KATAMARI RIDER An out-of-control Katamari is rolling rampant on a high mountain peak and knocking all the Cousins Stars out of the sky. Use the Katamari to your advantage to thwart your Cousins and collect all five of your Stars before night sets in with a starless sky. GETTING STARTED The computer randomly chooses play order, assigning a number to each player. Player 1 gets to pick first which Cousin to use, then Player 2, etc. Once each player has chosen a Cousin, line the figures up on the starting spaces, with Player 1 farthest from the center and Player 4 closest. The Katamari, at its smallest size, starts on the Katamari starting space. The 20 Stars appear on their corresponding colors (5 of each color). Choosing Your Cousin: Each Cousin and Star are tied to an element: Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. All four of these elements relate to each other like a game of rock-paper-scissors. Water is strong against Fire, Fire is strong against Earth, Earth is strong against Wind, and Wind is strong against Water. Fire/Wind and Water/Earth are neutral relationships. These relationships affect how the Cousins interact during the game, and no matter which Cousin you choose, you ll always be weak against someone and strong against someone. Water Fire Wind Earth PLAY Cousin Movement: When it is your turn, roll one die. You must move as many spaces as the die reads. Limitations: - no diagonal movement. - you may not enter any one space twice during the same turn. - you may only move in the three directions allowed by that section of the board (i.e. never example against the dominant downhill direction of that area - see example on right). How you interact with other Cousins/the Stars while moving depends on your and their element: - if the other Cousin/Star is weak to your element, if you pass through or land on their space, they are moved back one space ( uphill ). - if the other Cousin/Star is neutral to your element, you may pass through their space as a normal space, but you may NOT land there for the final move of your turn. - if the other Cousin/Star is strong against your element, you may not pass through that space. If you land there for some reason out of your control, you will be moved backwards ( uphill ) until on a space you can inhabit. - if the Star is your color, you collect it as you pass through the space. You collect the Star whether or not you finish your turn on its space. Even after a Star has been moved from its original colored space, the space still has the same element effect. For example, the Fire Cousin can never walk through a blue space, whether it has a Blue Star or not. Katamari Movement: After each player s turn, the Computer will roll a die for the Katamari. The roll determines the number of spaces the Katamari moves. The computer also randomly generates a number between 1 and 3. - if 1, the Katamari moves in towards the center. - if 2, the Katamari stays on its present track. - if 3, the Katamari moves out away from the center. center If the Katamari is already against an edge and cannot move any further in the direction the dictates, the Katamari just stays on its present track. start turn 1: distance: 4/direction: 1 turn 2: turn 3: distance: 3/direction: 5 distance: 3/direction: 4
Katamari Size: Whenever the Katamari enters a space with a Star on it, the Star is rolled up in the Katamari. The star is placed on the Katamari space where they came into contact. The Star then stays there until affected by an outside force. If the Katamari picks up another Star that enters the Katamari on the same space, the first Star simply gets pushed back one space on the Katamari. If a row on the Katamari is full and picks up another Star (or Cousin), the Star (or Cousin) in that row on the back edge of the Katamari gets pushed off the back onto the space behind the Katamari. The Katamari changes size according to how much stuff it is currently made of. It starts in its smallest form, 2x2, with four available spaces. It can grow and shrink throughout the game according to its constitution at the moment. 0-2 spaces filled small (2x2) 3-8 spaces filled medium (3x3) 9-16 spaces filled large (4x4) Both Stars and Cousins on the Katamari affect its size, and changes in size happen immediately, even in the middle of the Katamari s move for that turn. The computer will automatically resize the Katamari with all of the Cousins and Stars on it. COUSIN/KATAMARI INTERACTION If the Katamari comes into contact with you, you will get the choice of either trying to vault over the Katamari or jumping onto it. Vaulting over the Katamari: The computer will randomly generate a number between 1 and 2. If 1, you successfully jump over the Katamari. If any of your Stars is on the Katamari on the same row that you are leaping, you collect them as you leap over the Katamari. If 2, you fail, and the Katamari rolls over you. If you currently have any, you drop one of your Stars place it in the space directly behind your Cousin. For both situations, if you are able to land on the same space you started (either after jumping or being crushed), your Cousin lands back in that space. If the Katamari s stopping ending position blocks your original space, you ll land in the space directly behind the Katamari. Jumping onto the Katamari: - if the space is unoccupied or occupied by the element neutral to you, you simply enter the space and push the Star or Cousin in that space one space