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Focus
Introduction
Welcome to the network Focus server. The rules for Focus are below. The commands are the same for all pbmserv games.Options for Focus
- focus challenge <userid1> <userid2> [<userid3> [<userid4>]]
- start a Focus game with up to 4 players.
Move syntax for Focus
- focus move <boardno> <userid> <userpassword> <move>
- where <move> is either a stack move of the form
c1-c3:2 (move the top two pieces from C1 to C3) -or- E5-H5:3 (move the top three pieces from E5 to H5)or placing a reserve piece of the formr:e5 (place a reserve piece on top of any pieces at E5) -or- R:B2 (place a reserve piece on B2)
Rules for Focus
Focus is played on a square board with some of the corners removed. Below is a board starting with two players. Starting boards for 3 and 4 players will start with pieces located in different locations.
A B C D E F G H
-------------------------------
1 | | | | | 1
-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
2 | R | R | G | G | R | R | 2
-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
3 | | G | G | R | R | G | G | | 3
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
4 | | R | R | G | G | R | R | | 4
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
5 | | G | G | R | R | G | G | | 5
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
6 | | R | R | G | G | R | R | | 6
-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
7 | G | G | R | R | G | G | 7
-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
8 | | | | | 8
-------------------------------
A B C D E F G H
Reserves for Player Red = 0
Reserves for Player Green = 0
The goal of Focus is to control all stacks located on the board so that your opponent(s) cannot move (either a standard move or placing a reserve piece). A stack at a location can be up to five pieces high but not higher. The owner of the stack is determined by the owner of the top piece of the stack. A player may move any number of pieces (1 to 5) off the top of a stack they own. The pieces must be moved orthogonally to another location that is located the same number of spaces away as the number of pieces that are moved. An example is shown below:
before move c3-f3:3 (Red owns the stack at C3 and Green owns the stack at F3)
B C D E F G
-------------------------------------------------
3 | | RGRR | GG | R | G | |
-------------------------------------------------
after move c3-f3:3 (Red now owns the new stack at F3 with two Green
pieces on the bottom of the stack and two Red pieces on the top)
(Red also owns the stack at C3)
B C D E F G
-------------------------------------------------
3 | | R | GG | R | GGRR | |
-------------------------------------------------
When a stack is formed that is over five pieces high then some of
the pieces are removed from the bottom of the stack to form a new
stack that is no higher than five pieces high. The pieces that are
removed from the bottom of the stack are either captured or placed
on reserve. They are captured and removed from play if they are
the opponent's pieces and they are placed in reserve if they are
your own pieces. Reserve pieces may be placed anywhere on the board
when it is your turn. One important rule occurs during a
three-player game; each player receives one reserve piece that must
be played on an empty location during their very first turn.
A player wins when their opponent(s) cannot make a move nor have
any reserve pieces to place on the board.
