GamesCrafters :: Games

Topitop

History

Topitop is a wooden game created by Thierry Denoual and is made by BlueOrange Games.

The Board

Topitop is played on a three-row, three-column grid, which is empty at the beginning of the game.

The Pieces

There are four different types of building components - blue buckets (B), red buckets (R), small sand piles (S), and large sand piles (L). In total, there are ten building components: two blue buckets, two red buckets, four small sand piles, and four large sand piles.

Rules

Player 1 is BLUE and owns blue structures (i.e., structures with a blue bucket on top). Player 2 is RED and owns red structures (i.e., structures with a red bucket on top). Both players own neutral structures (i.e., structures with no bucket on top).

Player 1 may only place components B, S, and L on the board. Player 2 may only place components R, S, and L on the board.

Over the course of the game, there are nine possible structures that can exist on the grid.

Player 1 (blue) may move any building on the board except buildings 4, 5, and 6. Player 2 (red) may move any building on the board except buildings 1, 2, and 3. Buildings 7, 8, and 9 are neutral buildings.

The buildings are created via the following stacking rules: STACK(1, 7) → 2, STACK(2, 8) → 3, STACK(1, 9) → 3, STACK(4, 7) → 5, STACK(5, 8) → 6, STACK(4, 9) → 6, and STACK(7, 8) → 9. For every other building pair β₁, β₂ ∈ {1, ..., 9}, the stacking is invalid, i.e., STACK(β₁, β₂) is undefined. The order of arguments matters, e.g., STACK(1, 7) → 2 but STACK(7, 1) is invalid/undefined.

The board starts empty. On a player's turn they may either (1) place one of the remaining building components they own on an empty cell (i.e., NOT directly on an existing structure) on the board (placing B, R, S, or L on a particular empty cell establishes building 1, 4, 7, or 8 on that cell, respectively) or (2) move one of the buildings β₁ horizontally, vertically, or diagonally one space into either an empty cell or to a cell containing a building β₂ such that STACK(β₁, β₂) is defined, after which the destination cell will hold the building that results from STACK(β₁, β₂).

A building cannot be taken apart.

If a player moves a neutral building to an empty cell, then the opponent on their next turn may not move that same neutral structure back to its original cell (it may be moved back on a following turn; just not on the turn immediately after).

If a player is unable to make a legal move, they pass their turn.

Player 1 wins once two of building 3 has been created, and Player 2 wins once two of building 6 has been created.