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Checkers Around the World Invented Checkers Variants
Alien Checkers Game
Alien Checkers game is yet another variant
that has been created, but this game is somewhat
different from all the other versions discussed
previously. This game was invented with the
young checkers players in mind, and though
strategy is part of the game, the concept of
being ‘fun’ is
the focus behind this variation. That doesn't
mean to say that adults can’t
also find the game challenging. It certainly
affords the young checkers players a greater
chance to win at Checkers.
The following is
a commentary that explains the origin of
this unique game by David L. Van Slyke, DVS
Games: “In 1986, Pierre Clequin
and Bruno Faidutti published ‘Tempete
sur l'Echequier’, which modifies
chess by having players use cards that alter
the rules slightly. The English version is
called Nightmare Chess. When I encountered
these games I wondered, "Why would
anyone want to take one of the world's great
strategy games and add random non-strategic
elements?" If
the goal was to allow someone not expert
at chess to play evenly with an expert, the
classic game Nuclear Chess does the same
thing, while keeping the game purely strategic.
If the goal was to make the game fun in a
silly way, the English version fails because
Nightmare Chess tries to be spooky, not silly.
So I thought, "I should take another
common game and create a deck of cards for
it. I can make a game that is much more absurdly
fun, while keeping the game enjoyably playable." The
result was this Alien Checkers game.” “Alien
Checkers is a versatile game. Besides using
cards during the game, players select one
of nine special cards to secretly find out
which planet they are representing: each
planet has a different secret victory condition.
Children can enjoy how the game is silly
and (compared to plain checkers) gives them
a better chance of winning when playing
their parents. Adults who wish to analyze
the game more carefully will notice new flavors
of strategy as the cards and secret goals
work together.”
Entertainment Digest,
Volume 1, commented on the game:
“ALIEN CHECKERS:
No, this isn't a game about X-Files or border
guards. It's a basic Checkers game, plus
a cute piece of animation when you play
against the computer of your alien opponent
moving his pieces, and with a flexible rules
system that lets you play by many different
variations on the basic Checkers rules. If
you like Checkers, you'll love this alien
checkers little number. I found the alien
opponent challenging but fallible. Then again,
I'm not very good.”
- The game board is a standard 8 x 8 checkerboard
that consists of 64 alternating light and
dark squares.
- Two players each have twelve checkers of contrasting colors.
- A deck of cards and a set of tokens are also part of the play.
~ Object of the Alien Checkers Game ~
The game objective
is, of course, to win and there are three
ways in which this can be achieved:
- By capturing all the opponent’s checkers,
as in regular Checkers games.
- Before the start of the game, a player
can draw a card that determines the planet
he/she represents and this will affect
the game by giving the player a second
way to win.
- By collecting five kings or a total of five kings and emperors.
~ Game Starting Position ~
- The board is positioned between the
two players so that a dark double corner
is at the right of each opponent.
- Both players place their checkers on
the first three rows closest to them as
in a normal game of Checkers.
- The tokens are placed to the side of
the board so that each player can reach
them.
- The stack of cards representing the
nine planets are shuffled before each player
draws one card; the remaining deck is placed
face down to the side of the board where
it will not interfere with the play because
these cards are not used again for the
rest of the game.
- Each opponent looks at the planet card
and keeps it secret, face down near his/her
end of the board.
- The other deck of cards is also shuffled
and placed face down where both players
can reach it as a draw pile; the top card
is turned over to reveal its face and placed
next to the draw pile.
- If using the rules of regular American
Checkers, then the player who has the darker
checkers begins the game with the first
move, and then the opponents alternate
turns.
On each turn, the players
complete the following procedure:
- Move a checker one square at a time.
- Turn over another card from the draw
pile.
- Choose one of the two face up cards
to use.
~ Game Moves & Captures ~
- Before turning over or using a card,
it is important to move the checker piece
so that the player knows at least half
of the options given and the move is safeguarded.
- Movement of the alien checker is the
same as in the regular game so that each
player can only move his/her piece in
a forward diagonal direction, either right
or left one square at a time onto an unoccupied
square immediately beyond.
- Also, as part of regular checkers rules,
capture is mandatory and if it possible
to make one or more jumps, the player must
do so.
- The cards determine game play as well,
once the initial move has been made; all
but one of the cards can be used at any time.
- Card instructions are worded clearly
and if a card is used when it is not
‘useful’,
then nothing is achieved within the play.
- Only when it is ‘useful’ can
the Antimatter card by played; it will
remain face up beside the draw pile until
it is used or the pile is reshuffled.
- On the cards, the word checker refers
to a single checker or a king; a ‘normal’ single
checker is called a pawn and a ‘normal’
king of two checkers on top of each other is
referred to as king.
- Most of the cards have self-explanatory
effects that the player must follow.
Walls ~ when the player
builds walls, he/she can only use tokens that
represent his/her own checker color:
- A player can move through his/her
own walls, but the opponent cannot.
- Walls must be placed in pairs along
adjacent edges of the checkerboard squares.
- A player may choose to place his/her
walls on two edges of a single square,
thus making it into an ‘L’ shape
or along the edges of two different squares,
which result in a line segment two edges
long.
- Walls only block diagonal checker movement
if the checker crosses from one side of
the wall to the other so that walls in
an
‘L’ shape
only block diagonal movement that crosses
the vertex but not diagonal movement that
skims beside the vertex.
Monolith ~ cannot
be placed on squares that are occupied:
- If the monolith moves across an edge
containing a wall, then the wall is removed.
- If the monolith is moved into an occupied
square, then the checker is
‘pushed’ into
the next square, which may then result
in a ‘chain
reaction’ of pushing should
the other squares also be occupied by checkers.
- A checker that is ‘pushed’
off the game board or against a wall is
removed from the board in the same way
if is was captured.
- The monolith may not be moved halfway
or completely off the checkerboard game.
- The card deck may be reshuffled when
indicated by a specific card, and when
this task is completed, the top card is
turned face up and placed next to the draw
pile in the same manner as at the beginning
of the alien checkers game.
~ Promotion to King ~
- When a single checker or pawn reaches
the opponent’s last row, it is crowned
and promoted to King as in the regular game
of Checkers; however, this only applies
if one or more single checkers have been
captured by the opponent because there
will not be any checkers to ‘crown’ the
pawn with.
- A pawn cannot be crowned if all other
pawns have been made into kings and there
are no other available single checkers to
place on top; in this instance, the pawn
must wait to be crowned king and in some
instances, this may not happen because
it is captured or moved before it becomes
king.
- If a checker is captured on the opponent’s
move, it can immediately turn any of the
player’s pawns into a kings if they
have reached the opponent’s
end.
~ Winning the Alien Checkers Game ~
- It is possible for a player to win the
game on the opponent’s turn, if the
player ends up with five kings/emperors.
- If neither player can make any further
moves, the game ends in a draw.
Alien Checkers ~ TOKENS
This fantasy variant
of checkers also uses a set of tokens represented
by the diagrams below (the exact set can
be found in the actual game of Alien Checkers
by DVS Games).
Alien Checkers Brick walls
    
