The simple checkerboard has my attention of late, as regular readers will know, so I thought I’d stay with the theme as we come upon the end of July.
The use of a checkerboard and pieces (some added to be sure for some games) is a great option for the summer cabin. One board and pieces, along with a file folder of rulesets unless you have an Internet connection), and you can hunker down during a rainstorm, or in the evening it turns cool in the later stages of the season, and explore a wide range of games.
In this case Focus is the game, and it allows the versatility of playing with two, three, or four players. Of course to play with four you will need pieces in four colours, although in a pinch pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters could work too.
The pattern for the initial piece layout can be found online at www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/789/focus
In a two-player game, only the red and green pieces are used and each player is given 18 of each colour to play with. In a three-player game, three colours of playing pieces are used and each player is given 13 of each colour to play with. In a four-player game, four colours of playing pieces are used and each player is given 13 of their colour to play with.
The basic move in Focus, also known as Domination, is to pile up your playing pieces onto other playing pieces to form stacks.
If your colour playing piece is on top of a stack, you control that stack and only you can move it.
If your colour is on top of all the stacks or piles on the game board and your opponent cannot move, then you’ll win the game.
There are two basic moves you can make on your turn;
• make a single move by moving one of your pieces one space orthogonally (think chess rook), onto an empty space or onto a playing piece or stack of playing pieces.
• or make a multiple move by moving a pile of playing pieces or parts of a pile of playing pieces. To make a multiple move, you can only move a pile that has one of your colour playing pieces on top. You can only make a multiple move vertically and horizontally on the game board. You can also jump over other pieces while moving and not affect them. The most important rule to remember when making a multiple move is the number of pieces you pick up in a pile to move determines how many spaces you can move on the game board.
So, for example, with a stack of three you may move the entire three-high pile three adjacent spaces onto a two- high pile to form a five-high pile.
Or you may move part of a three-high pile: “If you wish, you may move fewer spaces than the total number of pieces in a pile determined, this is called moving part of a pile. To move part of a pile, lift off as many pieces from the top of the pile as the spaces you wish to move. Then move them. The remaining piece or pieces in a pile remain where they are,” states the rules.
The core of the game comes with creating stacks greater than five pieces high.
When you create a pile that is more than five pieces high any pieces in excess of five must be removed from the bottom of that pile.
Pieces removed of your own colour are put into your reserves.
“On your turn, instead of making a single or multiple move, you may choose to play one of your reserve pieces. This is done by taking one of your reserve pieces and placing it anywhere on the game board on an empty space, on a playing piece or on a pile of playing pieces. Once you play a reserve piece your turn is over,” details the rules.
As you can imagine reserve pieces are the most powerful option available to a player.
When pieces of an opponent’s are removed they are captured and are permanently put out of play.
To quicken a game the option of being the first player to capture six or more of his or her opponent’s pieces wins the game is suggested.
The rules for two and four players are simply variations starting with the piece lay-out.
Overall Focus feels a lot like checkers, with a stacking mechanic added. It is a bit more though provoking than checkers, without the great depth needed for chess.
Designed by noted game created Sid Jackson back in 1963, this is a game which sort of ended up targeted at youngsters through publishers like Parker Bros. and Milton Bradley, but there is enough depth here for adults to spend many hours exploring too.
