Rules to Volcano

Volcano
an Icehouse game designed by Kristin Looney

● Standard Rules
● Mini-Volcano
● Mega-Volcano
● House Rules
● Volcano Boards

STANDARD RULES

WHAT YOU NEED

● 5 Treehouse sets and a set of Volcano Caps

● Number of players: 1-4
● Playing time: 20-30 minutes

OVERVIEW

Volcano is a clever, puzzle-style game in which players move "caps" around on top of a group of
volcanoes, triggering eruptions which cause colored streams of lava to flow out across the playing field.
The object of the game is to capture as many pieces as possible, with bonus points awarded for special
combinations. Each player attempts to accumulate the highest score and then bring the game to a close
before another player has a chance to steal the lead away. Multi-player Volcano supports any number of
players, though between 2 and 6 is best. It can be also played by a single player as a solitaire challenge.

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 Rules to Volcano

SETUP
Using all of the pieces
except the black ones,
create 25 solid-color
nests, and arrange them
into a 5x5 square. (A
"nest" consists of a large
piece on top of a medium
piece on top of a small
piece.) Set aside the
medium and large black
pieces - they will not be
used during the game.
Place the five small black
pieces on top of five
nests, using one of the
configurations shown
here. (After a few games,
you may want to try
creating your own
opening patterns.)

THE PLAY
Each stack of pieces within the 5x5 grid represents a volcano, and the five small black pieces represent
"caps" which keep the volcanoes beneath them from erupting.

On your turn, you may move any one of the five caps in any direction (horizontally, vertically, or
diagonally) for a distance of one space. You may not place a cap on top of another cap, and you may
not move a cap outside of the 5x5 square. Any other move is legal.

Moving a cap may cause the underlying volcano (if there is one) to erupt. If a move does not cause a
volcano to erupt, you are allowed to make another move with one of the caps. You may continue to
move caps in this fashion until an eruption does occur, at which point your turn ends and play passes to
the player on your left.

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 Rules to Volcano

ERUPTIONS
Whenever you move a cap off of a volcano, that
volcano erupts outward in the same direction in An Example Eruption
which you moved the cap. To execute the eruption,
take the top piece of the uncovered volcano, move
it directly toward and over the cap which you just
moved, and then place the erupting piece on the
volcano (or empty space) which is just beyond the
cap. Then take the next piece off of the erupting
volcano, move it over the cap and the volcano
beyond it, and place it on top of the volcano (or
empty space) which is beyond both of those.
Continue erupting pieces outward in this fashion Stage 1: A black cap is moved off of
until one of the following occurs: a clear volcano, causing it to erupt.

● The erupting volcano is completely spent,

leaving an empty space in its place.
Remember that this empty space is still part
of the playing area. Black caps may be
moved into it, and erupting pieces may land
in it as normal.
● The eruption runs up to the edge of the 5x5
playing field. Since pieces cannot be placed
outside the bounds of the original 5x5
square, an eruption must stop when it
reaches this limit.
● The eruption runs up against another black
cap. Since you cannot put any other pieces
on top of black caps, they block the flow of
Stage 2: The top piece from the
eruptions in much the same way that the
erupting volcano sails over the black
edges of the playing field do.
cap to land on the green volcano
beyond.
After you've finished executing the eruption, you
may capture any erupting piece which has landed
directly on top of a piece of the same size. Keep all
of your captured pieces in front of you, to be tallied
at the end of the game for your final score.

NON-ERUPTIONS
It is possible to move a black cap without causing
an eruption. For instance, if you move a cap from

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 Rules to Volcano

the middle ring of the board to the outer edge, the

uncovered volcano will not erupt, because its pieces
are not allowed to flow off the edge of the board.
Similarly, other black caps may block eruptions
before they even start. Finally, a cap sitting in an
empty space may be moved without causing an
eruption, because there is nothing beneath it which
can erupt.

During your turn, you may continue to move black

caps until you cause a volcano to erupt. With
practice, you can learn how to position the caps just Stage 3: The next piece from the
so, in order to capture the exact piece you're hoping erupting volcano sails over two
for. volcanoes to land on the blue one.

SCORING
As the game progresses, you should attempt to
arrange your captured pieces into as many solid-
color trees as possible. (A "tree" consists of a small
piece on a medium piece on a large piece.) These
trees are worth extra points when you tally your
score at the end of the game. You should arrange
the rest of your captured pieces into as many mixed-
color trees as possible; they'll be worth extra points
as well. At the end of the game, your total score
will be tallied as follows:

● 7 points for each solid-color tree Stage 4: The next and final erupting
● 5 points for each mixed-color tree piece sails even further to land on the
● 1 point for each of the rest of your pieces distant red volcano.

You're free to rearrange your captured pieces at any

time during or after the game, in order to create the
best possible score.

ENDING THE GAME

The game ends as soon as any single player has
captured one or more pieces of each color. After
the game ends, make sure you've arranged your
captured pieces into as many solid-color and mixed-
color trees as possible. Then tally up your final

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 Rules to Volcano

score. The player with the highest score wins.