backwards on the Katamari. - if the space is occupied by the element strong against you, you must try to vault over instead. - if the space is occupied by one of your own Stars, you enter the space, collect the Star, and then may rearrange any other Stars on the Katamari however you like (but you cannot rearrange other Cousins on the Katamari). - if the space is occupied by a Star weak against you, you may knock any other Cousin(s) on the Katamari off. If a Cousin has any Stars and is knocked off in this manner, he/she must drop one Star on the Katamari in the space he/she had been occupying. - if the Space is occupied by a Cousin weak against you, that Cousin is thrown off the back when you jump on, and if he/she has any must leave a Star on the Katamari as close to his/her original space as possible. If you come from behind the Katamari and move onto it during your turn, you may also jump onto it from that side. All the same rules apply, just on the other side of the Katamari. While riding the Katamari: After each of the Katamari s moves, the computer will randomly generate a number between 1 and 2. If 1, you stay on the Katamari; if 2, you are dropped off the back without penalty (without touching any other Katamari spaces). For each time that you get a 1 and stay on, you may move one space in any direction on the Katamari, even diagonally. If you are on the edge of the Katamari, you may also move off and onto the field. Once you are off the Katamari, you return to your previous place in the player turn cycle. The player who collects all five Stars of his/her color is the winner. For a shorter game, you could reduce the number of Stars required to win, or set a time limit and declare the player with the most Stars at the end the winner.
ADVANCED RULES When the Cousins land on one of their five color spaces, they can use a special power tied to their element. Each Cousin s power is different, so if you are playing by the advanced rules, see which power you would like best in order to pick the right Cousin for you. These powers may only be used if you end your turn directly on the color space. You have the choice of using the power at the end of your turn, or waiting until the beginning of your next turn. But be careful if you decide to wait until the beginning of your next turn to use the power; if you are moved from your color space by another Cousin or the Katamari before you use the power on your next turn, you forfeit the chance. These powers are unaffected by the element strengths/weaknesses; that is to say, the fire power will still affect the water Cousin. Wind - Cyclone: a cyclone blows out of nowhere and switches your and another Cousin s position on the board. This power works even if the other Cousin is currently riding the Katamari. Fire - Volcano: a volcano suddenly erupts and spews lava onto the surrounding area. You may choose any one red space, including the one you are on, and cause it to erupt, which affects the eight surrounding spaces (or fewer, if the red space is up again the edge of the field). Any Cousin caught in the eruption drops one Star one space behind them. If the Katamari is caught in the eruption, you may choose any one of the spaces within volcano range and cause the Cousin or Star occupying it to fall off the back of the Katamari. Only one volcano may erupt per turn, but there is no limit to how many things within its range it can affect. Earth - Quake: the ground starts to shake and rattles a Star loose. You may take one uncollected Star of any color, even on the Katamari, and place it back on any one of its own color spaces that are currently unoccupied by a Star or Cousin. Water - Gush: a cascade of water bursts from the ground. You may choose any blue space, including the one you are on, and blast a stream of water in any direction and for any distance (think how a chess queen moves). Any Cousin hit by the water drops one Star one space behind them. If the Katamari is hit by the water, whatever object on the Katamari you hit is knocked off the Katamari in whatever directions makes sense with the direction the water is flowing. Gush works much like Volcano does - however, you may choose only one target, and if there is a Cousin between you and your desired target, you may NOT shoot through the first Cousin - whatever the stream hits first is what it hits. You MAY however shoot through Stars.
ASSETS AUDIO start screen BG music game BG music die roll move star pickup star drop can t go there bump bump cousin back Katamari roll switch direction grow shrink star/cousin pickup trample vault over jump on Katamari fall off Katamari knock off Katamari wind special power earth special power fire special power water special power win jingle VISUAL (STILL) start screen board/background die wind cousin earth cousin fire cousin water cousin katamari (3 sizes) stars selection arrows action/dialogue boxes ANIMATION katamari growing katamari shrinking action/dialogue boxes wind special power earth special power fire special power water special power win screen CONTROLS This game will use the keyboard only. ASDF/arrow keys will be used to navigate the game board and make selections in action/dialogue windows, ENTER will be used to roll the die and confirm movement and action/dialogue decisions.
START KATAMARI RIDER Fire Water Earth Wind Katamari Size 0-2 spaces filled: small (2x2) 3-8 spaces filled: medium (3x3) 9-16 spaces filled: large (4x4) KATAMARI START