Zebulon was designed by Herbert Schützdeller, and was first brought on the market in 1997 by the firm Schiebenstein-Spiele for a price of circa 35 German Marks (about 18 US-dollars or euros). The board was orignally made of cloth.
In a duel, a major piece is used. The following pieces are used: king, queen, bishop, rook (called `knight' in the game: Ritter), and Fool. (The fool moves like a rook but only one square.)
In a duel, a player chooses a major piece (but certain rules prevent players to repeatedly choose the same piece, while these pieces can be used in multiple duels). This is done secretly and simultaneously by both players. These pieces are considered to be on the square on which the duel takes place. Then, the player whose piece can move to the largest number of his pawns from the disputed square wins the duel. The pawn of the player that lost the duel must move to another piece in the influence zone of the major piece used in this turn, and if this is impossible, it is considered to be taken.
After all pawns are used, the game ends. If there is a player that has a connection between his marked squares, he wins, otherwise the player that has the largest group of connected pawns wins.
A short review (in the German language) can be found at Spielphase, a German website on board games.
The game currently is no longer for sale. If a reader owns a set of this game, and can send one or more digital photo's of the set for inclusion on this page, then that would be very nice.
Last modified: Sunday, April 1, 2012
