Annotated Games: Version 1.0, 4 Players

This game was played during the game testing of Mice in a Maze. The participating mice were red, purple, black and white and their secondary nests have been marked by additional (immovable) mice. To make the playing pieces contrast against the tiles, all tiles are colored blue and green.

Round 1

Red: Cross and Curve in front of mouse
Purple: Curve and Curve in front of mouse
Black: Curve and Curve in front of mouse
White: Cross in front of mouse, Curve in front of marble

All mice play according to the basic strategy of avoiding dangers and ensure that they can't be forced out of the maze in the second turn.

Red and purple start close to each other and waste no time to get to the Chamber while white takes time to remove a marble with her second tile.

Round 2

Red: Cross in front of mouse and marble
Purple: Cross in front of mouse
Black: Cross in front of marble
White: Curve in front of mouse

Red places a cross that both moves a marble and allows her to move next round. Purple and white both place tiles that will allow them to move next round while black safely place a cross to remove a marble first.

Slowly, the Cheese Chamber gets accessible but the marbles are still dangerous to the mice, as the next round will show.

Round 3

Red: Cross in front of marbles
Purple: (Loses one turn)
Black: Curve above Chamber
White: Curve in front of mouse

Red has a cross and uses it not only to move two marbles but also have one of them roll over the purple mouse and cause her the loss of a turn. Black is less lucky with her curve and uses it to prepare an alternative path back to her Nest if necessary. White approaches the Cheese Chamber but still have plenty of marbles in the way.

Note that although purple lost this turn, she also got another tile for her path AND a dangerous marble removed, so she's the only mouse that may reach the Chamber next round.

Round 4

Red: Curve in front of mouse
Purple: Replaces curve in front of red mouse with cross
Black: Cross in front of mouse
White: Curve in front of marble

Red places a curve that will get her one step closer to the Chamber. Purple would also like to place a curve but has a cross so she uses it to replace the curve in front of the red mouse (and making things worse for red at the same time). Black places a cross in front of her mouse to get closer to the Chamber while white places a curve in front of a marble to remove yet another danger.

Purple is still the closest to the Chamber but will the other players allow her to reach it?

Round 5

Red: Curve in front of purple mouse
Purple: Curve in front of mouse
Black: Cross in front of mouse
White: Cross in front of mice and marble

Red retaliates by placing a curve in front of the purple mouse, leading her away from the Chamber (but also a marble to the Chamber and out of the game, making her path easier). Purple has no choice but to place a curve to turn towards the Chamber again. Meanwhile, both black and white places crosses to move closer to the Chamber. Note that white's cross removes yet another marble as two marbles end up on the same path.

Will black or white become the first in to the Chamber?

Round 6

Red: Curve in front of mouse
Purple: Replaces curve in front of red mouse with cross
Black: Cross in front of white mouse
White: Curve in front of mouse

Red and purple keep exchanging "take thats". This time, purple replaces the red curve to use it herself next turn and also keep leading the red mouse astray. Black didn't get the necessary curve to enter the Chamber and takes the opportunity to lead away the white mouse all the way to the edge. White has no choice but to start the cumbersome work to create a path back again.

Now black is the only mouse close to the Chamber.

Round 7

Red: Cross next to mouse
Purple: Curve in front of mouse
Black: Cross in front of white mouse
White: Replaces curve with cross outside Nest

Red doesn't have the necessary curve but places a cross both to get a future path to the Chamber and to disrupt purple's path. Black doesn't have the necessary curve either so she places a cross that leads white out of the maze. White is still able to place a tile so she replaces a curve with a cross instead, allowing her to find another way from the Nest to the Chamber.

Black is still the mouse closest to the Chamber but red and purple are finally moving in the right direction and white has far from given up.

Round 8

Red: Curve in front of mouse
Purple: Cross in front of black mouse
Black: Curve in front of mouse
White: (Loses one turn)

Red places a curve and is now one curve away from the Chamber. Purple could have reached the Chamber with a curve but had a cross so she places it in front of the black mouse to lead her to the edge. Black now has to use her curve to turn back and in the same time lead a marble into a Nest and out of the game.

With black gone, red and purple are in the lead again.

Round 9

Red: Cross in front of purple mouse and marble
Purple: (Loses one turn)
Black: Cross in front of red mouse
White: Curve in front of mouse

A lot of take that this turn. Red didn't have the necessary curve so she places a cross in front of the purple mouse, connecting her to a marble, so both the mouse and marble are removed. Black also needed a curve but got a cross so she uses it to deny red a path to the Chamber. White makes things even worse for red by placing a curve that leads white to the Chamber and red to the edge.

White now has a path to the Chamber but so does purple in spite of the "marble accident". Will the next round see the first mouse reaching the Chamber?

Round 10

Red: Cross in front of mouse
Purple: Curve in corner
Black: Replaces curve with cross outside shared Nest
White: Cross outside white secondary Nest

Red builds a path into a shared Nest with the idea of turning towards the Chamber in the next turn. Purple has a curve to place but cannot find a useful place for it and leaves it in a corner. She would have preferred a cross to build a second path from the Chamber to a Nest of hers. Black takes advantage of this by replacing a tile in purple's path so that it leads to the black Nest instead of the purple Nest. White places a cross that brings her one tile closer to her secondary Nest if necessary.

