Octi

Overview

Octi is an abstract strategy game for 2 players where octagonal pieces (“pods”) grow more powerful by inserting directional prongs. Each turn, you choose between strengthening your pieces or moving them. The goal is to occupy your opponent’s base spaces. Three game variants provide escalating complexity: Basic (6x7 board), Octi-X Fast (9x9), and Octi-X Classic (9x9, occupy all 3 bases).

Components

• 1 Double-sided board (6x7 on one side, 9x9 on the other)
• 7 Pods per color (red and black), 14 total
• 50 Prongs (insertable directional pegs)

Setup

Basic Game

• Use the 6x7 board.
• Each player places 4 pods on their 4 base squares.
• Each player gets 12 prongs in reserve.
• Orient pod arrows to point toward the opponent. Never rotate pods during the game.

Octi-X Fast Game

• Use the 9x9 board.
• Each player places 1 pod on each of their 3 bases.
• 4 pods and 25 prongs kept in reserve.

Octi-X Classic

• Same setup as Octi-X Fast.

Turn Structure

On each turn, perform exactly ONE action:

1. Add a prong to any friendly pod.
2. Move a pod one space in a direction it has a prong for.
3. Jump (or chain of jumps) over other pods.
4. (Octi-X only) Deploy a reserve pod onto an empty or occupied friendly base (enters with no prongs).

Actions

Adding Prongs

Insert 1 prong into any hole of a friendly pod. This enables the pod to move in that direction on future turns. Prongs come from your reserve or from captured pods.

Moving

Move 1 friendly pod to an adjacent empty square in any direction for which it has a prong. Do not rotate the pod.

Jumping

A pod may jump over any adjacent pod (friendly or enemy) in a prong direction, landing on the empty square beyond. Multiple jumps may be chained in a single turn. Rules:

• The square behind each jumped pod must be vacant.
• You may not jump over the same square twice in one turn.
• Jumping is always optional.
• At the end of the turn, you may choose to capture some, all, or none of the jumped pods (friendly or enemy).
• Captured pods lose all prongs; those prongs go to the capturing player’s reserve.

Stacking (Octi-X only)

Two or more friendly pods may occupy the same square (stacked). Build a stack by moving a pod onto a friendly-occupied square or deploying from reserve onto a base with a pod. When moving a stack, any or all pods may move/jump simultaneously in directions allowed by their individual prongs. Stacked pods ignore each other for jump purposes during simultaneous moves.

Liberation (Octi-X Classic only)

A player occupying an opponent’s base may liberate a previously captured friendly pod (prongless) and stack it on a pod currently on a friendly or enemy base.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Variant	Win Condition
Basic	First to land a pod on any opponent’s base
Octi-X Fast	First to land a pod on any opponent’s base
Octi-X Classic	First to simultaneously occupy all 3 opponent’s bases

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Pod orientation: Arrows on pods always point toward the opponent. Never rotate pods.
• Prong inheritance: When capturing a pod, all its prongs transfer to the capturing player regardless of color.
• Reserve vs. captured pods: In Octi-X Classic, reserve pods (never placed) may deploy on friendly bases or enemy-occupied bases. Captured pods (removed from board) can only re-enter via liberation.
• No mandatory jumps: Unlike checkers, jumping is never forced.
• Selective capture: After a multi-jump, you may capture only specific jumped pods, not necessarily all.

Player Reference

Variant	Board	Pods	Prongs	Objective
Basic	6x7	4 each	12 each	Reach 1 enemy base
Octi-X Fast	9x9	3 start + 4 reserve	25 each	Reach 1 enemy base
Octi-X Classic	9x9	3 start + 4 reserve	25 each	Occupy all 3 enemy bases