Element Shift

In this Main Match, create regions of your element or switch elements tactically to earn the most points.

Designer(s): pseudonam	Match Type: MM (for 12 players)
Featured in: The Genius: Variations on a Theme

MM2: Element Shift

Terraform the tiles of the board to your team’s advantage -- and when the tide's against you, jump ship!

Setup

Players have been randomly assigned to one of three elements, which is revealed below.

The game is played on an 11x11 grid. The starting grid has been randomized with fire (red), water (blue), and grass (green) spaces, as shown below.

Players have 24 hours before the game begins to choose any space with the same element as their team. All selections will be made public once the MM begins. If a player does not select a space, their space will be randomized among the valid spaces.

Each player starts as the same element of their starting space.

Water beats fire, grass beats water, and fire beats grass.

Gameplay

The game is played in a total of seven rounds, which have five segments each.

Before a player moves in a round, a player must choose to either keep their current element or to switch to the element that beats their element.

Then, players can move one space up, down, left, or right up to five times. All players’ first movements will happen in the first segment, all players’ second movements will happen in the second segment, and so on.

Multiple players can move onto the same space in a single segment.

At the end of a round, if a space has been moved onto by a player which beats its element, the space changes to the player’s element. This only happens once; for example, if players of all three elements have moved onto a fire space in literally any order, the space becomes a water space and does not change further.

When a player changes their element on a space, the space is NOT updated to match the player’s new element.

At the end of each round, the board will be displayed, along with each player’s current point total.

If a player does not submit, they do not change element nor move.

Scoring

A region is a maximally large connected group of tiles of the same element. For instance, in the starting grid, D3-D4-D5-C5-E5 is a Water region of size 5, and E1-F1 is a Water region of size 2.

Players will score points equal to twice the number of squares in the region they are in, divided by the number of players in that region (rounded down) of the same element as the region. They only earn these points if their color matches their space’s color; otherwise they will earn no points from this.

The element with the most tiles is the leading element. If there is a tie for first, no element is the leading element. If your element at the end of the round defeats the leading element, you score three additional bonus points.

Variations

Round 1: Theme (No variation)

Round 2: Pandemic

At the end of the round, players earn three points if they are not in the same region as another player.

Round 3: Catholic Conversion

Players are unable to move one space up, down, left, or right. Instead, players can only move one space up-left, up-right, down-left, and down-right (effectively moving diagonally instead of cardinally).

Round 4: Rock Paper Scissors

At the end of the round, players score points equal to twice the number of players their element beats.

Round 5: Horsing Around

Players gain a second possible action for the remainder of this round, which they can do in place of moving.

Move two spaces up, down, left, or right, and one space in a perpendicular direction (like a knight in chess). For instance, RRD is a valid submission, as is UUR, but DDU is not. This action will not change the element of the space you land on.

Round 6: Elemental Ray

Players gain a second possible action for the remainder of this round, which they will automatically do in place of their first move, and only their first move.

Shoot a laser in a cardinal direction. The elemental ray will start one space from your current space in your specified direction and will travel in a straight line until it hits the edge of the board, going through players.

Tiles which lose to your element will become your element at the end of the round.

Tiles of the same element will not be affected by your ray.

Tiles which beat your element stop your ray.

Note that tiles can still only change elements once a round.

Round 7: Tile Rush

When players land on them, spaces now change elements at the end of each segment instead of at the end of the round. This means spaces can change elements multiple times in a round (but still once in a segment). This round has six segments instead of five, which means players can submit up to six movements.

The starting grid and elements are as follows:

Element Shift

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