Purple and white now have one cheese each but only white has a path back to her own Nest.

Round 11

Red: Replaces curve with cross outside Chamber
Purple: Curve outside secondary purple Nest
Black: Curve outside secondary black Nest
White: Replaces cross with curve outside black Nest

Red replaces a curve with a cross, opening not only a path to the Chamber for herself but also a path for the white mouse to a Nest shared between red and white. Purple has a cheese but no good path so she starts building something towards her secondary Nest but it's still far away. Black does similarly towards her secondary Nest. White plays safe and move to the shared Nest, giving red 1 point as well, and also replaces a curve with a cross in black's path to lead her to the white Nest instead.

White and red now have one point each while purple and black will have to struggle to earn points for their cheeses.

Round 12

Red: Curve in front of purple mouse
Purple: Cross in front of mouse
Black: Cross in front of mouse
White: Cross outside Nest

Red already has a path to the Chamber so she places a curve that leads the purple mouse closer to her secondary Nest. Purple places a cross to avoid this. Black find no good alternatives this turn but to move close to the white Nest and place a cross to avoid the same. This may lead her out of the maze but she rather loses the cheese and a turn than give it to white. White would like to replace the cross with a curve but doesn't have any so she uses the cross to build another potential path to her Nest.

Red and white are now both in the Chamber but will they continue to bring cheese to their shared Nest and can purple and black still catch up?

Round 13

Red: Cross in front of purple mouse
Purple: Replaces curve with curve outside Chamber
Black: Replaces curve with curve outside Chamber
White: Replaces curve with cross outside Chamber

With a curve, red could have replaced the cross in front of the purple mouse and led her into her own Nest. The cross is almost as good, as it leads the purple mouse out at a corner, sharing the cheese between red and black. Black faces the same fate but at least her cheese is not gained by anyone else. Both purple and black place tiles to build new paths to the Chamber. However, white ruins black's path by placing a cross that gives her a path.

Red and white both have three cheeses each while black has one. Note that three players replaced tiles this turn so they must place new tiles the next turn.

Round 14

Red: Replaces cross with curve in front of white Mouse
Purple: (Loses one turn)
Black: (Loses one turn)
White: Cross in corner

Red breaks the "consent" with white by breaking her path to the Chamber. This is necessary to fight for the victory, since white had a path to her own Nest while red only has a path to a shared Nest. White cannot move without getting out of the maze, nor replace a tile, since she did that the previous turn, so she has to place a tile and hope for better luck next turn. Purple and black also remain inactive this turn, since they got out of the maze the previous turn.

With few hidden tiles remaining in the maze, the end of the game is near, but with four cheeses left in the Chamber, it's still open.

Round 15

Red: Replaces cross with curve outside Chamber
Purple: Cross outside shared Nest
Black: Curve outside shared Nest
White: Replaces curve with curve outside Chamber

Red could have moved yet another cheese to the shared Nest but prefers to move along the path leading back to the Chamber to start the last (?) turn there. She also replace a tile to open a path to her Nest. Purple also reaches the Chamber and places a cross for a potential path to a shared Nest if necessary. White's last tile ruined black's path and led her to a shared Nest instead and since her last tile was a replacement tile, she may not replace another tile. White on the other hand stays in her Nest, since the path leads out of the maze, but instead of fixing her path, she ruins red's path by replacing the curve just placed by red.

The conflict between red and white has blocked them both.

Round 16

Red: Cross in corner
Purple: Replaces cross with curve in corner
Black: Replaces cross with curve outside Chamber
White: (Unable to place)

It's a tight end game. White has no moves left but is still in the lead, thanks to the tie-breaking cheese in her own Nest, but red can take another loop back to the Chamber and place the last tile in the game, allowing her to be the last player to replace a tile. Purple dare not ruining black's path, fearing of retaliation if black has nothing else to do, and black takes the opportunity not only to build her own path but also to ruin red's loop path.

With black's replacement tile, both purple and black have open paths to the Chamber. Red will be forced to move with a cheese to an opponent path.

Round 17

Red: Replaces cross with curve outside Nest
Purple: (Unable to place)
Black: (Unable to place)
White: (Unable to place)

Red finally gets a path to her Nest but it's too late. Purple and black have both reached the Chamber before red and will claim the last of the eight cheeses. The end score will be as follow:

Black: 2+1
White: 1+2
Red: 0+3
Purple: 2+0

The game was indeed tight. If there had been one more cheese left in the Chamber, red would have won, and if there had been one cheese less, white would have won. Red and white had a good cooperation that gave them three cheeses left but given that white's "cheese" was a tie-breaker, red was forced to break the cooperation in round 14. It would have worked if white had wasted time on rebuilding her path but instead she prioritized holding red back by replacing a tile in her path in round 15. Red lost a valuable turn as she was unable to immediately and this allowed purple and black to get back in the game. Red's decision in turn 17 to bring a cheese to the black Nest determined the game but it was red's inability to keep an open path to her own Nest that was the real turning point.

P&P (PDF, A4)	P&P (PDF, US Letter)

Annotated games

Version 1.0: 4 players