simplified form as the game Blobs.

More details are available at the official Lava page.

Lava is best played using the graphical web interface: http://www.gamerz.net/pbmserv/List.php?Lava.

Implementation and Help file by Cameron Browne, July 2009.