v4
The game
SNIPR is a 2 to 4 players turn-based sniper combat simulation.
The objective is to be the last player left alive on the board.
Materials you need
- Game board (you can download a 5MB printable sample game board here, or make your own with pen and paper, a spreadsheet, etc.)
- 1 Sniper Coin, a 2 euros coin works fine
- 1d6 Die or throw 5 coins, count Heads and add 1*
- 1 player token for each player, like dry beans of different colors
- Several small markers for barricades, 2 euro cent coins or small stones are great markers
- 1 player log for each player, I suggest using your phone or pen and paper
The board
You play this game on a board of 9x9 cells.
Cells are grouped in bigger areas of 3x3 cells called zones (so each zone has 9 cells).
Game setup
Players start with a knife, a radio, a sniper rifle, and 3 bullets. Everyone writes down the amount of bullets on their respective player logs.
In turn, each player puts their token on any empty corner cell.
Gameplay
Players can spend their turn doing one of the following actions:
Walk
You can walk on one of the 8 cells around you. Move your player token and end your turn.
Run
Throw the Sniper Coin, if you get Tails you stumble and your turn ends.
If you get Heads you can run, throw the Die to see how far you get.
You can change your direction while moving, but you have to run the whole way.
Knife attack
You can stab to death an enemy located in one of the 8 cells around you.
Shoot
If you have at least one Bullet you can Shoot enemies on a straight line in all 8 directions around you.
Bullets kill the first enemy that is currently on a cell where they travel, and are stopped by barricades.
Remove a bullet from your log, then toss the Sniper Coin; every consecutive Head will tell you how far the Bullet can travel:
| Consecutive heads | Equipment you find |
|---|---|
| Tails on first coin flip | The Rifle jams and doesn't fire |
| 1 | The Bullet crosses the zone you're in (from your position to the border of the zone |
| 2 or more | The amount of extra zones your bullet travels through |
Hide
Flip the Sniper Coin, Tails mean you fail at hiding and your turn is over.
If you get Heads, you can hide in one of the surrounding cells.
Log your new location in secret, then remove your token from the board. Your turn is over.
Starting from next turn you will be Hiding, you can either:
- Aim
- Throw Grenades
- Hide in an adjacent cell by repeating the hiding procedure above (if you get Tails reveal your position and stop hiding, if you get Heads pick a nearby cell and update your location in your log)
If you want to stab, shoot without a silencer, walk, or run you lose your cover. Show the hiding location written on your log, then place your token on that cell.
Aim
Add 1 Aiming point on your log and end your turn.
Aiming points increase the zone distance covered by your next Bullet or Grenade.
If you choose to move, shoot or throw a Grenade you spend all your Aiming points. Remove them from your log. For every consecutive turn where you aim, you get a +1 aiming bonus.
You can aim while hiding, but annoying campers die a horrible death.
Scavenge
If you are inside an empty zone, you can scavenge it.
Throw the Sniper Coin:
- Tails: you look for Barricade materials
- Heads: you look for Equipment
You find Barricade materials
You find materials to create Barricades. Throw the Die to see how many barricades to build.
Place them where you prefer inside the zone you’re scavenging, one per empty cell.
You cannot scavenge rooms containing with Barricades, because they are not empty.
You find Equipment
To see what kind of Equipment you find, flip the Sniper Coin until you get Tails.
The amount of consecutive Heads it takes tells you what you find:
| Consecutive heads | Equipment you find |
|---|---|
| Tails on first coin flip | You don’t find anything of value in the zone, end your turn |
| 1 | You find a Bullet on the ground |
| 2 | You find a Flare |
| 3 | You find trash to make a Decoy |
| 4 | You find a Grenade |
| 5 | You find a Scope |
| 6 | You find a Silencer |
Use Equipment
You can spend your turn using Equipment that you have scavenged.
Grenade
To throw a Grenade, flip the Sniper Coin until you get Tails.
The amount of consecutive Heads it takes tells you how far the Grenade lands.
0 heads (you get Tails on the first toss): 1 head: you throw the Grenade in the next zone. 2 or more consecutive heads: you throw the Grenade 2 or more zones away.
| Consecutive heads | Where the Grenade lands |
|---|---|
| Tails on first coin flip | The Grenade lands on your feet |
| 1 | You throw the Grenade in the next zone |
| 2 or more | You throw the Grenade 2 or more zones away |
Remove a Grenade from your log and place a marker in the room where it landed.
Your turn ends and the grenade begins ticking. It will explode at the end of your next turn. Exploding grenades destroy all Players and Barricades in the zone.
You can throw Grenades over Barricades.
Flare
You shoot a flare to alert friendly civilians in the area. They will broadcast every player location on the radio.
In turn, each player either use a Decoy or lose their cover.
Decoy
If someone uses a Flare you won’t have to reveal your position.
Once the decoy has been used remove it from the inventory.
Scope
You install a Scope and receive a permanent +1 Shooting bonus.
Your Bullets will travel 1 zone further than the amount of Heads you flip when Shooting.
You cannot have more than one scope installed.
Silencer
You install a Suppressor on your rifle.
From now on you can shoot without losing your Hiding cover.
Death
Stabbing or a Shooting victims leave their token upside down on the board. The first player that ends on that cell inherits all their possessions.
Grenade victims are removed from the board with all their possessions.
Expand your game
Here are some planned developments of the game rules, feel free to get inspired and test these variations:
- experiment with different board and zone sizes: a 20x20 board with 2x2 zones is great for longer games with 4 players
- experiment with a chessboard, remember to change zone size to 2x2 cell
- experiment by playing with more than 4 players
- experiment by grouping players in teams
- experiment with recreating historical battles
- experiment with terrain elevation, trenches, rivers
License and info
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. In the attribution please use “Tom Cooks (tomcooks.com)”
In layman, not a lawyer, terms: Feel free to play this game, share it with likeminded nerds and modify it to suit your gaming needs. Just don’t be a dick.
This game has been created in a tent with pen, paper, and a handful of coins during my Lisbon to Istanbul bike adventure.
SNIPRv4 has been released on 20200402 and created using only Libre Software.
Notes
* using 5 coins + 1 won't give you the same results you would get by using a fair dice, but it's a good emergency alternative.