Tubeblock

[GuyBarry]

Many years ago I invented a game based on the London Underground map. It was for two players so I'm
not sure how it could be adapted for play here - maybe by dividing people into two teams. The rules
are a bit complicated but here's how it works:

(1) The first player picks any station that is not an interchange.
(2) The second player picks any station that is not an interchange and is on a different line from the
first player.
(3) Players now take it in turns to move to stations according to the following constraints:
(a) The station must not have been played before by either player.
(b) The journey from your previous station must NOT be possible by direct Underground train (it must
involve at least one change).
(c) The journey must not pass through any stations that are "blocked" by the other player. A player
blocks all stations that have a direct Underground service to his/her current location, e.g. a player at
Piccadilly Circus blocks all stations on the Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines.
(4) The loser is the first player who does not have a legal move.

[For the purposes of rule 3(c) only journeys fully by Underground are considered - no walking between
stations, buses etc.]

Here's a sample game:

A: Sloane Square
B: Holland Park
A: Green Park
B: Paddington (C/D/B)
A: Marble Arch
B: Euston
A: South Kensington
B: Bond Street
A: Pimlico
B: Great Portland Street
A: Elephant and Castle (wins)

Any questions?

[tubeguru]

No.

[The Orange One]

We have The Journey. For that sort of thing.

[greatkingrat]

Well I'll give it a go

A: Goodge Street

[The Orange One]

West Harrow

[greatkingrat]

Green Park

[jamesthegill]

Roding Valley

[greatkingrat]

If I understand the rules correctly I think Roding Valley is an illegal move, as it can't be reached without passing through a station I have blocked.

[tubeguru]

This game requires a graphical interface to be followed, as it's hard to keep track of what's been played, or what is blocked.

[jamesthegill]

If I understand the rules correctly I think Roding Valley is an illegal move, as it can't be reached without passing through a station I have blocked.

And here's where the rules need clarity (or the thread locking).

(a) The station must not have been played before by either player. It hasn't
(b) The journey from your previous station must NOT be possible by direct Underground train (it must
involve at least one change). Roding Valley on the Central line, Green Park on the Jubilee/Picc/Vic - change at Oxford Circus or Holborn, meets the criteria of a minimum of one change and avoids the Northern line blocked by Goodge St, and the Met blocked by West Harrow
(c) The journey must not pass through any stations that are "blocked" by the other player. A player
blocks all stations that have a direct Underground service to his/her current location, e.g. a player at
Piccadilly Circus blocks all stations on the Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines. Ok, so I've got to get to Roding Valley without using a blocked station. Neither West Harrow or Goodge Street are on my journey, so the only possible station blocking me is Green Park. Since I've got to get out of Green Park using only the underground lines, and since the Jub/Picc/Vic are all blocked, I cannot go anywhere. This suggests, and a thorough reading of the intro confirms, that the game is just for greatkingrat/The Orange One (or whichever two people jump on quickly enough to start a round) meaning everyone else can just watch. I'm not a fan of the Tumbleweed/Counting threads, but at least they have the potential for any one of the 298 users registered on this forum to make the next post and keep things going - this just seems deliberately obstructive to anyone else who wants to pick up a turn.

[GuyBarry]

I thought this might run into problems! The rule about not repeating stations isn't too important - it's only there to stop the game from going round in circles and ending in a stalemate. It's straightforward to see which stations are blocked merely by looking at the previous move. Also I think each player needs to say whether he/she is taking the part of player "A" or "B" in the game - we can have multiple players on each side but it's important to keep track of which player is at which station.

At the moment A is at Green Park, so all stations on the Victoria, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines are blocked to B. The only way that B can move off the Metropolitan line is by changing at Rayners Lane (blocked) or Wembley Park (blocked). So unless I'm mistaken A has already won.

[The Orange One]

That explains everything.

[jamesthegill]

I thought this might run into problems! The rule about not repeating stations isn't too important - it's only there to stop the game from going round in circles and ending in a stalemate. It's straightforward to see which stations are blocked merely by looking at the previous move. Also I think each player needs to say whether he/she is taking the part of player "A" or "B" in the game - we can have multiple players on each side but it's important to keep track of which player is at which station.

At the moment A is at Green Park, so all stations on the Victoria, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines are blocked to B. The only way that B can move off the Metropolitan line is by changing at Rayners Lane (blocked) or Wembley Park (blocked). So unless I'm mistaken A has already won.

Can't they change at Baker Street though?

[GuyBarry]

I'm not a fan of the Tumbleweed/Counting threads, but at least they have the potential for any one of the 298 users registered on this forum to make the next post and keep things going - this just seems deliberately obstructive to anyone else who wants to pick up a turn.

Fair point - I did suggest that players could perhaps organize into teams in advance. It was designed as a two-player game so maybe it's just not suitable for a forum like this.

[greatkingrat]

I think you pretty much have to start at a zone 1 station, otherwise it is too easy to block someone off.