Morphus

This out of print game is a pre-cursor to Double Morphus, and by the same designer. There are 34 tiles, each containing four squares and either red or yellow colored walls. A 6 by 6 frame is assembled, and each player takes turns placing two tiles at a time to build the maze, leaving two empty spots. The maze tiles contain 12 energy points of each color. Unlike Double Morphus, the maze is not three dimensional. Each player has 3 guards and a trover. The object of the game is to collect all energy points of a player's given color, or to capture the opponent's trover. On each turn, a player may move all of his pieces 10 squares each. Guards may move orthogonally only, and trovers may move both orthogonally and diagonally. Only trovers may collect energy points. Guards serve to block movement. Energy points may be spent to "morph" a maze tile by sliding it into an adjacent empty square. Each point spent allows two such morphs. Tiles containing a trover may not be morphed. To capture an opposing trover, it must be immobilized by a combination of enemy guards, walls, empty space, or enemy energy points for one full turn. A trover can force itself past an enemy guard by surrendering either an energy point or the life of a friendly guard.