Shielle-Aj
Above and Below
The PDF Rule Set: Rule Set (the Rules are available in full on this web page for free) - PDF
Download the Shielle-Aj Cannister: 3D Cults - Cannister Parts Download
Download the Game Gems: 3D Cults - Gems for Game Play Download
Bring the Adventure of the Coloured Seas home to your table!
An Introduction:
Shielle-Aj boasts a cooperative and competitive outlet and comes in one, compact unit. Everything folds and pops together to become a game you can transport anywhere as you travel from home to home or as you head off on vacation! The gems, base, and octagonal cannister are all 3D-printable and fit into a colourful unit!
The Shielle-Aj Islands are deep in the middle of the Coloured Seas in the world I created for the Trial of Millosai, my novel series. It’s a dangerous place filled with heavy storms, large sea creatures like the Bloren and Gowette, the creatures depicted on the Cannister Lid on print-out! This, of course means that many a sailor has ventured out into these Coloured Seas, for war, work, and plunder; as such, many a sailing vessel, galleon, frigate, and adventurer’s tug, has gone under and rest under those coloured waves.
Plenty of Seas for plundering.
If you can get past those Bloren and Gowette.
For a video explanation what follows, feel free to check out my YouTube videos on this game.
The Shielle-Aj Islands are deep in the middle of the Coloured Seas in the world I created for the Trial of Millosai, my novel series. It’s a dangerous place filled with heavy storms, large sea creatures like the Bloren and Gowette, the creatures depicted on the Cannister Lid on print-out! This, of course means that many a sailor has ventured out into these Coloured Seas, for war, work, and plunder; as such, many a sailing vessel, galleon, frigate, and adventurer’s tug, has gone under and rest under those coloured waves.
Plenty of Seas for plundering.
If you can get past those Bloren and Gowette.
For a video explanation what follows, feel free to check out my YouTube videos on this game.
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Game Parts for Shielle-Aj
As with any other game, there are parts to Shielle-Aj that needs at least a little introduction. They’re pretty simple, but they will be referred to later on in this rule set by name, so let’s cover those game parts now. Each part can be downloaded and printed separately from my 3DCults page!
Here we go!
First, there's the Cannister Base:
The Panel Wall:
The Wall is printed in seven hinged panels. These are separately printed and snapped together. If you’re using a more-decorative filament to print these panels, “snap” them together gently. Once together, they fit and work perfectly well as a hinged wall, but some hinges, if not printed with strong-enough filament, don’t “snap” together well and might break. I suggest PLA PRO or something similar for printing these panels.
The Cannister Lid:
Top of the Lid below is the Bloren. Bottom of the Lid is the Gowette. The Gowette is longer and more flexible than the Bloren, but the Bloren has more teeth and is more aggressive.
Top of the Lid below is the Bloren. Bottom of the Lid is the Gowette. The Gowette is longer and more flexible than the Bloren, but the Bloren has more teeth and is more aggressive.
6 Game Gems:
The Closer Panel:
The Closer Panel is the panel with the Shielle-Aj Logo on it. This panel won’t fully snap into the next panel, by design. The Closer Panel is intended to be the panel that allows the Wall to “close”, but then “open” again when you want to play.
The Completed Cannister:
In this fashion, the game, competitive and cooperative, is ready to transport to another house, a vacation spot, or another floor where you plan on playing with a friend. It’s fairly strong in this shape, but do avoid placing anything too heavy on top of it. The hinges turn and open/close well, but they will break if they undergo serious pressure.
Assembling the Cannister
Step 1:
Find Your Base
Step 2:
Wrap your “snapped” together Wall around
the inside of the Cannister Base
the inside of the Cannister Base
Step 3:
Fill your Cannister with Gems
Step 4:
"Pop" the Lid onto the Walls
Step 5:
Wrap an Elastic around the Cannister using the guides printed into the sides of the Lid and Base. This will keep the Cannister together during transport.
