The following is a board game with instructions on how to build and play it. I have to give credit to the Star Wars board game Epic Duels for the inspiration and general game style. (If you own the game, you will notice that I have made many changes.)

The Board:

Before I tell you how to play, you need to know the board. The board is made up of 256 spaces arrange in a 16 by 16 square. There are four different types of spaces:

Normal spaces are moved on normally (obviously).

If the line around the space is thicker than usual, the space is Walled. Walled spaces cannot be entered or exited from the  thickened direction unless otherwise stated by a card you have drawn (cards will be explained later). If your card says that you may move to any space or that you may cross a Wall, then obviously you may.

If the space is filled with dots of the likes, it's Fused. You can't move there. Ever.

The last kind of card is the Setup Space. During the setup process, you place your character on its designated space. Space designation is determined by initials as follows:

M=Mario
L=Luigi
W=Wario
Wa=Waluigi
P=Princess (Peach) Toadstool
T=Toad
Y=Yoshi
Wt=Wart
B=Bowser
Lu=Ludwig
Le=Lemmy
R=Roy
I=Iggy
Wy=Wendy
Mo=Morton
Ly=Larry

Oops! I just gave you the character list! I wasn’t supposed to do that until section 7! Oh well.

This is an example board. It has several good examples of Walled spaces. Please note the Setup Spaces.

Setting Up:

1. Round up one or more friends (it takes two or more to play).
2. Get (or make) a board.
3. Choose at least one character. (I don’t care how many you have, as long as the sides are of equal size.)
4. Place your piece (the thingy you’re going to move, representing your character) on its designated Setup Space (as explained above).
5. Role a die. The highest role goes first. If there is a tie, the players who are tied must role again. After the first person’s turn, the person on the left goes next, and so on).
6. Draw five cards.
7. Enjoy.

Multicharacter Games:

If each player is controlling more than one character, each character gets a separate turn. Each character has its own hand, moves independently, and draws independently. They are treated as a team insofar as the last player with any character on the board wins, but their turns and cards are completely separate. If you lose one of your characters, you continue on as if that character never existed. Obviously having more characters left in your play than your opponent will give you an advantage.

Your Turn:

Your turn is composed of three subturns. On each subturn, you may perform one of three actions: move, draw a card, or play a card.

To move, role a die and move the displayed number of spaces (six sided die is preferable).

To draw a card, take the card on top of your deck and place it in your hand.

To play a card, choose a card from your hand, place it on the table (or other playing surface), and do as it says. But in order to follow the card’s instructions, you must first know how to read the cards.

Your goal is to be the last player with a character in play. Each character has 20 HP (Health Points or Hit Points) and is removed from play when that number is reduced to 0 or less.

The Cards:

You may only have ten cards in your hand at one time. If you ever have more than that, you must discard cards of your choice until you are holding ten again. There are two types of cards, Normal Cards and Special Cards. There are 15 of each per deck.

On Normal Cards, there is a ratio, like "2/3". The first number is the attack power and the second is the defensive power.  Now things get messy. On your turn, you may attack characters in adjacent spaces (in front of, behind, to the right, and to the left of your character), causing the amount of damage indicated by the first number on the card. However, your opponent can block the damage by using a Normal Card of their own and deducting the second number from your attach power. Here is an example:

Mario attacks Peach with a 2/3 card. Not wanting to lose HP, Peach plays a 1/3 card. Since Mario’s attack power is 2, Peach’s defense is 3, and 3-2=-1, so Peach receives no damage. After this, they both discard the cards they used.

Later in the game, Peach attacks Mario with a 3/1 card. Mario counters with a 2/2 card. Because 3-2=1, Mario receives 1 damage. After this, they both discard the used cards.

Blocking damage is done at the time that an opponent attacks you and is optional but strongly suggested. It does not count as one of the three subturns.

There are two of each type of Normal Card with the exception 4/1, which there is only one of. The other cards are 1/2, 1/3, 2/1, 2/2, 2/3, 3/1, and 3/2.

Special Cards are, well, special. They might cause damage or defend like a normal card. They might allow you to move in special ways. They might even let you draw cards or heal. I will list each character’s special cards and their effects later.

Building It:

This is how to make the game, if you want to.

Materials: Paper (Graph Paper suggested)
Materials: 30 Index Cards per character
Materials: Pencil with Eraser
Materials: Random Small Stuff
Materials: Colored Pencils (optional)
Materials: Scissors (optional)

Paper is needed for designing the board and keeping track of health. All boards should be 16 by 16 spaces. Each space may be as large as you wish, but I suggest half an inches (1.3 cm) in length. Boards can also be designed on the computer (which is faster if you know how to do it).

Colored Pencils would be for coloring boards and scissors would be for cutting them out (if you wish).

On the index cards, copy down the info for each Normal and Special Card. The index cards will become your deck. In the simplest gaming scenario (two players controlling one character each), you'll need 60 index cards, 30 per character. If there are more characters in play, you'll need more cards.

The random small stuff represents your character while it is on the board.  Anything from pennies to pen caps to Monopoly pieces works.

Special Cards:

The Special Cards are what make each character different. I shall list all the characters and their Special Cards, including each card's attack/defense ratio and any special info.

You may choose how many of each Special Card to put in your character's deck, so long as that deck contains exactly 15 Special Cards. My suggestion is that you have five of the first card on the list below, three of the second, two of the third, and one of the rest of the cards listed.

If you see 8CD in the effect area, it means that this attack can be aimed in any of the eight Common Directions. These attacks can target characters not only in adjacent squares but in the four diagonals too, and can hit any opponent in a straight line from the attacking character, moving along the adjacent or diagonal spaces. Well, as Mario would say, ”Here we goooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Mario: All around good character.
 

Luigi: Slightly more aggressive than Mario.
 

Wario: Gets up close and personal.
 

Waluigi: Messes with you.
 

Princess (Peach) Toadstool: Death.

Note: You need one extra marker when playing as Peach.
 

Toad: Takes some thought.
 

Yoshi: Strange but effective.
 

Wart: King of ranged attacks.

Note: You need one extra marker when playing as Peach.
 

Bowser: Classic villain.
 

The Koopalings are a lot alike. Their few minor differences are what make each one strategically different. There will be no short descriptions of the Koopalings. You can make the judgments on your own.

Ludwig
 

Lemmy

Note: You need two extra markers when playing as Lemmy.
 

Roy
 

Iggy
 

Wendy

Note: You need two extra markers when playing as Wendy.
 

Morton
 

Larry
 

If you still have any questions or want to play, please don’t hesitate to Email Exlax Cupcake.

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