Muju Academy — Episode 1
Welcome to the Board!
Video version 2 · Last updated at 09:34 Sep 8 2026 CDT

PIP: I have a mountain of crystals! I declare myself Supreme Champion of Everything!

CLICK: Lovely mountain. Wrong victory condition.

COACH: Welcome to Muju Academy! Today: meet your team, read the board, and discover two ways to win. Please keep all crystals out of your sandwich.

PIP: But they add crunch.

COACH: Our board has ten columns and ten rows. Letters go across. Numbers go down, just like in the game. A one is at the top left. J ten is at the bottom right.

COACH: Find the letter first, then the number. This is C four.

PIP: Pizza delivery for C four!

CLICK: The board ordered strategy.

COACH: White lives at A one. Black lives at J ten. Both teams begin with three pieces and zero crystals in their pockets. White goes first.

COACH: Meet Hi, the quick fire fighter. Sjor, the sturdy water teammate. And Muju, our little plant miner. Both teams start with the same three.

PIP: Small sprout. Big plans. Extremely tiny pockets.

COACH: You will meet other pieces later, including Inyan and Tanka from the metal family. Each piece has a different job.

COACH: Now look under your feet! This board is called Unequal routes. Some squares start with three crystal layers, some four, some five, and some with none.

CLICK: Zero crystals does not mean a wall. You can still walk there.

PIP: A road with no snacks. Tragic.

COACH: A miner can only reach so deep. Muju reaches depth three. Here, at A two, five crystal layers are waiting. One mining action collects the first three.

COACH: Two layers remain, at depths four and five. Muju cannot reach those. More digging with the same little miner will not help!

PIP: I require a longer arm. Or a taller relative.

COACH: Your unit card explains its tools. Attack is hitting power. Defense is how much damage takes it out. Speed is squares per movement action. Mining is the deepest layer it can reach.

COACH: Each turn gives your whole team up to six actions to share. Moving, attacking, and mining spend that budget. We will practice the details next episode.

CLICK: Six for the team. Not six each.

COACH: Movement and attacks use edges: up, down, left, or right. Touching only at a corner is diagonal.

COACH: Share an edge? You are next door! Just a corner? Check once more!

COACH: Puzzle time! Which square shares an edge with C four: C five, D five, or E four? 

COACH: Pause and point!

COACH: C five! D five only touches a corner. E four is two squares away.

PIP: Correct pizza. Correct address.

COACH: Now, how do you win? First: eliminate every enemy piece on the board. A player with no pieces loses, even with crystals saved or new pieces waiting.

CLICK: Last piece gone? The game is done!

COACH: Second: occupy the enemy home. White targets J ten. Black targets A one. Any of your pieces can do it.

COACH: But stepping onto that corner is not an instant win. Your opponent gets a whole turn to remove you. If your piece is still there when your next turn starts, you win!

PIP: So I ring the doorbell, then survive the welcome party?

CLICK: An unusually accurate summary.

COACH: Final puzzle. White reaches Black's home. It is now Black's turn. Has White already won?

COACH: No! Black still gets a reply. If White stays on that home until White's next turn begins, then White wins.

COACH: Reach their home and hold on tight. Your next turn starts? You win the fight!

PIP: Two ways to win. Six actions to spend. And absolutely no crystal sandwiches.

CLICK: Progress.

COACH: Next time, Pip tries to get eight actions with eight cardboard arms. Bring your counting fingers. 

COACH: See you at Muju Academy!

Original character artwork. AI-generated voices. Three-tier introductory rules; upkeep and draws are taught in later lessons.