Shielle-Aj Cooperative Play
The Cooperative Play Rules for Shielle-Aj seem pretty simple, but there is a complexity to them depending on how challenging you want the game play to be. As with anything else “cooperative”, but players need to win or both players lose. In this case, imagine you’re on your boat, or maybe you’re kicking your legs in the water. You start at the Closer/Logo Panel. You need to get your gems, and the second player needs to get their gems across the panels, turn by turn, to the final one. Anyone left in between will be eaten by a Sea Creature, and you both lose.
What you’ll need?
You will need the Cannister Wall, Gems, and a bag (of sorts). The “bag” can be a box or hat. It is simpler if it’s a bag, but so long as it’s something you reach into and pull gems out from, it’s all good. The Cannister Wall is to be laid out flat as shown in the above image for cooperative game play.
How to Conduct a Turn
There are several Stages to each Turn.
Stage 1
Each Player selects five gems from their respective bag. You can have up to two of each gem in that bag. When reaching in, try to not feel around for the exact gem you’d like. Try and just pick the first one you come across. Select the gems until you have five lined up, in any order, on the first Panel after the Closer Panel.
Stage 2:
Each Player can now select one of their randomly picked gems that is on their board and switch it for a different one that is still in the bag.
Stage 3:
Decide who's going first.
Stage 4:
The first player moves a gem one space. If the other player has one or two of the same gem on their board, they moved that one or those two gems one space as well. Here’s where it gets tricky. If the first player moved a Rectangular Gem, Pencil Gem, or Tall Gem (as labeled in the image above, then the other player can now also move one of their gems two spaces. If the first player moved the Cube Gem, Normal Gem, or Skinny Gem, the other player can now also, instead, move one of their gems a single space.
The second player now moves one of their gems and the first players responds accordingly, with the same reactions and rules as was just done.
The second player now moves one of their gems and the first players responds accordingly, with the same reactions and rules as was just done.
End of First Turn.
Ongoing Play:
Play continues in this fashion until 10 Turns are spent. If all pieces, for both players, have reached the last panel by that time, both players win! If there is any piece left back a panel or two, or more, then both players lose.
Strategies for Winning:
If you move your two-spacers (Rectangular Gem, Tall Gem, and Pencil Gem) up too quickly, you won’t be able to give the other player as many two-space moves, so holding them back a little might help. Trying to make sure you have two of the same gem where you can is a nice thing, and having matching gem pairings with the other players means you’ll both be helping each other move ahead more quickly – which can only help!
Try to make it within the 10-Turn limit. If you can make that work, try to do it in 9 Turns. 8 Turns? Maybe even 7 Turns? Let me know how it works out, and feel free to suggest a new rule set that might make the game more challenging or more appropriate, based on your experience!
Try to make it within the 10-Turn limit. If you can make that work, try to do it in 9 Turns. 8 Turns? Maybe even 7 Turns? Let me know how it works out, and feel free to suggest a new rule set that might make the game more challenging or more appropriate, based on your experience!
Shielle-Aj Competitive Play
Step 1:
Set up the Cannister Base on a table or other flat surface. Have the Cannister Wall set up partially around the Base as a partial barrier. Place a Blinder of sorts between both players. This Blinder can be a box, folded piece of paper, cardboard. So long as it keeps each player from seeing each other’s gems, then it’s all good!
Step 2:
Each Player sets their six main gems in a slot on their Base as they wish. Depending on how you have your Bases oriented, there might be gem holes in the North, or not. So long as you both have the Bases facing the same way, it’s all good.
Step 3:
Player One makes a guess. They might guess the other player has placed their Pencil Gem in the South East, North, North West, or other Gem Slot. If you guess right, that other player sets that gem aside. It is now their turn to guess.
Step 4:
This continues until someone has removed all six of their gems. The person who has guess correctly for those six gems wins the game!
Links:
The PDF Rule Set: Rule Set - PDF
Download the Shielle-Aj Cannister: 3D Cults - Cannister Parts Download
Download the Game Gems: 3D Cults - Gems for Game Play Download