Turnstile Post

What you need

• One copy of the chosen map, six command cards, ROBOT token, FACING token, compass strip and personal visit record per player

• One shared set of six signal cards, a public first-arrival record and a six-player score sheet

• Scissors, pencils and opaque scrap-paper backs or sleeves if card faces show through; no commercial cards or dice

Set up

1. Choose map A, B or C together; use A for a first game. Everyone uses a separate copy of that same map. The three supplied maps support three different first sessions, and every map is reusable.

2. Rows increase from 1 at the bottom to 5 at the top; columns A–E run left to right. Place your ROBOT on START and your FACING token on NORTH. A solid WALL cell cannot be entered. Each map has four lettered stations, A–D.

3. Give everyone exactly one each of F1, F2, LEFT, RIGHT, ABOUT and WAIT, plus three program slots. Keep unused cards separate from the slots. Clear all four personal station boxes and the shared first-arrival log.

4. Show the six signal cards: two CALM, two TURN LEFT and two TURN RIGHT. Shuffle them face down as one shared deck. Choose a reader to reveal signals; the reader also plays. Everyone may count revealed signals, but nobody may inspect the remaining order.

How to play

1. Your aim. Play exactly six cycles, each containing three command phases. Earn 2 points for the first time your own robot visits each station, and 1 extra if that visit occurs in the first phase anyone reaches that station. A final-position bonus is available. Your position, facing, collected stations and the public first-arrival log persist throughout all six cycles.

2. Program together. Before each cycle, privately choose three different command cards from your own six and place one face down in each of slots 1, 2 and 3. You may rearrange until everyone says ready. Then all programs are locked. Do not change a card after any player reveals slot 1. Keep the three unused cards aside. There is no speed bonus or required timer.

3. Execute the cycle. Everyone reveals and executes slot 1. Resolve all visits from this phase together. Then reveal the next signal and apply it to every robot immediately: CALM changes nothing, TURN LEFT rotates the facing one quarter-turn left, and TURN RIGHT rotates it one quarter-turn right. Now everyone reveals and executes slot 2, checks visits, then does the same for slot 3. The signal does not apply again during that cycle. Discard it face up. Recover all six command cards only after slot 3; then begin the next cycle from the resulting positions and facings.

4. What commands do. F1 moves one cell forward in your current facing. F2 attempts two forward steps, checked separately. LEFT or RIGHT changes facing one quarter-turn without moving. ABOUT changes facing two quarter-turns without moving. WAIT changes nothing. Left and right are relative to the robot, not the player. NORTH points toward row 5, EAST toward column E, SOUTH toward row 1 and WEST toward column A.

5. Walls and edges. A forward step into a WALL or beyond the board fails; the robot stays in its last legal cell and the rest of that movement card is canceled. There is no wrapping, diagonal step or extra penalty. If F2 makes its first step but its second is blocked, keep the first step. Other players have separate boards, so their robots never block yours. A failed move does not cancel later program slots.

6. Visiting a station. Entering its cell on either step of F2 is a visit, even if you leave on the second step. Mark your first visit to that letter on your personal record with the cycle and slot, such as 2.3. Each letter earns you its base 2 points only once. Revisiting it earns no additional visit points. Rotating or waiting on an already visited station is not a new visit.

7. The shared race. After everyone completes a command phase, check all station visits from that phase before beginning another. If a letter has no entry in the public first-arrival log, write the current cycle.slot and every player who first reached it during this phase. Each of those players marks a +1 first-arrival bonus. All visits in one phase tie: F2 step one has no priority over F1 or F2 step two, and resolving someone’s token first gives no advantage. Close that letter’s bonus permanently for later phases. One player can claim bonuses for two different stations in a phase if a legal route visits both.

8. Open information and private plans. Positions, facings, visited stations, earned bonuses and discarded signals are public. Players may ask for them to be read aloud. Do not inspect another person’s unrevealed program or announce instructions on their behalf. Each person chooses their own route; copying a visible past route is legal. Everyone can pursue a station whose first-arrival bonus is still open.

9. Mistakes. An empty slot, an unknown command, two cards in one slot, or a second occurrence of a command in the same program resolves as WAIT for that slot; do not replace it after locking. A command appearing in an earlier valid slot still works. If a movement or facing mistake is caught before the next command phase, restore the phase-start state and execute that command correctly. Before each phase, briefly note your position and facing so restoration is possible. Correct arithmetic and visit records from this log at any time. If a disputed personal state cannot be reconstructed, that player finishes as unscored practice and makes no new claims on the public first-arrival log. Preserve earlier verified rows. If the shared signal sequence or an earlier first-arrival row cannot be reconstructed, restart the expedition or have everyone finish as practice.

10. End after cycle six. Once everyone has executed slot 3 of the sixth cycle and all visits have been recorded, score immediately. Each distinct personal station is worth 2; add the +1 bonuses bearing your name in the public log. Add 1 more if your robot now stands on any station it visited. This last bonus is at most 1, not 1 per station. The score is 0–13. Highest score wins; ties share the win. No one gets an extra command to complete a route.

Ending and ties

• Play one six-cycle expedition per session. For the next session, reset every record, recover all commands, shuffle all six signals and try a different supplied map.

• The signals create uncertainty; a perfect score is not promised. Automated reachability checks test legal movement and possible station routes, not real-time strategy, fairness or fun. Estimated duration has not been verified by a live group playtest.

Make room for everyone

• Use the compass strip instead of rotating the robot token. All station and signal information is given in words and letters; color has no rules meaning.

• Enlarge each board and the command cards. A helper can arrange a privately named program and move exactly as directed. Read public position, facing, signals and visits aloud.

• Allow unlimited planning time. For a teaching expedition, leave programs face up while learning the command sequence; do not compare that practice score with standard hidden-program play.

Bring it back to the table

• Reset and use a freshly shuffled signal deck each time. Try the three maps in separate expeditions; each changes the useful route choices while keeping the same six commands.

• On a familiar map, watch which station bonuses remain open and test a different first program or route. Count your visited stations as well as your total to see where a risk paid off. The hidden signal order still matters.

ROUND & REVEL / Turnstile Post / PLAYER MATERIALS

Printable materials

Print single-sided at 100% size. Cut only the pieces described in setup; leave boards and reference sheets whole. Check the print preview before printing.