Djambi (Machiavelli's chessboard)

[Een]

Some games are a long time in the works before getting published. The first steps of the project for publishing an online version of Djambi on Board Game Arena were taken in early 2013, so we are really happy to release this game today for everyone to enjoy!

Djambi, also called "Machiavelli's chessboard", is a game created by Jean Anesto in the 70's which holds a very special feel since it was designed to display the dark side of politics with all the negociation, dirty tricks and treachery leading to power! You are the leader of a political party, your objective is absolute power, and you are not above political assassination... That's just a means to an end, and your goal is clear: there can be only one leader left!

Djambi is played like chess, with specific pieces (Chief, Reporter, Assassin, Diplomat, Necromobile and Militants) and 4 contenders around the board instead of just 2. The center of the board is the seat of power, called the Maze. Getting your Chief there will allow you to play more often (once after each of your opponents) which can be a decisive advantage, but you should be careful as it's a very exposed situation... Also, when taking a piece, it doesn't leave the board like in most games but stays here as a corpse, that can be used for protection or to hinder the progress of your opponents! Did we say "politics"? A large part of the game relies on setting up public alliances with other players to get them to help you crush an opponent, but then of course, sometimes an ally outlives it's usefulness. Nothing personal there! When playing with friends, you should make sure that they understand this before starting a game of Djambi...

The rules were written with a strong focus on the theme: they are pretty fun to read, but leave some space for interpretation on fine points of the game. Rather than making available a lot of possible options, we made some choices for maximum machiavellian play:
- you can kill your own pieces, except the leader (sometimes sacrifice is necessary);
- the Reporter has the choice not to kill (the Press is not above making some arrangements with political parties);
- a Chief is eliminated if fully entrapped by corpses with no Necromobile left in play;
- the master move of the Diplomat is available (removing a Chief from the Maze, then replacing him/her by another Chief when leaving the Maze);
- the master move of the Assassin is available (killing a Chief in power, then killing another Chief when leaving the Maze and setting up his/her corpse in the Maze as a puppet regime!)

The longer the game takes to get released, the longer the list of thanks to be given! We would like to thank:
- Alkazar who was the first developer interested in implementing Djambi, who got information about the game, started developing it but unfortunately could not finish;
- marcgenesis who took over to create a new and complete implementation;
- Didier Hallépée who was close to the publisher "L'impensé radical" when it existed and got back to us with answers about the game and the possibility to publish an online version;
- the illustrators Reno (http://reno-pixellu.com/blog/), Boulet (http://www.bouletcorp.com/) and Lucie Albon (http://www.luciealbon.net/) for their kind authorization to propose their illustrations of the pieces as an optional graphical theme for the game (visible on the right of the illustration image for this news, and available through the game preferences).

We hope that you'll have fun working your very convoluted way to absolute power in this game!

[N_Faker]

Can I get an exact explanation on when a Chief is surrounded by corpses or not?
I see that the 'confinement area' can contain your own pieces and empty spaces.

But at what point is a Chief considered captured or not?
If the maze is within the separated area?
If there are more than one Chief within?

[Een]

But at what point is a Chief considered captured or not?

A Chief is captured if surrounded by corpes so that he cannot move anymore, and if this Chief doesn't have any Necromobile in play.
Other pieces can be trapped with the Chief.

If the maze is within the separated area?

If the Chief is in the Maze, he isn't captured if surrounded.
On the contrary, corpses protect his power.

If there are more than one Chief within?

Then one of the Chief can still move to get to the other one.

[N_Faker]

I should have asked more pointed questions, sorry.

If the board becomes divided by corpses with lone Chiefs on either side. Neither with access to the maze. Who wins?
The one who placed the corpse? The one with the largest territory?

Three Chiefs are on the board, it has been divided by corpses, with two chiefs on one side and a lone chief on the other with access to the maze.
Are any of them considered surrounded by corpses?

