Venables is a strategy game in which two teams of 8 pieces each face off on a
board of 64 colored squares. You win Venables by eliminating all the pieces on
the opposing team. If the teams are reduced to exactly one piece each, a draw is
declared.
The shield-shaped pieces (see below left) come in six different patterns. You
can choose the pattern for your team by clicking on your team's Indicator Shield
at the far left or right of the game window.
The squares on the board come in five colors: red, green, blue, yellow and
aqua (see below center).
>0,1,Starting Position,start
This shows the board at the start of a game. Venables colors the board squares
randomly, and places the pieces on the board at random positions.
>0,2,Ending Position (Victory),win
Eventually, all the pieces on one side have been eliminated, while the other
side still has pieces remaining. The surviving side wins the game, and collects
one point for each piece still on the board - in this case, three.
>0,3,Ending Position (Draw),draw
The two sides on this board have battled until each has exactly one piece
remaining: a drawn game, in which neither side receives points.
>1,0,Moving the Pieces
Instead of moving pieces directly, as in most strategy games, Venables lets
you move one or more pieces simultaneously using your team's Indirect Color
Control (ICC) (see below).
The ICC has 25 positions, each showing a "from color" (an arrow) and a "to
color" (a circle). A cross-shaped cursor shows your present position on the ICC,
(light blue rectangle) and the positions available for your next move.
When you move the ICC cursor, all your pieces on the new "from" color move
onto a neighboring square of the "to" color if one is available. Any existing
pieces on the "to" squares, whether yours or your opponent's, are removed.
>1,1,Using the ICC (a),iccmove
In Venables, all moves are made on the Indirect
Color Control. In the upper picture at right, the
cross-shaped ICC cursor is on the "green-to-green"
icon, either because it was moved there on the
player's previous turn, or because this is the first
turn and Venables has randomly placed it there.
The four neigboring icons show where the player is
allowed to move. Moves are made by clicking directly
on the ICC.
>1,2,Using the ICC (b),iccmove
For example, clicking to the left will cause any pieces
the player has on green squares to move to a
neighboring red square, if one exists. Green-to-blue,
red-to-green, and blue-to-green are the other moves
available.
In this case the player clicks the green-to-blue icon
on the ICC. His or her pieces move from green to
blue on the main board, where possible, and the
ICC cursor moves to the position shown in the
bottom illustration.
>1,3,Effect of Move,grnblue
The green-to-blue move, shown in the
previous illustration, was made by the
player whose shield token is the Black Tree.
Only one piece is affected (yellow arrow). Its
move, which captures an opposing piece,
ends Black Tree's turn.
>2,0,What is a Turn?
A turn in Venables may consist of one move on the ICC, or many. After any move
you are allowed to move again immediately unless:
1) Your move captured one or more enemy pieces; and/or,
2) Your move affected exactly ONE of your pieces.
The illustrations for this topic show the results of a green-to-blue move for
the Black Tree player in several game situations. An important tactical point
to keep in mind is that a player should try to prolong his or her turn by
making moves that affect either two or more pieces, or zero pieces, until
a capture can be made.
>2,1,Turn Continues (a),grnblue1
Black Tree has moved the Indirect Color Control cursor onto the green-to-blue icon, but the only Black Tree piece on a green square does not have an available move to blue.
Since a move that affects zero pieces does not end the turn, Black Tree can continue with another move of the ICC cursor.
>2,2,Turn Continues (b),grnblue2
In this board position, Black Tree's green-to-blue move affects three pieces, which move onto adjacent blue squares as shown by the yellow arrows.
Since a move that affects more than one piece does not end the turn unless there is a capture, Black Tree can continue with another move of the ICC cursor. (One of Black Tree's own pieces is sacrificed in this move, but that doesn't count as a capture.)
>2,3,Turn Ends (a),grnblue3
In this board position, Black Tree's green-to-blue move affects exactly one piece, ending his or her turn. The Red Stripe player will make the next move.
>2,4,Turn Ends (b),grnblue4
Here Black Tree's green-to-blue move affects three pieces, one of which captures a piece belonging to Red Stripe. This capture ends the turn - Red Stripe will make the next move.
>3,0,Moving the Pieces - Details
There are two other rules governing movement.
1) The "Same Square" rule: No piece can occupy the same square twice in any one turn, no matter how many moves that turn takes (see "Turns").
2) The "Same Color" rule: A piece cannot move onto a square of the same color as its current square, if that square is occupied by a piece from its own team.
>
>3,1,"Same Square" Rule (a),details1
With the board position shown at right, Black Tree has chosen the move green-to-blue. Three pieces are affected (yellow arrows) and, because there are no captures, Black Tree's turn continues (next illustration).
>3,2,"Same Square" Rule (b),details2
Now Black Tree moves blue-to-blue. Again three pieces are affected, including two from the previous move. There is no capture, so the turn continues (next illustration).
>3,3,"Same Square" Rule (c),details3
This time Black Tree moves blue-to-green. Two pieces move, but the circled piece does not, since the move would put it on a square the piece has already occupied during this turn, violating the "Same Square" rule.
>3,4,"Same Color" Rule,details4
With the board position shown at right, Black Tree plays red-to-red. One piece moves, but the two neighbor pieces near the top of the board do not, since that would violate the "Same Color" rule. Because only one piece moves, this ends Black Tree's turn.
