Pelican Pursuit is a two player game played on an 8x8 board. There are two players (Indy and Lara), a variety of treasures (gold and diamonds), and some pelicans. The objectives of the game is for the players (1) to secure a particular combination of gold and diamonds and (2) to eliminate those pesky pelicans. Details can be found in the game description below.

If you already know the rules of the game, click on the link below to get started.

Note that you can return to this screen at any time by clicking on the "Pelican Pursuit" banner.

Physics

Pelican Pursuit is a two player game played on an 8x8 board. There are two players (Indy and Lara), a variety of treasures (gold and diamonds), and eight pelicans. The players move like chess kings, i.e. to orthogonally and diagonally adjacent squares. If a player enters a square containing another player, the other player is killed. If a player enters a square with a pelican, the pelican is eliminated. If a player enters a square with a treasure, the player puts that treasure into his or her hoard. However, a player can have only one piece of each type of treasure. For example, if a player already has gold and enters a square with some gold, the gold disappears but the player does not get any extra gold in its hoard. The game ends if either of the players is killed or all pelicans have been eliminated.

Players' Goals

In the classic version of the game, both Indy and Lara want both gold and diamonds. If the game ends and a player has both gold and diamonds, he or she gets 100 points. If the player has just one of there, he or she gets 50 points. And, if the player has neither, he or she gets 0 points. Different goal formulas are possible in different versions of the game. For example, in some versions, the players get maximal scores if they have *no* treasures.

Social Value

There is also an overall goal score for the game, effectively a social value of a game state (with maximum value 200). In all versions of the game, the social value is the sum of the goal values of the players minus an inequity factor (the sum of the players' scores times their difference divided by 200). If both players have 100 points, the game ends with maximal social value (200 points). If neither player has any points, the social value is 0. If one player has 100 points and the other has 0 points, the social value is 100 minus 50 = 50.

Legislation

As a player, your objective is to maximize your score in the given version of the game. As a legislator, your objective is to devise laws of behavior that will maximize social value (provided that the players obey those laws). The key challenge here is that you must devise these laws without knowing which version of the game is being played, i.e. without knowing the initial state of the game or the goal formulas of the individual players. Recall, however, that the social value formula (described above) is the same in all versions of the game.

Logistics

The state of the game is shown on the game page. The board is in the middle with the current social value displayed above. Indy's hoard is on the left with his current goal value above. Lara's is on the right with her goal value above.

The controller at the bottom lists all feasible moves for the two players in the state shown. The legal moves can be selected. Feasible moves that are not legal (according to the current laws) are greyed out. Once the players have selected their moves, you can press Play to see the result. Game play continues in this fashion until the game is over.

Sample rules for legality are shown below the controller. You can change which laws are in force by clicking the checkboxes. You can also edit Logic versions of the legality rules or add new ones (if you know what you are doing) by clicking on the link below. Note that it is not necessary to do this to play the game. You can just enforce the rules yourself by playing only moves that comply with the laws you have devised.

If you want to see earlier states of the game click First or Back. If you want to move forward, press Next or Last. If you want to change history, go back and press redo to make different moves from that point on. Note that if you just want the players to play randomly, you can keep your cursor on the Play button and repeatedly click the mouse, thus simulating automatic play.