If a Chief-in-power has no legal moves, what happens?
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Variante de règles n°1 : interprétation du concept d'encerclement
A partir de quel moment un Chef est-il considéré comme encerclé par des cadavres ?
L'interprétation stricte des règles désigne un encerclement effectif dès lors qu'un Chef ou une de ses pièces adjacentes est entouré de cadavres et ne peut plus effectuer de moindre mouvement, et ce même si un Nécromobile ami est encore vivant à un autre endroit de la grille.
On peut être un plus arrangeant, et ne décréter l'encerclement effectif que si le camp potentiellement étouffé ne dispose plus de Nécromobile vivant pour débloquer la situation. Il s'agit de la variante activée par défaut.
Une autre interprétation consiste à déclarer un camp encerclé dès lors que son Chef ne peut plus accéder à la case centrale, car rendue inaccessible par l'accumulation de cadavres, et ne dispose plus d'un Nécromobile pour lui débloquer le chemin.
Dès qu'il n'y a plus que 2 joueurs en lice, la dernière interprétation est automatiquement mise en oeuvre (quelque soit le choix initial), avant d'éviter des égalités basée sur le partage du terrain séparé par des frontières infranchissables de cadavres. Dans ce cas, le camp qui dispose de la case centrale dans sa zone de contrôle sera automatiquement déclaré vainqueur.
https://www.djambi.net/regles/morts

How closely does these rules align to the rules on BGA?

[Jer3my]

Very minor point, but the game title is lower case in many places on the site. I'm assuming that's a typo you'd like to correct?

I've never heard of this one before. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to trying it out. Thanks for the effort put in to get this game here on BGA!

[Een]

Very minor point, but the game title is lower case in many places on the site. I'm assuming that's a typo you'd like to correct?

Thanks, the string for the game name was not in the translation system. It has been fixed now, correction will appear with the next daily translations update.

[marcgenesis]

Hi N_Faker,

I'll try to answer your questions.

If the board becomes divided by corpses with lone Chiefs on either side. Neither with access to the maze. Who wins?
The one who placed the corpse? The one with the largest territory?

If the game ends with multiple chiefs without maze access and no necromobile, it stalls the game and all the players that weren't eliminated tie the game. It's a stalemate.

Three Chiefs are on the board, it has been divided by corpses, with two chiefs on one side and a lone chief on the other with access to the maze.
Are any of them considered surrounded by corpses?

The chiefs that don't have access to the maze are eliminated, and the lone chief with maze access is the winner.

If a Chief-in-power has no legal moves, what happens?

The chief can always exit the maze, although it is not preferable. The only way a chief-in-power would have no legal moves would be if all the other pieces are eliminated, and he is surrounded by corpses... but if he is, that means the other chiefs don't have access to the maze and are thus eliminated.

How closely does these rules align to the rules on BGA?

Fairly close . A chief can only die by entrapment if he doesn't have any friendly necromobile.

If you have any more questions, let me know.

[N_Faker]

Thanks for the answers, I would like a little more clarification if you don't mind.

If the board becomes divided by corpses with lone Chiefs on either side. Neither with access to the maze. Who wins?
The one who placed the corpse? The one with the largest territory?

If the game ends with multiple chiefs without maze access and no necromobile, it stalls the game and all the players that weren't eliminated tie the game. It's a stalemate.

Good to know that stalemates exist in this game. And that 'territory' size has no impact what so ever.

Three Chiefs are on the board, it has been divided by corpses, with two chiefs on one side and a lone chief on the other with access to the maze.
Are any of them considered surrounded by corpses?

The chiefs that don't have access to the maze are eliminated, and the lone chief with maze access is the winner.

Does that mean that eliminating the opposing Necromobiles and then surround the Maze(or vise versa) would eliminate Chiefs without Necromobiles? Even if a Chief with a Necromobile is in the same area?
-
Edit: The answer is YES, if the Maze is surrounded all Chiefs without Necromobiles will be eliminated if they don't have access to the Maze anymore.

If a Chief-in-power has no legal moves, what happens?

The chief can always exit the maze, although it is not preferable. The only way a chief-in-power would have no legal moves would be if all the other pieces are eliminated, and he is surrounded by corpses... but if he is, that means the other chiefs don't have access to the maze and are thus eliminated.

What if an opposing Chief has a Necromobile? Would having no legal moves eliminate you or just pass your turn?

[evilmonkeycma]

The rules say that if my chief is in the maze, I get a turn between each of the other players, instead of after each other player takes a turn. But it appears to give both. That is, if normal is A-B-C-D-A, the maze should give A-D-B-D-C-D-A-D..., but instead gives A-D-B-D-C-D-D-A-D, giving the player in the maze even more of an advantage.

[N_Faker]

If only two Chiefs remain, the one in the Maze will get 2 consecutive turns.
I don't believe I have seen what you are claiming, do you have a table replay to link to?

Another Question.

If the Chef-in-power eliminates the 3rd Chief, does he immediately gain the 2nd consecutive move?
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Edit: The answer is NO. The consecutive turn isn't granted immediately.