Mephisto
An initial positionMephisto is a game for any number of players.
You need:
A domino set, five different colored pawns, five correspondingly colored dice, a one minute sandtimer and as many beer infested beta-nerds as the room will accommodate.

This is how we played it:
  • The dominos are laid out in a 7x8 grid, no blanks on the edge, no blanks orthogonally adjacent (except the double-blank of course).
  • Players set their stakes (jawbreakers for instance, or beer) The pawns are placed on five blanks. The dice are thrown, the timer is set.
  • Each pawn must move orthogonally, exactly the number of steps that is on the corresponding die. The track may not lead onto any square twice (including the starting square). A pawn may not move onto or over an occupied square.
  • Object:
    Players now all try to visualize how to move the pawns so that the highest possible score is reached. There are two kinds of score: a nominal score and a street

    Nominal
    If the pawns in the endposition are on different values, the score is the total of these values, for instance 6+6+6+5+4=27.

    Street
    If the pawns in the endposition are all on the same value, the position is a street. The highest possible nominal score 6+6+6+6+6=30 is also the lowest possible street. The lower the value, the higher the street.
    The highest street of 5 blanks is called Mephisto, but remember all pawns must end on a different blank than the one they started from!
  • If a player sees a first score or a score that tops the previous bid, he calls out: 28! ... street6! ... street4! ... .
    When the timer stops it is turned and the player with the highest bid must realize it within a minute, moving the pawns according to the rules. If he succeeds he wins all stakes, if he fails he must pay every player his stakes.
  • If a player calls out Mephisto!, the timer is turned immediately and the player must realize it in the same time it took him to visualize it.

Mephisto © MindSports

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