The Descent

TBD

Designer(s): e_is_cool, elara Match Type: DM (for 2 players)
Featured in: The Genius: Heaven and Hell

Death Match 12: The Descent

Inanna descended to the underworld to confront her sister, Ereshkigal. She dressed elaborately for the visit, but when passing through each of the seven gates of the underworld, one of her garments was removed, and by the time she actually encountered Ereshkigal, she was rendered powerless…


SUMMARY

This game takes place on an 8x8 square board. Players have shape pieces they move around the board, using up cards. Players can also perform a sacrifice to recover their cards, at some cost. A player loses when they have fewer than 8 cards.


RULES

This game takes place on an 8x8 square board. At any moment, a tile may be burnt, and may have at most one piece on it. Each player controls four pieces: ■ ▲ ● ×. Also, each player has sixteen cards of four different categories.

  • Four cards are ability cards, named A/B/C/D (short for Arrow, Blaze, Counterbalance, Dash).
  • Four cards are shape cards, named ■/▲/●/× (“Square”, “Triangle”, “Circle”, “Cross”).
  • Four cards are direction cards, named N/E/W/S (North, East, West, South).
  • Four cards are number cards, initially numbered 1/2/3/4.

At the start of the game, players place their pieces. One player moves first; the DMO decides who goes first. That player begins by placing one of their four pieces, then the other player also places a piece. Turns alternate until all pieces are placed.


After placement has concluded, normal play starts, beginning with the same player who placed first. On a single turn, a player must use up one ability card, one shape card, one direction card, and one number card. Then, the shape chosen will move in the given direction for the given number of spaces, triggering the given ability. For instance, if B, ■, W, and 3 are chosen, then the ■ piece moves west three spaces, triggering Blaze. All four cards are used up, and cannot be reused until the player Sacrifices.

In order for a play to be valid, the play must be fully legal. The piece moving cannot intersect another piece, a burnt tile, or a wall at any point during the movement. Shapes are allowed to move out of burnt tiles, but cannot move into them.


Instead of using cards to move, players can also choose to Sacrifice. This will return all used cards to them, at some cost. There are four Sacrifices possible:

  • Sacrifice of Power: Choose an ability card; you no longer have it.
  • Sacrifice of Blood: Choose a shape card; you no longer have the card, but the shape stays on the board.
  • Sacrifice of Will: Choose a direction card; you no longer have it.
  • Sacrifice of Value: Choose a number card; it is reduced by 1, then removed if it becomes a 0.

The game ends when a player has fewer than 8 cards remaining. That player loses.


ABILITIES
  • Arrow: Burn tiles in front of you equal to the number of spaces moved.
  • Blaze: Burn both your previous tile and the tile you land on.
  • Counterbalance: Burn the tile rotationally opposite of the tile you land on.
  • Dash: Your movement is doubled. (The same rules with illegality apply to this doubled movement.)

TIMING

You have 1 minute per move and 5 minutes of reserve time. If you run out of reserve time, you automatically perform a randomly chosen Sacrifice.


EXAMPLES

Here is a possible starting state of the grid (the pieces are randomly placed):



Green, who is going first, plays Arrow, Circle, South, 3, leading to this state:



Blue plays Dash, Cross, West, 2, leading to this state:



Now, Green decides to Sacrifice, turning their 3 into a 2. The game continues as such:



PENPA LINK

Here it is.


Clarification:

The lose-condition is when your entire deck (including cards that you do not have available to use at the moment) has fewer than 8 cards, not when you have fewer than 8 cards in your hand.


Amendment:

When placing down your four pieces, one piece must be in each of the four quadrants of the grid. (As such, the example board is not fully accurate for this.)

Apologies; I'd forgotten about this rule and it was somehow missed when I transferred the rules into a presentable format.

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