Dig up roads to cut off power and water from your opponents!
Players: 2-4
The roads of Bengaluru are constantly dug up, sometimes to lay pipes or build flyovers, but often for no apparent reason. The city's residents, left to deal with unpredictable power and water, tell each other: "Swalpa adjust maadi -- please bear with the inconvenience". This game is dedicated to the resilient people of this once-beautiful city.
Players are contractors ruthlessly fighting to connect their own houses to power and water pipes. One contractor's work often breaks another's pipes, so houses store power and water in tanks. The first player who successfully routes the pipes to fill their own houses' power and water tanks wins.
The board's top and bottom edges are the power supply, its left and right edges are the water supply. Each square on the board is either a park tile or a pipe tile. Each player owns four houses, with each house placed on a different pipe tile. There are six types of pipe tiles, each carrying a single power pipe and a single water pipe.
Two straight-type and four bend-type pipe tiles; red: power pipe; blue: water pipe
Each game starts with a different challenging layout with tiles placed based on a pre-defined template. The positions of the park tiles, pipe tiles and houses are fixed for the duration of a game. At the start of the game, the types of pipe tiles on each square match the template. As the game proceeds, players change the pipe tiles to cut off power and water from their opponents and route these resources to their own houses.
Each players' houses are labeled in that player's colour. Every house has a power tank (left) and a water tank (right), and each tank can hold up to three units when FULL. At the start of the game, all houses start with empty tanks. During your turn, your own houses' tank levels can tick up or down by one unit, or remain unchanged. A house is SAFE if it has at least two units of BOTH power and water. A house with a single unit of power or water is FRAGILE, since the tank may go empty on your turn. If EITHER the power OR the water tank goes empty, the other tank goes empty as well and the house is ABANDONED.
Play is sequential, with Player 1 starting each round. Each player has a single token. On your turn: choose one square on the same row/column; change its pipe tile and place your token on it; and update the power and water tank levels of your own houses (see 'Updating tank levels'). Off limits squares: park squares, and squares with other players' houses or tokens.
On your turn: tap a square on the board and then one of the pipe tile icons shown above the board. You can try up to five square/tile combinations. Your chosen square and tile are highlighted with an outline in your colour. Tap the chosen square or tile to confirm your move. The square you played on is then shaded in your colour and locked. Your score box tracks the number of SAFE houses you have at the end of your turn. In multi-player mode ("Human" icon) each player takes their turn in order. In Human vs. Bot mode ("Bot" icon) Player 1 is the human, other players are Bots, and each Bot's turn plays out automatically. On your turn you can use the Auto button to autoplay your move. Bot play and Autoplay are indicated by a PLAY icon in the score box.
Each pipe under a house has two ends. To track power flow, start at one end of the house's power pipe and trace its path outwards. Only move along power pipes; stop if you hit a water pipe or water supply. If you hit a park, move STRAIGHT through without turning, and if you reach a power pipe on the other side, keep going. If this path ends at a power supply, then the house is connected to power. You need to do this for both ends of the house's power pipe. Track water flows the same way using water pipes.
On your turn, after you have changed the pipe tile on your chosen square, check the power and water flows. If your house is connected to power, increase its power tank level by one unit, up to a maximum of three; otherwise, decrease its power tank level by one unit. Update water tank levels the same way. If EITHER the power or the water tank level goes to zero, set the OTHER tank level to zero as well. Houses with empty tanks (at setup, or abandoned during play) must be connected to BOTH power and water in order to start filling their tanks (since having even one empty tank forces the other to stay empty too). Only update tank levels of your OWN houses on your turn.
From round 3 onwards a die is rolled to determine a bonus move. [1,2] No-bonus: no bonus move this turn. [3] Jump 🚀: move your token to any square that is not off-limits. [4] 2x 🎁: play an extra standard move, but do not update your tanks until after your actual turn. [5,6] Dig 🚧: move the dug-up tile and bulldozer to any square that is not off-limits. After your bonus move (if any), play your standard move and update your tanks as usual.
If you rolled a "Dig" bonus, then as you move the dug-up tile and bulldozer to a new square, you must loudly announce the reason ("New metro pillar!", "Monsoon flooding!", etc.) followed by the phrase "Swalpa adjust maadi!".
The first player to get ALL FOUR of their houses SAFE at the same time has reached the target. Once one player gets to the target, every remaining player gets to play one final move with a jump bonus. If a single player reaches the target they win; if multiple players reach the target, the game is a draw.
Happy digging!