Round & Revel / Constrained transport planning

The Last Ferry

Every return trip has to bring the right pilot back.

2–6 players cooperating; no non-playing hostEstimated 25–40 minutes for three challenges; not live-playtested

Original authored print-and-play game. Time is a planning estimate; this edition has not had a live group playtest.

Good for: A cooperative group that enjoys planning several moves ahead with visible pieces.

What you need

Six reusable paper tokens labelled A, B, P, Q, R, and S
One LEFT / RIGHT bank sheet and one BOAT marker
Practice LF00, eight challenge cards, a journey log, and covered answer guide

How to play

Get everyone across

Two pilots, A and B, must ferry four loads, P, Q, R, and S, from LEFT to RIGHT. The boat has a weight capacity, and each load has a printed escort requirement. Both pilots and every load must finish on RIGHT, with the boat there too. Nobody is stranded, injured, or in danger in this paper exercise. Leaving a bank unattended is always safe; only boat journeys are restricted.

Make the small harbour

Write LEFT and RIGHT on opposite halves of one sheet, leaving a clear river gap. Cut six tokens from the supplied strip and make one BOAT marker. A and B are pilots; their weights are always 1 unit each. P, Q, R, and S are loads whose weights change between cards. Tokens show identities only. Read the active card for weights and permissions rather than writing permanent weights on reusable pieces.

Set up one crossing problem

Practise LF00 openly, then choose three different cards LF01–LF08 and cover the answers. Put all six tokens and BOAT on LEFT at the start of every card. Copy the boat capacity and the four load rows onto your log if helpful. Choose a starting captain and continue the turn order clockwise across all three problems. All information stays public; you may keep notes and discuss freely.

Who may take the boat

Each journey must carry at least one pilot. A load marked A requires pilot A aboard; B requires B; EITHER requires at least one of them; BOTH requires both. A pilot can escort several loads on the same journey if every requirement is met. Either pilot may travel alone or with the other pilot. There is no separate seat limit: the printed total weight capacity is the only size restriction.

Check a proposed journey

All chosen tokens must currently be on the same bank as BOAT. Add their weights, including every pilot, and keep the total at or below capacity. Then check each carried load’s escort. Say the complete passenger list before moving anything. Move that list and BOAT together to the other bank and record one journey. Directions alternate automatically. The boat cannot travel empty, move without a pilot, or collect tokens from the opposite bank midway.

Share the route planning

On a turn, the captain proposes one journey or passes while thinking. Before committing, ask another player to check weight and a third, when available, to check escorts. With two players, the other person checks both. Everyone can suggest future returns and warn about a plan that leaves the wrong pilot behind. The captain chooses after discussion and physically moves the tokens, or names a helper to do so. Passing uses no journey.

A real return counts

Moving backward is allowed and often necessary. Every LEFT-to-RIGHT or RIGHT-to-LEFT crossing counts one, regardless of how many tokens travel. You may carry a load back if useful. Paper planning and tentative lists are free, but a correctly committed journey stays in the log. Reversing it requires a new legal journey. An illegal proposal never moves the pieces and uses no journey; correct it before committing.

Finish, score, and reset

Stop as soon as all six tokens and BOAT are on RIGHT. Earn 2 shared points if journeys used are no greater than PAR, 1 if no greater than PAR plus two, and 0 otherwise. End an unfinished attempt after PAR plus two journeys, or earlier by agreement, then reveal the key. Reset everything for the next card. Three cards score up to 6 points. There are no individual winners or tiebreakers; any legal route reaching the goal within the allowance counts.

Check errors and welcome alternatives

The answer guide provides one shortest route and the checked minimum; it does not exclude other routes. If a token was moved to the wrong bank, restore the last logged position before continuing. If the state cannot be recovered, restart unscored. The guide’s compact lists name all boat occupants, including pilots. Use large labels and read weight totals aloud. No real boat, water, lifting, fast movement, or geographical knowledge is involved.

A worked example

Practice LF00 has capacity 5. A complete shortest route is out B, R; back B; out A, B, Q; back A, B; out A, B, P, S. “Out” means LEFT to RIGHT and “back” means RIGHT to LEFT. Check the weights and escorts before each crossing. All six tokens finish on RIGHT after 5 journeys, which equals PAR and would score 2 points. Every return is included in this count.

Printable materials

Print one river sheet and one copy of all manifests. Cut six identity tokens and one boat marker, or copy their labels onto scraps. Keep the separate solution guide covered; manifests and permissions remain visible throughout play.

LF-BOARD

River and reusable tokens

LEFT BANK ____________________ | RIVER | ____________________ RIGHT BANK

Cut or copy one token of each: A (pilot), B (pilot), P (load), Q (load), R (load), S (load). Make one BOAT marker. Pilot A weighs 1. Pilot B weighs 1.

LF00

Practice ferry

CAPACITY: 5 weight units. Pilots A and B weigh 1 each.

Load	Weight	Escort
P	1	EITHER
Q	2	BOTH
R	3	B
S	2	BOTH

PAR: 5 journeys. Begin with all six tokens and boat on LEFT.

LF01

Ferry manifest 1

CAPACITY: 5 weight units. Pilots A and B weigh 1 each.

Load	Weight	Escort
P	3	B
Q	3	BOTH
R	1	BOTH
S	2	B

PAR: 5 journeys. Begin with all six tokens and boat on LEFT.

LF02