RULES CLARIFICATION: (Non) FIGHT Results in HOCKEY BLAST

Craig Mobley recently posted a question on the PLAAY Games Community Facebook page about HOCKEY BLAST chart results "2," FIGHT. Craig wrote, "The rules book says if either player declines to fight...consider it a stoppage of play, line change etc. BUT the Normal Minutes game board says if a fight doesn't break out go to '9' Momentum. Seems like they are a contradiction? Am I missing something?"

First—Sorry for the confusion! I went back to the original (2010) charts and instructions to figure out where the disconnect was: in 2012, I changed the text in the rules book about this result. The original rule was as follows...

2) FIGHT: A dice roll of "2" generates game heat that may or may not lead to a fight. For a fight to occur, each team must have at least one player on the ice with a FIGHT rating. The player with the highest FIGHT rating has the opportunity to start the fight, and chooses his opponent. If equal, then the HOME player chooses. Roll a die for that player; if the die roll is equal to or less than the player's FIGHT rating, then he "drops his gloves." Roll a second die for his opponent, using the same methodology. If either player declines to fight, then read as dice roll "9" MOMENTUM, explained later.

As I was thinking about what prompted the change from the original text to the current text (which as Craig pointed out, directs you to a stoppage of play)—mind you, this was eight years ago, I can barely remember what happened eight days ago any more—I'm beginning to remember that this was tied in with the discussion a couple years after the game came out about submission. Specifically, what happens if a team takes a cheap-shot, sends its GOON out there to retaliate, but the OTHER team makes it impossible to start a fight by putting all guys with '0' fight ratings on the ice. That's where we came up with the 2012 rules tweak that if your goon simply TRIED to start a fight, it would break submission even if the other team didn't drop the gloves. In that context, it made more sense, if it didn't result in a fight, for the "2" FIGHT result to stop play with pushing and shoving than it did to have a momentum result happen instead.

The game will work with either result/interpretation. Or, as Paul Bastarache chimed in on the original Facebook thread, it can work with BOTH. Paul uses the play stoppage outcome if only one of the two players rolls within the FIGHT range. But he uses the momentum check result if neither player rolls within the FIGHT range, or if one or both teams have no player with a FIGHT rating. Well-played, Paul!

• Going forward, though, I think I will remove the "9"/momentum text from the game board. I think the "pushing and shoving" narrative 1) makes more sense, 2) is what's stated in the rules and 3) is easier to implement than re-rolling on result "9."

Questions? Comments? Let us know! We'd love to hear from you!