Stage 5: One of the erupting pieces

has landed on a piece of the same
size. You get to capture it!

SOLITAIRE CHALLENGES
Volcano also makes for great fun as a solitaire activity. (In fact, Kristin initially envisioned it as a
solitaire game.) Solitaire Volcano is more like a puzzle than a typical solitaire game; the trick to these
solitaire challenges lies in developing your ability to move the black caps around, so that you'll be able
to take the specific piece(s) you desire. It may take a few games, but once you get a perfect score you'll
probably want to tackle a new challenge (or find other players) rather than solve the same puzzle again.
These challenges make excellent training for multi-player Volcano.

● Try to capture all of the red pieces with a minimum of other colors. You get one point for each
piece you take that isn't red. Assuming you begin with a black cap on a red piece, you should be
able to get a perfect score of 0.
● Try to capture all of the large pieces with a minimum of other sizes.
● Try to capture exactly one complete tree of each color.

CREDITS

Designed by Kristin Looney

Playtested by Andrew Looney, Alison Frane, Gina Mai Denn, and Kory Heath
Rules documented by Kory Heath
Pictures by Andrew Looney

VARIANTS

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 Rules to Volcano

Mini-Volcano
A Volcano Variant for 4 Icehouse Colors

Intro

Volcano has become many people's favorite Icehouse game, but the fact that it requires 6 stashes has
kept some players from being able to try it.

A couple of weeks ago on the Icehouse list, Derek Hohls asked if there was any way to play Volcano
with just the basic 4 colors of a standard Icehouse set, and Ryan McGuire said: "Hey, I know, how about
Mini Volcano? Play with the four basic colors on a 4x4 board."

Good idea, Ryan! We've been playtesting variations on this theme for the last couple of weeks, and
while full-size Volcano is definitely better, Mini-Volcano is really pretty good. In fact, it makes for a
shorter game, which may even be preferable.

Setup

Here's what you do. Make 15 nests using the Green, Blue, and Yellow pyramids, and set aside the
medium and large Reds. Small Reds will do the job of the Black caps used in the full game. (This can be
a little confusing for seasoned Volcano players, but one quickly gets used to it.)

Then you must decide what type of setup to use. As in full Volcano, many arrangements of the colors
within the board are possible, but you can also choose to play on an almost-full 4x4 grid or on a largely
empty 5x5 board, as shown. Both setups yield enjoyable games... try 'em both to see which you fancy.

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 Rules to Volcano

4x4 setup, no board 5x5 setup, with board

Ending

The movement, capture, and scoring mechanisms in Mini-Volcano are all the same as in the full game.
Only the end condition is different. With only 3 colors to capture, it would end far too abruptly if you
stopped when someone has one of each color, so we've been playing until a player is unable to make a
move that results in the capture of a piece.

The only problem with this ending condition is that you might sometimes conclude that the game is over
when it really isn't, just because no one is able to discover a piece-taking move. If you think no such
moves exist, say so... but don't be surprised if the other player says "No, wait... you could take a piece
this way." Needless to say, it would be highly Uncool to pretend you don't see a move just because you
want the game to end...

Note that it's always legal to make a move without making a capture; the game ends only when no piece
can be captured, not when a move is made without capturing something.

Mega-Volcano
A Volcano Variant for 9 Icehouse Colors

If you dig Volcano and you happen to have a full set of 9 Icehouse stashes, here's an advanced version of
the game you can try. It's played just like regular Volcano, but with the following differences. First, it
uses a 6x6 board-space, instead of the 5x5. Put the 7 translucent colors together in nests, and arrange
them however you wish within the 6x6 space, leaving one hole open in one of the centermost squares.

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 Rules to Volcano

Fill in this last space with a single nest from the white stash, then place the 5 small blacks onto the red
pieces just as you would in the standard game. (Set aside the rest of the black and white pieces... they
will not be used.)

The game then plays as before, except that now you need all 7 colors to trigger the end. The white pieces
are not counted towards this total, because they are treated as wildcards. During score-counting, a white
piece can be considered any other color you wish, thus making them very useful for completing
monochrome trees. More importantly, any player who captures all 3 of the white pieces automatically
wins the game.

HOUSE RULES

Random Layouts
While the Standard Rules call for arranging the pyramids in one of various patterns, many players enjoy
a totally random setup.

Who Goes First?

Andy likes to say that the player who's been closest to actual molten lava goes first.

VOLCANO BOARDS

Fancy Plastic Boards

We now stock really cool plastic Volcano boards are now being made for us by the friendly folks at
Kadon.

Nifty Paper Boards

A lovely paper Volcano board was included in the centerfold of Hypothermia in Issue #15.

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 Rules to Volcano

Freely Downloadable Boards

Several fans have created Volcano gameboard art you can download and print yourself:

● Karl J. von Laudermann's Volcano board

● Kenneth Leyhe's Volcano and Mega-Volcano boards
● Vitas Povilaitis was also inspired to create a Volcano board design

also see Blockade - another Icehouse game designed by Kristin

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Last Modified: Jul 02 2007 at 16:44

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