How to play XIMA

1. The goal

The first player to bring their special block to the summit, square G7 at the top of the pyramid, wins. Everything else serves to get you there or to slow your opponent down.

2. Your turn: enter or move

You start with all 10 blocks off the board. On each turn you do one of two things:

• Enter a block: bring one of your off-board blocks onto the board. It enters from the edge of the pyramid, moving straight in or diagonally, and it may not start or finish on top of another block.
• Move a block: move one of your blocks already on the board in a straight line (horizontally, vertically or diagonally), as many squares as you like.

3. Climbing

Each floor of the pyramid is two block-heights above the one below, and a block can only climb one block-height per step. So to reach the next floor you need a step: a block (yours or your opponent's) next to the higher floor that you can pass over.

Example: you have a block on A1 and another on B2. The block on A1 moves diagonally, passes over B2 and lands on C3, already on the second floor. B2 acted as the step. Going down is always allowed.

4. Dominating and capturing

If you finish your move on top of a block, you dominate it: it can't move while you cover it. If after your arrival no colour has more blocks than yours in that column, the blocks of every colour with fewer are captured.

Example: a red block has a blue block on top (1 against 1: red is dominated, not captured). If a second blue block arrives on that square from higher up, blue leads 2 to 1 and the red block is captured.

5. The special block

Your special block moves like the others but has two rules of its own: it can never climb onto or pass over the opponent's special block, and it is the only block that wins by reaching the summit. If it is captured you don't lose: you can rescue it by bringing a common block to the summit.

A tip from the XIMA book: don't bring the special block in early. Prepare the path with your common blocks first.

6. Your first game

The easiest start is against the bot on Easy, in Science mode (no dice). When you finish, watch the replay in History and look for the moment your opponent climbed before you.