    
    
Rings
    
    
    
Snookles
    
    
Water
  
Fire
   
Galactic Hippos
Monolith
The following are the cards used in ALIEN CHECKERS GAMES, as designed by David
Van Slyke:
FLOOD!
Either fill an empty square
with water or remove fire from a square. |
FIRE!
Either fill an empty square
with fire or remove water from a
square. |
EMPEROR
You may sacrifice a pawn on the board
to change a king into an emperor. An
Emperor is three checkers tall, moves
as a king and cannot be jumped except
by another emperor.
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REVIVE
You may place one checker not on the board
(captured, etc.) as a pawn on any main color
square on your half of the board. This card does
nothing if all your checkers are on the board.
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MONOLITH
If the board has one or more empty 2 x 2
areas, put the monolith on one of them.
If the monolith is on the board,
move it (see the rules for how). |
DOOM
If the monolith is on the board, move
it twice (see the rules for how). This card
does nothing if the monolith is not on the board.
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GALACTIC HIPPO!
If there are fewer than three Galactic Hippos
on the board, another one wanders by and sits
on one of your opponent's checkers. That checker
cannot move or be moved until the hippo or checker
is removed.
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SNOOKLE
Place a Snookle creature on one of your checkers. The Snookle remains until that
checker is captured or otherwise removed. Snookles remove and protect from Galactic
Hippos.
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RESHUFFLE
Make a second move this turn, with a different checker. (If you have only one
checker, do not move twice.)
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TRANSLATION
Either move any checker (yours or opponent's) one square vertically or horizontally or you may take one or more jumps vertically or horizontally.
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WORMHOLE
The checker just moved may teleport to
any empty square of the same color
as its original square. No jumping
happens.
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WANDERLUST
Next turn your opponent must, if possible, move a checker out of his or her
"back row". (This has precedence over the need to make a jump.)
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QUEEN
If you have any kings or emperors, you
may take a second move with one of these
moving any number of squares horizontally,
vertically or diagonally. (It cannot
jump or capture.) |
FORTIFY
If your opponent has played walls, you
may remove two of them or if there are
less than ten walls on the board, you
may play two adjacent walls.
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FATE
Choose one of your opponent's checkers. On his or her next turn, your opponent must
first move that checker. (This has precedence over the need to make a jump.) |
DOUBLE AGENT
Remove one of your opponent's checkers, make a 2nd move in a way that leaves it
square empty, then replace that checker in its square.
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RING
One of your checkers gets a ring. The ring remains until the checker is captured
or otherwise removed.
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ANTIMATTER
A 2 x 2 area that has at least one of each player's checkers is emptied. (The
monolith is unaffected by antimatter. You cannot play the care if there is no
appropriate 2 x 2 area!)
|
CHEATER!
You may arrange the order of the cards still in the deck. |
ROTATE
Rotate the board 90 degrees in either direction. The board edges where pawns become
kings change, as do each player's "half of the board".
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These next nine
planet cards are used at the beginning of the Alien Checkers game.
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VENUS
The creatures of Venus enjoy letting
smaller creatures ride on their backs.
Special Victory Condition:
Carry 4 Snookles on your checkers. |
EARTH
The creatures of Earth brag about their planet's many varied lifecycles.
Special Victory Condition:
Six of your checkers revived as pawns.
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MERCURY
The creatures of Mercury are most comfortable
in very hot places.
Special Victory Condition:
Three squares are filled with fire.
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MARS
The creatures of Mars enjoy conquering with excessive force.
Special Victory Condition:
Make 3 captures with an emperor(s).
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JUPITER
The creatures of Jupiter revere size.
Special Victory Condition:
The monolith is centered in the board.
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SATURN
The creatures of Saturn love jewelry.
Special Victory Condition:
Four of your checkers have rings.
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NEPTUNE
The creatures of Neptune love water.
Special Victory Condition:
Three squares are filled with water.
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URANUS
The creatures of Uranus travel in places most creatures avoid.
Special Victory Condition:
Four of your checkers on off color squares.
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PLUTO
The creatures of Pluto respect both distance and symmetry.
Special Victory Condition:
Have checkers in two diagonally opposite corners of the board.
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