In Quoridor, each player has one pawn, placed in the middle of their respective side at the top or bottom of a 9x9 game board. There are 20 walls, distributed equally to all players (so 10 to each in the initial match). The main goal is to be the first to reach the OPPOSITE end of the board to the one where you started.
In a player's turn, a player must do one of the following:
- Move their pawn.
- Place one of five walls.
A player can move a pawn to an adjacent square in the four orthogonal directions (front, back, or sideways). The pawn may not cross past a wall placed by any player, and will have to move around it.
Each wall is two squares long. A player may place a wall inside the board, between the squares. The wall may not jut out of the board, and it must be aligned with the grid, so that it blocks two pairs of adjacent squares. A wall blocks all pawns' movements; no pawn can jump over a wall. However, there must always be at least one path for each pawn to reach the opposite side; a wall may not be placed to completely isolate a pawn from their destination side. Note that walls are limited; if a player uses up all their walls, they can no longer place walls.
The pawn may never occupy the same square as an opponent's pawn; if an opponent pawn is adjacent, the player can JUMP over the opponent's pawn, effectively crossing two spaces. If there is no wall, no board edge, and no other pawn behind the opponent's pawn, the jump must be straight (the player's pawn moves two squares in that direction). Otherwise, the jump must be diagonal (the player moves to the opponent, then moves sideways). Jumping is never mandatory.
The first player in each match-up to reach the opposite side will ADVANCE to the final round of this competition.
In the final round, the 4 winners from either tribe will all go into a 4-WAY version of Quoridor, where each player gets only 5 walls, and the left and right sides of the board are utilised. The winner of the final match will win the entire competition and IMMUNITY for their tribe!
If it happens to be 4 players all from the same tribe at the end, then the tribe automatically wins. There can still be a final match for a bonus prize however.
