Anyone remember Obol?

[jbsegal]

So, some many years ago, a small Quebec game company - probably one guy and his friends - made a game called Obol. It's a sphere, half covered in velcro squares, with red and blue double-sided velcro 'checkers' ('male' on one side, 'female' on the other).

The basic game play was
Scatter the pieces randomly over the surface of the sphere.
Randomly remove one.
(Who goes 1st? The one you just removed, or the other player?)
Moves are as in checkers, but when you jump over an opponent piece, you capture it by sticking it to the underside of your piece.

Stacks keep growing, but when you jump over an opponent's stack, you only capture the top piece.

What's the winning condition?

Are captures mandatory?

What's a non-capture move?

Did I miss anything?

(I can post a picture, if you'd like.) (Or look at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5962 - but there aren't rules there...)

Comments

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

In the infinitesimally-helpful category:

I remember seeing an Obol, perhaps in the hands of khatru, perhaps at an early Baitcon. One of our early mutual friends had one. (Of course, if that was *you*, then this is utterly useless.)

I never actually played, though.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

I still have this game, someplace.... I probably still have the instructions too... someplace... Probably in the box with the game. I know thats not helpful, but I'll look around and see if it is within easy reach, it is very possibly that it is buried in my storage unit someplace. But it is also very possible that it is just in a box in my room someplace.

I found it!

[donnad.livejournal.com]

I honestly didn't know where it was, but I found it pretty easily, which is pretty scary considering the condition of my room right now.

The instructions were in the box...

Pieces: While every O starts out as a seperate piece, capturing builds the O's into bigger pieces. A PIECE ALWAYS MOVES AND JUMPS AS A UNIT,no matter how many O's are in it. A piece is yours if the top O is yours.

Setting up: Put one O on each square of your Obol with the colors well mixed. Let your opponenet choose a color.

Starting: Close your eyes, spin the Obol and peel off an O. The player whose O is peeled off places this O on top of any opposing O, then tosses the Obol to the opposing player. This opening turn creates the first empty square.

Moving: You may move your piece into any EMPTY NEIGHBORING SQUARE. You may not MOVE if your opponent has said "JUMP". (see turns)

Jumping: If one of your pieces is next to an opposing piece and the square beyond it is empty, you may JUMP. YOUR PIECE, the OPPOSING PIECE and the EMPTY SQUARE MUST be three in a row, as in checkers.

When you jump, your piece captures the TOP O from the opposing piece and lands in the empty square. The captured O goes at the bottom ofyour piece.

(Be sure to move with your whole piece and capture just one O from each piece you jump.)

If your piece lands where it can jump another opposing piece, you MUST keep jumping. capture the top O from each pice you jump.

Turns: After you MOVE or JUMP, your turn is over. If you have set up an intentional jump, you may say "jump", and your opponent MUST jumpyou. The opponent may jump you anywhere on the OBOL however, so careful strategy is needed. Toss the Obol to your opponent to begin the next turn.

Winning/losing: If you capture All of the opposing O's, you win. If all your O's are captured, you lose.

Short Game: We recommend playing a short game to get familiar with the gameof O. This game ends when one player RESCUES a stack of 3 or more of his own O's.

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Thats pretty much it, there is an address:
Summit Products Corporation
71 Summit Ave.
Garner, MA. 01440
(508)632-6258

It also says "Obols are registered designs of: Profitable Entertainment Products Inc."

My Obol dates back to around 1988, so I don't know if the address and phone are valid.

Re: Obol

[wolfieboy.livejournal.com]

I remember "playing" it a while back at a party you were also at but that I was so tired that I was unable to do much anything that wasn't already ingrained habit.

[doctordidj.livejournal.com]

Hey, I have one of those! The little one (they came in different sizes). It must be in a closet somewhere, I haven't seen it in a while. I remember thinking it was the first "board game" that could be played in zero g, and wondering if astronauts ever have time for games in space ...