Goal of the Game: The goal of snake pit is to earn the greatest number of points by laying down enough tiles to complete a snake. This includes either a snake with a head and tail and any number of parts in-between, or a loop. The game ends either when players run out of tiles, or cannot make any further viable moves.
Core Mechanic: Beginning from a single tile, each player adds two tiles to the game area, extending or completing a snake or loop. The player can only continue a snake with the same colour as it started (purple extends with purple, red with red, etc.) Completed snakes may not have a head at either end (or tail). Points are scored for the length of snake (3 points for a 2 tiled snake, 6 for 3, etc.)
Game Space: The game board is a two-dimensional space, with no set boundaries. By adding tiles, the players may expand the boarders of the game however they wish, provided that snake parts are of the same colour. Once placed, however, they are static, and cannot be moved around. The snakes themselves are rather three-dimensional in nature, some of the pieces featuring parts that overlap and wind above and below each other, but in general tend to only travel in two dimensions.
Objects, Attributes, and States: Objects for this game are 54 separate tiles and 8 optional score multiplier counters. Each tile contains two attributes: parts and colours. There are three parts: head, middle, and tail, and those three may turn up in a variety of combinations. The tile also displays the direction with the part is headed (North-South, East-West, or at a 90 degree angle). Each tile contains up to two colours: red, green, yellow, or purple. The colours cannot be on the same tile at the same time, and are attributed to each part. All of these attributes are static throughout gameplay, even with the inclusion of the score multipliers.
The score multipliers come in two varieties: four counters with rattlesnake heads (one of each colour), and four x2 multipliers. Rattlesnake heads remain in the player's hand, even after being played. x2 multipliers are placed as static parts of the board.
Operative Actions: The player may place two tiles to extend the game board, and replace those two tiles from the tile bag. If a player does not have the tiles to make a proper move, he/she may abstain from his/her turn.
Resultant Actions: The player must consider various strategies. He/she can either extend a snake, in the hopes that his/her opponent will ignore it, or finish it for an unsatisfactory number of points. Likewise, if a player notices a long snake, they can choose to finish it there, possibly sabotaging the opponent and stealing points from them. The player also determines how to rotate the placed tiles, and whether the completed figure is a loop or has a head and tail.
Skills players learn: Players focus on their strategy and mental skills, deciding what parts of the board to focus on and what parts to allow the opponent greater access to. A certain amount of resourcefulness is utilized for the player to figure out how to best make use of the tiles he/she is given, considering that tiles are drawn by chance. The players also need to have a sense of foresight to predict opponents' moves, as well as see multiple outcomes for every tile on their own turns.
Variants: Snake Pit allows for several rule variants involving the optional counters. Snakehead multipliers are held by the player until a corresponding colour snake is completed (depending on the variation, this is done by either the player or the opponent), and once revealed double the score of any snake of that colour. x2 multipliers are distributed to players before the match. At the end of a turn, they can be placed permanently on a tile. If a snake attached to that tile is completed, its score doubles.
These two rule variants cannot be used at the same time.
Role of chance: The only exposure the players have to chance in this game is in what tiles they draw. Other than that, the game relies on the skill of the players.
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