Fleur Designs

	RoCo - a game of rows & columns

RoCo from FD Games This game of rows & columns is a simple game to learn - but how complex the tactics get is up to you. It's a game for 2 to 4 players (extends to 8 players). £12 +p&p - board, rules, pieces & e-mail support See also: board games wedding stationery crafts craft courses bear collectables information services links to Acorn Publisher website ... Acorn Publisher AP on-line advertisers contributors user groups diary dates web-search RISC OS links subscribe to Acorn Publisher register with AP on-line contacting us	RoCo board game designed by John Cartmell using RISC OS software (ArtWorks) RoCo is a simple game for 2-4 players If you can count you can play RoCo. But can you win?
	RoCo - short for Row and Column - is probably our most popular game. RoCo was developed to answer a challenge, "You can't produce a race game that doesn't rely on dice". We could and we did. We even repeated our triumph with Five, Qiddle, diversion, FourSquare and (arguably) HexAgon. All these race games can be played without dice but, of them all, RoCo probably makes the most original use of a single board. When designing any board game it's almost impossible to ignore all the games that already exist and it's usually easy to point to those that inspired any new game. RoCo is original. RoCo is designed to be played by 4 people but is equally good with any number between 2 and 6 players. There is an alternative rule that should be considered for 4 to 8 (maximum) players as the number of pieces on the board may otherwise make play impossible. Rule Change As from rules version 1.3 the following rule change has been included as standard: When a blocking space is already occupied by another piece the block is not operative. In other words you can move a piece to a blocking square then jump your other pieces over without having to take note of the block. You can even be cheeky and make use of your opponent(s) pieces on a blocking square! This obviously opens up the game and may even make the alternative rule (above) redundant. More feedback is required from those playing with over 4 players so please e-mail with any help you may be able to give us. As from rules version 1.4 the following rule has been clarified: Return to Base (does not apply to central squares) If a piece (eg red) lands on the same space as an opposing piece (eg green) then that piece (ie green) is returned to its starting position. The current player (ie red) chooses which of the four starting circles (ie green) on which to place the taken piece. Pieces cannot move to a space occupied by one of their own pieces. Board Changes Although the board has had a number of minor modifications there have been no changes that effect the way the game is played since its original release in December 2000. Frequently Asked Questions When one counter lands on another, is it the counter that has just moved or the one that was already on the square that is returned to the start? If a red piece moves to a square already occupied by a green piece then the green piece goes back to the start and the red player decides on which (free) green circle the green piece should go. Please can you clarify the blocking squares. If I have a move of 7 and a block is in my way do I have to stop on it, before it, backtrack, or go a different way? If the move of 7 takes you beyond the block then you can't move that way. You can't stop before the 7 is used up and you can't backtrack but you can go a different way. The rule change above may help in some cases. Can I move over another piece on a square or do I have to stop in front of it? You cannot stop on top of another piece - but if you do stop on that square you will displace the original piece back to its starting space; you even have the option to place the displaced piece on any of the (free) circles so use that choice wisely. If your move takes you beyond the other piece then you have no restriction. The rules talk of Orange, Purple, Aqua and Cyan counters but I only have the Blue, Red, Green and Yellow ones. Am I missing some? No. I only ever intended to provide four sets of pieces as standard and the advertising should have made that clear. The problem is that I cannot guarantee a supply of the other colours and most purchasers only ever wanted to use the game with up to four players. If you want a set of playing pieces in four more colours then send an e-mail quoting your game number and I'll post a set to you - it will comprise 4 more colours but they may not match Aqua and Cyan in particular. Which RISC OS font did you use for the RoCo logo, it's very distinctive? The font is Cotterell (bold.oblique) from iSV. I think it came on the iSV Typography CD but it's probably also included with DrawWorks these days. Send us an e-mail to order RoCo for £12 plus p&p (£3 in UK) or to comment on the game / ask for clarification of the rules. If you own a copy of RoCo and haven't e-mailed before then please quote the unique number on your RoCo board. See also - other single-board games, and: Four Square - a 3^rd Millennium (level 1) Game that uses any number of boards and players; and two Games from History - Krikos - circular chess boards Rithmomachia - the game for philosophers
September 2002	Site and contents copyright John Cartmell, Acorn Publisher and AP on-line. Please contact the publisher for permission to use extracts from this site.

RoCo - a game of rows & columns

RoCo

from FD Games