MAC: March and Chomp Rules

Game Overview

MAC: March and Chomp is an abstract strategy game for two players. The objective is to strategically maneuver your pieces to capture all of your opponent’s pieces or force them into a position where they cannot make a legal move.

Components

Game Board: One 4×8 grid (32 squares).
Game Pieces: 30 numbered pieces (15 Red, 15 Blue). Numbered: 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Portal Tiles: 2 special movement tiles.
Power Tokens: Optional for more complex gameplay.

Rules

Setup

Each player chooses a color (Red/Blue) and receives 15 pieces and one Portal Tile.
Flip a game piece to see who goes first.
Placement phase: players take turns placing one of their pieces or their Portal Tile onto their 4×4 starting half of the board. The pieces are visible to the opponent.
The player who placed the first piece of the game will make the first move after the placement phase is complete.

Gameplay & Movement Restrictions

Players alternate turns. On your turn, you must move one of your pieces one square orthogonally (up, down, left, or right).

A piece may not:

Move off the board.
Move onto a square occupied by a friendly piece.
Move onto a square occupied by an opposing piece of higher strength.

Capture Rules

A piece captures an opposing piece by moving onto its square (equal or lower strength only).
Special Hierarchy Rule: A Strength 1 piece defeats a Strength 10 piece. A Strength 10 piece cannot capture a Strength 1 piece.

Special piece: Cannon (Strength 0)

Standard Move/Capture: Moves one square orthogonally. Can capture an opponent piece of Strength 0 by moving one step.
Jump Capture: Can capture an opponent's piece of any strength by jumping over exactly one piece in a straight orthogonal line. The piece being jumped over (the "screen") is not captured.
A Cannon can only jump if there's an opponent piece that can be captured this way. It cannot jump over a screen without capturing.
A Cannon cannot jump into a Portal, but it can use a Portal as a screen.

Portal Rules

The only way a game piece can enter a Portal is by moving one step onto a Portal Tile.
It immediately exits through the other Portal Tile and takes one additional, immediate orthogonal step (capturing an enemy on this final step is allowed).
If no legal exit square is available, the piece cannot enter the first Portal.
A Portal Tile can act as a screen piece for a Cannon's Jump Capture.

End of Game and Draw Conditions

You lose if: All of your game pieces are captured, or you cannot make a legal move on your turn.
Draw if: The exact same board state is repeated three times, or 20 consecutive turns pass without a capture.
Tip: do not give up even if your remaining pieces are all weaker than your opponents! You can often force a draw using the infinite loop created by the two Portals.

Optional Power Token Mode

This mode uses Power tokens to add tactical depth. Whenever one of your pieces is captured, you draw one Power token. You may play one Power token at the start of your turn before moving.

Power Token	Effect	Special Rules
+1	Increases a piece's strength by 1.	A piece can only receive one +1 power up. Strength 9 becomes 10 (now capturable by 1). Strength 10 becomes 11 (still capturable by 1). Cannon (0) keeps Jump Capture, but can now also capture a 0 or 1 with a single step.
Double Step	Choose a piece to take 2 orthogonal steps instead of 1 step.	-
Push	Move one opponent's piece 1 step orthogonally.	You may Push an opponent’s piece into a Portal and decide where it exits.
Peek	(Dark Chess Mode only). Secretly look at up to 2 covered pieces.	Remove this token from the pile if playing Standard or Light Chess.

Variant Modes

Dark Chess

Shuffle all 30 game pieces face down. Place the two Portal Tiles face up on two squares where both players agree.
Randomly arrange pieces face down to fill the board.
On your turn, either flip over one down-facing piece OR move one up-facing piece.
The player who flips the first piece controls all pieces of that color.
A down-facing piece cannot be captured, but a Cannon can use it as a screen to jump over.

Random Light Chess

Flip a game piece to decide who goes first and what color they will play.
Shuffle and randomly place all 30 pieces and 2 Portals face down.
All pieces are flipped over at the same time, and the game is played normally with all pieces uncovered.