Gamehelpferal

2026-09-17T21:34:41Z

Hul007: Feral introduction

'''Feral''' is a two-player abstract strategy board game with no randomness after setup and perfect information. Two mirror-image armies of animals face off across a shared board, each trying to break through to the opponent's beach.

== Overview ==

* 2 players only
* No dice, no cards during play — every game state is fully visible
* Each side controls the same 12 animals (mirrored)
* '''Goal:''' get one of your animals onto the opponent's beach and hold it there through the opponent's next turn

== Components ==

* 12 black pieces and 12 white pieces (same 12 animal types per colour)
* 1 double-sided game board
* 1 game overview card (used during setup)

== The Board ==

The board is 6 rows deep on each side, with the outer sand rows serving as each player's '''beach'''.

{| class="wikitable"
! Layout !! Columns !! Used in
|-
| Narrow (beginner side) || 4 || 8-animal game
|-
| Wide (full game side) || 6 || 12-animal game
|}

* Row 1 = Black's beach, Row 6 = White's beach; rows 2–5 are grass
* Anything off the edge of the board is water — normal moves never enter it, but actions can push animals there, removing them permanently

== Game Sizes ==

{| class="wikitable"
! !! Beginner !! Full game
|-
| Animals per player || 8 || 12
|-
| Board || Narrow (4 cols) || Wide (6 cols)
|-
| Animals used || Bull, Octopus, Crab, Snake, Kangaroo, Gorilla, Bee, Rabbit || All 12
|-
| Excluded || Anglerfish, Chameleon, Fox, Lion || — none —
|}

The Lion only appears in the full game, so no Lion win/loss rule applies to the beginner set.

== Setup ==

Both armies end up as exact mirror images of each other.

# Shuffle the white pieces face down beside the board
# Flip one white piece and check its background colour on the overview card:
#* '''Yellow''' → placed on the player's own beach row
#* '''Green''' → placed on the row directly above the player's own beach
#* '''Split (yellow/green)''' → alternates depending on how many of that animal have been placed so far
# Both players place their copy of that animal in the indicated row, in the first empty square from their own left
# Repeat until every animal is placed; the two middle rows start empty

== Turn Structure ==

* The player who most recently saw a bee goes first
* On your turn, choose '''two different animals'''; each one either moves or performs its action, in any order
* On the very first turn of the game, the starting player activates only one animal

'''Move''' (any animal): one square forward or sideways into an empty square. No diagonal moves, no moving backward toward your own beach, and never off the board via a move.

'''Action''': each animal has its own unique effect (see below). Actions may usually target either team, with two exceptions — the Chameleon can only target its own team, and the Fox can only target the opposing team.

== Removing Animals ==

There are only two ways an animal leaves the game:
# An action pushes it into the water (off the edge of the board)
# The Bee's action removes it directly

Removed animals are gone permanently — there is no capture-by-moving-onto-a-piece in Feral.

== The Twelve Animals ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Animal !! Action
|-
| Bee || Removes itself and one adjacent animal from the game (friend or foe)
|-
| Rabbit || Hops over an adjacent animal into an empty square beyond it, but never landing closer to its own beach
|-
| Gorilla || Moves an animal adjacent to itself into an empty square (or the water) adjacent to itself; the Gorilla does not move
|-
| Crab || Moves itself and one adjacent animal one square forward or sideways together, in the same direction
|-
| Bull || Pushes an adjacent animal — and the whole line of animals behind it — one square directly away; the Bull itself does not move
|-
| Octopus || Pulls a chosen animal (any distance in a straight line) so it, and everything between it and the Octopus, ends up packed against the Octopus
|-
| Kangaroo || Jumps exactly two squares forward or sideways into an empty square; may jump twice in one action
|-
| Snake || Moves diagonally forward into an empty square; may do so twice in one action
|-
| Lion || Steps diagonally forward one square; also carries the instant win/loss rules below (full game only)
|-
| Fox || Forces an adjacent enemy animal to move or use its action, under the Fox player's control (that animal cannot be pushed into the water this way)
|-
| Anglerfish || Swaps a chosen animal with one of its adjacent animals
|-
| Chameleon || Copies the action of an adjacent allied animal (cannot copy the Lion's instant-win ability)
|}

== Winning ==

'''Beach victory''': you win when one of your animals stands on the opponent's beach row and the opponent cannot clear that row on their next full turn. Moving the intruder to a different square on the same beach does not count as clearing it — the whole beach row must be free of enemy animals.

'''Lion victory''' (full game only):
* Getting your Lion onto the opponent's beach wins '''immediately''', by any means
* Removing the opponent's Lion wins '''immediately'''
* Losing your own Lion loses '''immediately'''
* Both of these override a pending beach-loss situation, so a defending player can snatch victory this way on their final turn

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Gamehelpferal