Petal Battle

Petal Battle
Andrew Looney
Two groups of insects battle for control of a flower
:Players	Players:	2
:Time	Length:	Fast
:Complexity	Complexity:	Medium
Trios per color:		3
Number of colors:		4
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:		4
Five-color sets:		3
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
Daisy board
Setup time:		1 Minute
Playing time:		5 - 15 Minutes
Strategy depth:		Medium
Random chance:		None
Game mechanics:		Strategy, Turn bidding
Theme:		Abstract
BGG Link:		Petal Battle
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2016

Petal Battle

Petal Battle is a Looney Pyramids game designed by Andrew Looney. It has now been published as part of the Pyramid Arcade.

Components

24 Pyramids (see below)

::SML::SML::SML

::SML::SML::SML

::SML::SML

1 Daisy Board
:Petal

Setup

Place the empty Daisy board in the center of the table. Distribute 12 pyramids to each player as follows.

::SML::SML::SML	::SML
Placed on Board	Used for sequencing
Player One's Pyramids

::SML::SML::SML	::SML
Placed on Board	Used for sequencing
Player Two's Pyramids

Goal

To be the first person to either

• Get five of your pyramids onto the Daisy board in five adjacent spaces, or
• Eliminate all your opponent's pieces from the board.

Win Conditions
Green wins by eliminating all purple from the board	Purple wins by filling five adjacent spaces

Turn Order

Turn order is determined by a sequencing process, which will also end up dictating how many actions each player gets on each turn. Players take their one odd-color-out trio and secretly stack its pyramids in any desired order. Then they both place their stacks on the table. Example:

::LSME	::MSLE
Player One's Sequence	Player Two's Sequence

The top-most pyramid in each stack determines player order, with whoever has the smallest pyramid on top taking start player. Since Player Two has placed a medium pyramid on top compared with Player One's large pyramid, Player Two will go first. After this, turns will alternate regardless of top-most pyramid size until both players have spent their sequencing pyramids. At this point, players do the hidden sequencing again and begin a new round.

The pyramid sequence also determines how many actions a player may spend this turn. The number of actions a player may play on a turn is equal to the number of pips on his top-most pyramid.

Actions

Purple may Slide to either of the spaces highlighted in green or Flip over onto the space highlighted in yellow.

• Spawn: Take one of the small pyramids from your supply and place it on the board on either side of one of your large pyramids. You cannot take the Spawn action if you are out of small pyramids.
• Grow: Swap out one of your small or medium pyramids on the board for a pyramid from your supply that is one size larger.
• Slide: Take one of the pieces you already have on the board and slide it into an adjacent empty space.
• Flip: Take one of the pieces you already have on the board and flip it onto the empty space exactly opposite it.
• Bump: A bump is the same as a Slide or a Flip, but in this case the space that your pyramid moves into is occupied. A bump has to occur with a pyramid bumping a smaller or equal-sized pyramid. You are allowed to Bump your own pyramids as well as your opponent's pieces, but you can't make a move that results in Squishing your own pieces. Different things can happen as a result of a bump.
  

What Happens During A Bump?

• If there's one empty space next to the piece you have bumped, then the bumped piece moves to this space.
  
• If there are two empty spaces next to the piece you have bumped, then you choose which space to move it into.
  
• If there are zero empty spaces next to the piece you have bumped, things start to get interesting. Do a check:
  

a) Is that piece your color?

Yes: ⇒Then you can't make this move. (It would Squish your own piece.)

No, it's my opponent's color:

• Is the bumped piece smaller than the pyramid you are bumping with?

Yes ⇒ Then that piece gets Squished. Remove it from the board and place your pyramid in the newly-empty spot. The squished pyramid is returned to its owner's supply.

No, the bumped piece is the same size.

• Then that piece should get reduced in size. Does your opponent have a piece one-size-down to replace it with?

Yes ⇒ Your opponent replaces it with a pyramid one size down. Meanwhile, you leave your pyramid in its original spot; it does not move.

No

• Does your opponent have a piece two sizes down to replace it with?

Yes ⇒ Your opponent replaces it with a pyramid two sizes down. Meanwhile, you leave your pyramid in its original spot; it does not move.

Still No ⇒ A Squish occurs. Your opponent removes the bumped piece from the board and you place your pyramid in the newly-empty spot. The squished pyramid is returned to its owner's supply.

For those who don't like flowcharts, a Squish generally occurs only if...

• the piece you're bumping is smaller than yours and has nowhere to go
  

or if

• the piece you're bumping is the same size, has nowhere to go, and your opponent lacks the pyramids in reserve to replace the attacked piece with a smaller size.

Game End

You can win the game by...

• filling five adjacent spaces with pyramids of your color, or
• cutting your opponent down to zero pyramids left on the board.

Clarifications

• You are not allowed to Squish your own pieces, though you can bump them.
• The turn sequencing only determines who begins the round. After the first player makes a move, turns alternate normally until both players are out of pyramids, which ends the round.
• A squished pyramid is returned to its owner's supply.

Links

• Sample game on YouTube