A Plethora of Polygons


A Plethora of Polygons

Materials:

8.5" x 11" piece of blank paper

D6 (six-sided die)

2 Pencils

Players:

2

Objective:

The objective of this game is to capture as many polygons as possible.

Starting the game:

The players each roll the die to see who gets to take the first turn. The player with the lowest roll goes first.

Taking turns:

The player rolls the die onto the paper.  If the die does not land on the sheet of paper, then that player's turn is over.  If the die lands on the paper, the player puts a dot where the die landed unless the die landed in an enclosed polygon.  If the player rolls an even number, then s/he gets to draw a line connecting two dots on the paper.  If this closes a polygon, then the player gets to claim that polygon as their own (marking it in some way is recommended).  If the player rolls an odd number, then the player gets to draw a line connecting the dot where the die just landed to another dot.  If the player rolled a 6, then they get to take another turn.

If the player closes a polygon that contain dots, then the enclosed dots are then invalid and may not be connected to in future turns. However, a player may not close a polygon is the resulting polygon would contain any number of lines.  Also, a player may not create a line that crosses another line.

Ending conditions:

The game ends if the players determine that there is not enough room left on the board to make more polygons, or if a certain amount of time has elapsed (12 mins recommended).

Scoring:

Once game play has ended, the players then add up the number of polygons in which they have claimed and the number of sides each claimed polygon that those polygons have.

Winning:

The player with the highest score wins.