| Mega Volcano |
| Other Names: Mega-Volcano, MegaVolcano |
| Inventor: Andrew L. Looney, 2002 (?) |
| Variant of Volcano |
| Ranks: Six by Six |
| Sowing: Single laps |
| Region: USA |
Mega Volcano is an advanced variant of Volcano for nine stashes that is played on a larger board. The game was created probably in 2002 by Andrew L. Looney (USA). The game can be played by 2 - 4 persons. It was implemented on Super Duper Games, an online website for the playing of abstract strategy games against live and computer opponents
Rules
The game is played like regular Volcano except for the following changes:
- Mega Volcano is played on a 6x6 board.
- Players put the seven translucent colored pyramids (Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Purple, Orange, and Clear) together in "nests", that is a stack with a large piece on top, a medium piece in the middle, and a small piece on the bottom. After that they place these nests however they wish on the board except for the center, which is filled with a single nest made from the white stash. Finally they place the five small blacks on top of the red pieces.
- Players need all seven colors to end the game. The white pyramids are treated as wildcards, in other words, a white piece may be considered any color that is needed to complete a monochrome "tree" (a stack with a small piece on top, a medium piece in the middle, and a large piece on the bottom).
- A player automatically wins the game, when he captures all three of the white pyramids.
Variants
- No wildcard:
Another way to do Mega Volcano is to use four nests of nine colors, and a tenth color of smalls for caps. This eliminates the wild color, and makes the game longer by increasing the number of colors needed to trigger the endgame. This variant was invented by Ryan Hackel (USA).
- Teplin's houserule:
A player may not capture a white piece until they have at least one complete tree, made up of any colors. This rule was made by Frank Teplin (USA) and a friend of him in 2006.
External Links
- Mega Volcano on Wunderland
- "Mega-volcano rule adjustment" (discussion on BoardGameGeek)
- Super Duper Games
Copyright
© Ralf Gering
Under the CC by-sa 2.5 license.