Space Dodge'm

Space Dodge'm (sic!) is a shareware conversion of the game of Dodgem, a very simple yet complex game invented 1972 by mathematics student Colin Vout. The name originates from the fact that you'll often have to "dodge" around the pieces of your opponent to advance your own.

This conversion places Vout's abstract board game in a science fiction setting with an added time limit, playing in a space station which is about make fatal contact with an asteroid. Your goal is to evacuate all your shuttles or landers in time, while preventing your opponent to do the same before you.

The game is played on a simple square board, with players taking turns moving one token to a neighboring square at each turn. It is not allowed to move onto an occupied square or backwards, only in the direction of the evacuation pads (up for shuttles, right for landers) or sideways. That's it. The amazing thing is that these primitive rules produce quite a devilish game, where you have to try to block your enemy pieces, while taking care not to be blocked yourself. (Another slight modification has been taken: you are not allowed move in a way to make your opponent unable to move; in the original game, an immobile player won.