Synchro 1976

Played upon a nine-by-nine squared grid, Synchro is an abstract game containing a number of very interesting concepts. Reference to the diagram will show that the board has four black squares, known as Vantage Points, and two Castles.

Each of the two players begins with twelve playing pieces of three types.- Lumps, Blobs and Things. Each piece also bears a number from 1 to 6 and a pair of pieces with the same number constitute a unit. A player's four Lumps consist of two units numbered 1 and 2, his four Blobs are units 3 and 4, whilst the four Things are 5 and 6.

The board is placed with a Castle in front of each player, who then places his pieces anywhere in the three rows nearest to him, one piece per square. On a turn, a player must move one of his units. Pieces may not move onto or over an occupied square, except when capturing an opposing piece. The actual moves that can be made are as follows: (1) Where both members of a unit are on the board but neither is on a Vantage Point, both pieces are moved one or two squares in any direction, but both must move the same distance and direction. It is this feature that gives the game its name. (2) Where both pieces are on the board with either or both on Vantage Points, they can move as above but independently of one another. (3) One piece of a unit on the board, not a Vantage Point, moves one space in any direction. (4) One piece on a Vantage Point, one or two squares in any direction.

Pieces may only capture certain other pieces as follows:

Lumps (1 and 2) capture Blobs (3 and 4). Blobs (3 and 4) capture Things (5 and 6). Things (5 and 6) capture Lumps (1 and 2).

When captured, a piece is removed from the board and may only return under one circumstance; if it is the last piece of any one type, a player may exchange one of his pieces in play for the captured piece, which is immediately swapped with it and placed on the board. The object of the game is to move a piece onto one's opponent's castle, or to capture all of his pieces. At first, this may seem very similar to a hundred other games, however, the synchronised movement adds a new dimension.