Description

MALU is an abstract strategy board game for 2 or 4 players.

Long ago, high up in the Himalayan mountains, a group of traveler monks known as the Malu, wandered through its snowy peaks. Their days were filled with prayer, meditation, and training. As part of their training, they played a single board game. The game was elegant in its simplicity, yet complicated in its mastery. For generations the game was a closely guarded secret and used by the monks to train new acolytes in the art of traversing the narrow passages and treacherous peaks of the Himalayas.

One day, while the monks were attempting to cross a particularly narrow bit of mountain, a copy of the game was swept away in a snowstorm. It was brought down the mountain by an avalanche and eventually recovered by a small boy from a remote village. The boy was so intrigued by the game that he left his home to wander the mountains, track down the monks and learn the ways of the Malu.

Many years passed and the boy eventually grew to be an intelligent man, possessing all the secrets of the Malu. He eventually returned to civilization and brought with him the game of the Malu. By sheer chance (or perhaps fate), he has deemed you a worthy challenger. It is now time for you to test your skills... Do you have what it takes to out-think and out-maneuver your opponent and cross the mountain pass in MALU?

The objective of the game is to move both your pawns across the map to the other side of the board and exit the map. The first player to have both their pawns exit the map wins.

The mechanics of the game are simple enough that anyone can pick up and start playing, but the depth of skill and many possible strategies to employ, allows for seasoned players to truly be masters of MALU.

Each turn, a player must move their pawn and place a neutral tile onto the board. As you place your tiles, adjoining tiles create paths that your pawns can move along. As your pawn moves, you have the ability to pick up those tiles and reroute them to your advantage... either as a path to the other side or as a means to block your opponents. But be careful... if you get too close, your opponent can snatch those tiles away from you and use them for themselves! You can also place walls of ice and mountain peaks as obstacles or knock down walls for strategic advantages.

Like many other classic games... first one to the finish wins! But in MALU, you will need to muster all your skill and cunning to make it past your opponent and be the first across the mountain pass.