Billabong

Game invented by ?.
Published by ?.
Copyright 1995, 'game author'.
Translated by Mike Schloth.

A racing game for 2 to 4 players 10 years old or older.

In the game BILLABONG, up to twenty kangaroos compete in a jumping race around a small lake - the "Billabong". Each player is a kind of kangaroo "Trainer" in charge of their own 5 kangaroo team.

The winner will be the first player to lead all of his kangaroos from the start/finish line clockwise around "Billabong" and back over the start/finish line. The "Billabong" is the small 2 by 4 square lake in the middle of the game map. The start/finish line is the small brook which leads into "Billabong".

To make sure that such a large jumping race moves along smoothly, there is a "referee kangaroo" represented by the black game piece.

Game Pieces

A game map.
Four sets of five kangaroo pieces. Each set a different color.
A black "referee kangaroo" game piece.

Preparation

Each player receives five kangaroo - pieces of one color. The black "referee kangaroo" is set in "Billabong" . A player is chosen to go first.

Each player in turn places one of their kangaroos on any free square of the game map. There may be no more than one kangaroo in a square at a time. No kangaroos may be placed in the "Billabong". (You may think it strange that you are allowed to choose the starting positions of your kangaroos, but each kangaroo must first of all cross the start/finish line clockwise before it begins the real jumping race around the "Billabong". Nevertheless, it is sometimes more favorable not to start a kangaroo too close to the start/finish line as you may be able to use one or more large jumps if you place yourself properly. This will be explained in detail later.)

Moving The Kangaroos

Once all of the kangaroos have been placed on the game map, the player who placed the first kangaroo now begins the game. In turn each player must move one of their kangaroos. You may move your kangaroo in one of two ways:

Either: The kangaroo WANDERS onto a directly adjacent free square (vertically, horizontally or diagonally - like the king in Chess). With this the player's turn ends.

Or: The kangaroo JUMPS (vertically, horizontally or diagonally) over another kangaroo of any color.

If a kangaroo jumps:

it must jump over only one other kangaroo per jump.
it may not land on an occupied square.
it may not jump over the "Billabong" (except for a diagonal jump that crosses one of the four corners of -the "Billabong". This is illustrated in the diagram titled "Sprung Ober eine Ecke des 'Billabong'").
it may jump over any number of empty squares to reach the kangaroo it is jumping over, but it must then continue the jump over an equal number of empty squares before finishing the jump.

Any kangaroo may jump over any other kangaroo. You are not restricted to just jumping over your own kangaroos. You may also jump over the "referee kangaroo". (More on that later).

IMPORTANT: It may be possible for a kangaroo to make multiple jumps in its turn. This is allowed and will be explained further on. However, no kangaroo may make multiple "Wanders". Also, jumps and "wanders" may not be combined in a single turn.

Illustrations Of Jumps

Five illustrations under the title "ERLAUBTE SPRUNGE":

Allowed Jumps

Example 1: Short jump.
Example 2: A longer jump.
Example 3: A short diagonal jump.
Example 4: A longer diagonal jump.
Example 5: A jump over the edge of the "Billabong". This is allowed because the kangaroo is not jumping over the interior of the "Billabong", but only over one of its four corners.

Four illustrations under the title "VERBOTENE SPRUNG".

Forbidden Jumps

Example 1: Wrong jump width.
Example 2: Jumping over too many kangaroos.
Example 3: Landing on an occupied square.
Example 4: Jumping over the interior of the "Billabong".

The "Referee Kangaroo"

One of the exciting moments in playing BILLABONG is the discovery of a jump series that allows a kangaroo to move especially far forward. Such a jump series can contain many jumps, possibly even several jumps over the same kangaroos! However, the actual execution of a jump series may lead to errors -- which is where the referee kangaroo comes in.

The referee kangaroo replaces the player's kangaroo. Now the player may trace out his jump series. If he gets tangled up in all of the jumps, he still will always know from which square he started so that he can try it again.

However, if the player finally determines that the jump series he had planned to complete is actually impossible to complete, then that player must make some other move with the same kangaroo.

When the player is through with his move and no longer needs the referee kangaroo, the referee is placed back on the "Billabong" until another player needs it.

Using the referee kangaroo brings another advantage in that your kangaroo may jump over the referee kangaroo as if it were just another kangaroo on the board. The diagram illustrates this.

A diagram with the "S" Marker: a jump series example.

This example shows four jumps taken in a single turn. The referee kangaroo replaces the jumping kangaroo on its starting square (marked with a "S"). The replaced kangaroo is now free to work out and complete its jumps. Note that the third jump is a jump over the referee kangaroo. This is allowed. Note also that the referee kangaroo is only a place holder -- it never performs any jumping itself.

Cross The Finish Line

The kangaroos must move clockwise around the Billabong. As soon as a kangaroo has crossed the Start/Finish line (the stream leading to Billabong) a second time then it has finished and is placed in the Billabong.

The first player to place all 5 of their kangaroos into the Billabong wins.

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell