Flatland ARG!!!

How to Play

Basics

The game is played between two teams. The team that has the most polysides at the end of the game wins. The game is played for a fixed duration between 10 or 15 minutes.

Geometry Springs and Polysides

Geometry Springs are the source of all polysides in the game. There are three invisible Springs in the arena at any time. They can only be revealed by reflective essay outline and structure performing the Scan gesture. The Springs last for a limited duration and then randomly change locations.
– Two of the Springs always appear on opposite sides of the arena.
– The third Spring could appear anywhere in the arena.

Gesture: Scan

The Scan gesture is used to see structures and opponent shapes.

Scanning creates an expanding area of true visibility around the player performing the gesture. Teammates will be able to use their scepter screens to see all structures and enemy shapes within that area.

Perform the Scan gesture by holding the scepter face-up and swinging it left and right. Note that it will be very hard for you to see your screen while performing this particular gesture, so your teammates should watch their screen as you Scan.

*Important! You must press the scepter screen as you perform a gesture, and let go before starting another gesture.*

Players stand near a Spring and perform the Work gesture in order to gather polysides.

Gesture: Work
This gesture is used to:
– collect polysides from the Geometry Springs
– build/upgrade structures
– upgrade teammates at a Polyfactory

Perform the Work gesture by holding your scepter face-up and swinging it up and down.

*Dont forget! You must press the scepter screen as you perform a gesture, and let go before starting another gesture.*

Player Characters

Players play as polygons, each starting out as a triangle. Players can carry as many polysides as they have sides (e.g. a square can carry four points). When players are Attacked, they lose one carried polyside they are carrying – think of the carried polysides as armour. If they arent carrying argumentative essay over illegal immigration any armour polysides, they are downgraded to a lower order polygon and lose one of their sides each time they are Attacked (e.g. a pentagon would downgrade to a square).

In order to upgrade to a higher order polygon with more sides, a player must add sides in a Polyfactory. A player can have a max of six sides.

For the teams final polycount, each side of each character counts as one point as well as any additional armour polysides carried by the character at the end of the game. For example, a triangle carrying two armour polysides would be worth five points at the games ending polycount.

Bonus: A Hexagon is a special case – any hexagon that survives until the end of the game is worth an extra 10 polyside bonus.

Structures

Players can build three different kinds of structures by performing the Work gesture anywhere not in direct proximity to the Geometry Springs. For each second that players perform the Work gesture without interruption, they deposit one polyside into the structure. If two teammates perform Work near each other, they will build a structure twice as fast.

Just like a character, a structure can be armoured up to its side value and then upgraded by the addition of extra polysides (by Working in its proximity). A structure is upgraded once it is fully armoured and then receives one additional polyside. Thus a Trap needs four additional polysides to be upgrade to a Sentry, and a Sentry needs five additional polysides to upgrade to a Polyfactory. Sentries and Polyfactories can only be built by upgrading from lower order structures.

Structures are are not visible in the physical space, but players can use their scepter screens to see their teams structures even without Scanning. The screen will display the area of the arena the player is currently in, including all friendly structures and the shapes of your teammates. In order to see enemy structures and shapes, a player must perform the Scan gesture or build a Sentry.

Tip: Stashing is a very efficient way to maximize your teams polycount. You can stash polysides by abandoning the building of a structure before it is complete – this creates a stash of one or two polysides in the arena. But beware! The other team can Scan for your stashed polysides and destroy them by Attacking.

Kinds of Structures:

Trap: 3 polysides

A Trap acts like a landmine a member of the opposing team who comes close to it will be damaged when the Trap explodes. The Trap then disappears.

If you are armoured and step on a trap, you will lose up to three polysides but will be saved from being downgraded.

If you are unarmoured and set off a Trap, youll be downgraded instantly to a point and be temporarily out of play.

Tip: The range of the attack is slightly greater than the triggering range of a trap. Moving carefully, scanning, and attacking traps can be a winning strategy.

Sentry: 4 polysides

A Sentry acts like a permanent Scan gesture. It creates its own area of true visibility, making all of the opposing teams structures and shapes visible to your team.

Polyfactory: 5 polysides

Polyfactories are used to upgrade a character to a higher order polygon. In order to upgrade, a character must perform the Upgrade gesture in proximity to a Polyfactory while teammates transfer their carried armour polysides by performing Work in the proximity of the Polyfactory. A character is upgraded once they are fully armoured and receive one additional polyside at the Polyfactory.

Other Gestures

Gesture: Upgrade

When you are near a Polyfactory, the Upgrade gesture is used to receive transferred polysides from your teammates as they perform the Work gesture.

Perform the Upgrade gesture by holding the scepter aloft with the tip pointing skywards.

*Dont forget! You must press the scepter screen as you perform a gesture, and let go before starting another gesture.*

Tip: Multiple teammates can perform Work near a Polyfactory at the same time to upgrade a character more quickly.

Structure polysides count towards the final score, as well as any extra polysides being used as armour. For example, a Sentry with two armour polysides would be worth six points.

Gesture: Attack

The Attack gesture is used to damage the opposing teams characters, structures or stashes.

Perform the Attack gesture by holding the scepter face-up and repeatedly making a forward stabbing motion.

*Dont forget! You must press the scepter screen as you perform a gesture, and let go before starting another gesture.*

A player can damage characters or structures of the opposing team by performing the Attack gesture. When a player Attacks, a damaging field is created that affects all enemy characters and structures within a fixed radius around the Attacker.

Unarmoured polygons downgrade when they are Attacked (a pentagon becomes a square, for example). A triangle that is Attacked is downgraded to a (zero-sided) point and is rendered useless until they regain three sides. A point will regenerate one side every thirty seconds, becoming a (one-sided) line and then a (two-sided) cross.

Points, lines, and crosses cannot do anything in the game except try and find a Geometry Spring and perform the Work gesture to restore themselves to a triangle more quickly.

If an armoured structure is Attacked, it loses all armour polysides. If any unarmoured structure is Attacked, it is destroyed and disappears from the game.

End Game

At the end of the game, each teams total polycount is calculated to determine the winning team. The final polycount is a tally of:

polysides on characters (including lines and crosses)
– armour polysides carried by characters
polysides on structures
-armour polysides on structures
– stashed polysides

The team with the highest polycount wins.