AQUAIGNIS

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AQUAIGNIS — HOW TO PLAY

A tense abstract strategy game on 7 vertical Flows.

THE GOAL

First to 4 Breakthroughs wins.

THE BOARD

• 7 vertical Flows (columns 1–7)
• Each flow has 7 slots (positions 0–6)
• AQUA (Blue) enters at the bottom (pos 0) and moves ↑
• IGNIS (Red) enters at the top (pos 6) and moves ↓

ACTIONS (2 per turn)

Aqua’s first turn of the game has 1 action. Every turn after that has 2.

• SPAWN — Place a Charge-1 piece at your entry position in any flow (including your own Barrier flow). You may spawn over your own piece in a flow — that replaces it (intentional sacrifice).
• CHARGE — Increase a piece’s charge by 1. Normal max is 3. You may raise one piece to 4 (the Crown). A Barrier charges the same way, up to durability 4.
• ADVANCE — Move a piece 1 slot forward. Clashes resolved by higher charge.
• SURGE (Charge 3 only) — Powerful 2-slot push. Ends at Charge 1 and pulses adjacent flows. A Crown (4) cannot Surge.
• BARRIER — Convert a piece into a durable Barrier (one at a time).
• SIDE JUMP (Charge 2+) — Jump to an adjacent flow (wraps 1↔7). From position 3, a Centre Jump can also reach an enemy who is on position 3 in any flow. Skirmish: both pieces lose 1 charge.

CROWN (Charge 4)

• Only one Crown piece per player at a time (parallel to one Barrier).
• Charge a piece from 3 → 4 only if you do not already have a Crown.
• If the Crown drops below 4 or is destroyed, you may crown again later.
• 4 vs 4 Advance/Surge clash is a stalemate: both drop to 3 (equal-charge rule).
• Crown beats lower charges in normal clashes. Gold glow marks the piece.

SIDE JUMP RULES

• Adjacent flow: the opponent needs a piece at the exact same height (or Resonant Jump height when Linked).
• Centre Jump — A charge 2+ piece on position 3 may Side Jump an enemy piece that is also on position 3, on any flow. You take that centre square if the enemy is destroyed. If both survive, you bounce home. Same charge loss as any Side Jump.
• A Barrier blocks Side Jumps into its flow, including a Centre Jump. A Crown may still jump a piece in that flow who is not standing on the Barrier, as long as the Crown would not land on the Barrier's square.
• Skirmish: jumper and target each lose 1 charge (even if the jumper is weaker).
• If the target hits 0 → destroyed; jumper lands with remaining charge.
• If the jumper hits 0 → jumper is destroyed (no land).
• If both survive → jumper bounces home; both stay reduced.

BARRIER RULES

• Only one active Barrier per player at a time.
• Barriers never expire naturally.
• Your own pieces can freely Advance, Surge, and Spawn through your Barrier.
• Opponent cannot Side Jump into a flow with your Barrier, except a Crown. That includes a Centre Jump. A Crown may jump a piece elsewhere in that flow. It cannot land on the Barrier's square, and it cannot jump a piece standing on the Barrier. The Barrier stays.
• Charge a Barrier up to durability 4. That does not spend your Crown, so you may have both. A durability-4 Barrier holds a Crown.
• When attacked by Advance or Surge:
  • Stronger enemy charge → Barrier destroyed. The attacker continues and is not scratched.
  • Equal or weaker enemy → Barrier holds. Both lose 1. The attacker spends the action and stays put (adv b). A Surge that is held still ends at charge 1 (sur b).

CLASH RULES (Normal Pieces)

• Higher charge wins and survives.
• Equal charge (including Crown 4 vs 4): Both lose 1 charge.
• A piece that reaches charge 0 is destroyed.

FLOW LINK (NEW)

When you Surge, adjacent flows are pulsed as usual. If both adjacent flows already contain your pieces and the pulse boosts them (no fresh spawns), those two flows become Linked until the end of your next turn.

• Parallel Advance — Advancing in either Linked flow also advances your piece in the other Linked flow by one step (if legal). Can include clashes and breakthroughs.
• Harmonic Charge — Charging a piece in either Linked flow also charges your piece in the other Linked flow by +1 (max 3).
• Resonant Jump — While Linked, you may Side Jump between those two flows (even if they are not adjacent, e.g. Flows 2↔4 after a Surge on 3). Target enemy at the same height or one step toward their entry. A Centre Jump stays on position 3. The extra step belongs to a Flow Link.

The play to hunt: develop both flanks → Surge through the middle → twin advance, Harmonic Charge, or cross-flow assassination.

BREAKTHROUGH

A piece scores a Breakthrough only when it moves off the opponent’s end of the board:

• AQUA: must Advance or Surge from position 6
• IGNIS: must Advance or Surge from position 0

Landing on the final row does not score — the opponent gets one final chance to intercept (e.g. with a Side Jump).

Good luck and may the better strategist control the Flows!

Same full rules appear under RULES inside a match.