Caravan members (NB-08)

More than one character, each with their own exit. Switching costs no move; the difficulty is in the timing.

The last rule in the catalogue brings no new threat. What it brings is a doubling of the whole puzzle: you now steer two members of the caravan, not one.

Behaviour

Some levels carry one or two extra members. The switch command moves between them, and switching does not cost a move.

When you do move, only the selected character walks — but the enemy phase runs all the same. So while you advance one member, the other stands where it is and every threat on the board takes a step closer to them too.

All members are subject to the contact and sight rules. The level's goal: every required member must reach their own exit node.

How you read it

A ring surrounds the selected character. Each member's exit carries the colour and symbol that matches them, so the two exits cannot be confused.

That switching is free is observable too: the counter does not move.

Taught in

Taught in3-4

A strong tutorial level because the rule is structural: it cannot be removed from the data — the level is built on it. Two figures and two exits read at a glance; the only thing the player has to notice is why the counter stays still.

A note on measurement

In act 3's multi-member levels, the count of "how many distinct solutions exist at minimum length" runs past fifty. But most of those are permutations of the same plan: reordering two members' moves is not a new solution. That is a known weakness of the metric, not a sign that those levels are easy.

For mastery: try interleaving the two members rather than moving them in turn.

Source: GDD §4 / NB-08

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