Royal Carpet 2001

An entry in the 2001 About.com 8x8 Game Design Competition.

Object: Be the first player to get two Kings off the far edge of the board. This is done by laying down a carpet of friendly Checkers for the Kings to jump.

Only one piece may be moved or introduced per turn. Checkers may be introduced onto any empty square. Alternatively, Checkers may move to any adjacent, empty square. A King may only move by jumping (in any direction) over friendly Checkers or Kings, capturing as he goes. Captured Checkers may be reintroduced later, but Kings that are captured do not return to the game.

The mechanics of jumping are the same as in the game Checkers, except that Kings may jump off the far edge of the board, into the 'end zone.' This King is removed from play. If a King has an opportunity to jump, he must jump, continuing until no more jumps are possible. So beware!

Winning: Victory is achieved when a player has jumped two Kings into the end zone.

Royal Carpet is an attempt to create a game of tempo in which friendly pieces have both positive and negative synergies. Crafty players will block jumps and then unblock them later, forcing an enemy King to jump his royal brethren. For those so inclined, this game is fun to play with a backgammon doubling cube, held initially by the Red player.