Gleebs and Grues

From Looney Pyramid Games Wiki
Gleebs and Grues
Designed by Robert Dudley
Absorb your enemies while trying not to be eaten by a grue.
:Players Players: 2
:Time Length: Fast?
:Complexity Complexity: Low
Trios per color: 1
Number of colors: 5
Pyramid trios:
Monochr. stashes:
Five-color sets: 1
- - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - -
4x4 board
Setup time: less than 1 minute
Playing time: 5 minutes - 10 minutes
Strategy depth: Medium
Random chance: None
Game mechanics: Capturing, Placement
Theme: Aliens
BGG Link: Gleebs and Grues
Status: Complete (v1.0), Year released: 2000


Components[edit | edit source]

Gleebs and Grues is a game for two players. One Rainbow stash and a 4x4 board are required to play.

Background[edit | edit source]

Battles on the savage gleeb homeworld are fought in deadly arenas. Two groups of gleebs enter, each aiming to absorb the enemy before meeting that grisly fate themselves. Further adding to the excitement are three ravenous grues who have their own plan for the gleebs...

Setup[edit | edit source]

Preliminary setup

Place all three black pyramids in any three spaces on the board. These are the grues.

Give one player all of the blue and yellow pyramids and the other all of the green and red pyramids. These are the gleebs. The colors a player receives will be the gleebs that player controls in the game.

Choose a player to go first. This player will go first in both the placement phase and the movement phase.

Rules[edit | edit source]

The Placement Phase[edit | edit source]

Players alternate placing one gleeb at a time onto any empty square on the board. Continue until all gleebs have been placed, then proceed to the movement phase.

The Movement Phase[edit | edit source]

Each turn in the movement phase consists of two steps. First is gleeb movement, then grue movement. Both steps are mandatory.

Gleebs and grues can move any number of spaces in a straight line. They can both move over other gleebs and grues. Neither of them can move diagonally.

Gleeb Movement[edit | edit source]

Move any one gleeb that you control if possible. It must end its movement on top of another gleeb. Gleebs can not move onto other gleebs of the same color.

Gleebs absorb other gleebs when they jump on them. The whole stack moves together and is treated as if it is only the size and color of the gleeb on top.

Example: A stack with a small yellow gleeb on top counts as a small yellow gleeb regardless of the sizes or colors of gleebs below it. It is unable to move on top of another yellow gleeb and its stack can only be pinned by a small grue.

Grue Movement[edit | edit source]

Move any one grue if possible. Grues must end their movement either on top of a gleeb of the same size or in an empty space. If you can move a grue on top of a gleeb, you must do so. You choose which grue to move if multiple gleebs can be moved onto. Any single gleeb a grue lands on is eaten. Remove eaten gleebs from the game. If a grue lands on a gleeb stack, it pins the stack. The stack stays on the board, but the grue can not be moved again for the rest of the game. A stack with a grue on top counts as a grue instead of a gleeb.

At the end of the grue movement step, if there are no further gleeb moves possible for either player, proceed to the scoring phase. If only one player has no gleebs left, that player loses. Otherwise, go on to the next player's movement step.

The Scoring Phase[edit | edit source]

Players gain points equal to the total pip count of all gleebs in stacks they control. The player with the most points wins. If the score is tied or if every gleeb has been eaten or pinned, the grues win.

Files[edit | edit source]

Printable 4x4 board - PDF download

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