Marble Mansion Welcome to The Kingdom of Marosia          In the Kingdom of Marosia, a land of breathtaking rock islands, clear blue sea, and mini blue people, marbles are the number one export. The Marosians have found that the best marbles are made from rocks found deep beneath the sea. In order for the rocks to be properly sculpted into marbles, they must be dried out in the sun on a series of ROCK TOWERS. Once the rock is dried it is taken into the Marble Mansion where it is sculpted into the perfect marble. When the marble is finished it rolls down a marble track that spans six islands and falls into a boat that is waiting to deliver the marbles to children all over the world.          In this game, the players are aspiring Marosian workers hoping to land a job at the Marble Mansion, for it is rumoured that the Marble Mansion is the most fun and lucrative place to work in all of Marosia. But there is only one position available so the King has decided to award the job to the first Marosian to arrive at the Marble Mansion. The Basics of the Game          The general idea of ROCK TOWERS is to perform three tasks: to roll a marble along a track, to stack a rock on a tower and then to drive a boat through a channel to catch the marble before it lands in the water. Successful completion of this task allows a Marosian character to move along a path. The first character to reach the Marble Mansion wins. Team Building          The game is played in teams of two or three. One partner drops the marble, the next partner stacks the rock and then the first or third partner drives the boat to catch the marble before it lands in the Marosian Sea. *ROCK TOWERS, Marble Mansion is played at the Junkyard Symphony Headquarters in Kanata, 78 Tamblyn Cres. A host is present for the entire game to facilitate. Beverages and munchies are also provided. *Duration: Average game lasts 2 to 3 hours *Ages 16 and up. Max 10 players

A team places a rock on a tower without it falling. Successful completion of this task allows the team's figurine to move a certain number of squares along a path.          Look at the texture of the rock. It looks real, but it is actually wood with rock paint. Most of the wood used in the construction of this game was found in the garbage to keep with the Junkyard Symphony tradition of reusing junk.

If the rock falls, the teams's figurine will not move ahead on the path. As the game progresses, the ROCK TOWERS become filled with more rocks so the excitement increases as the game goes.

The figurines are called 'Marosians', but they are actually Jonny's Smurfs from when he was a kid. So don't throw out your old Smurfs. They still have many uses.

A marble moves along a track that circles the entire board. The rock must be placed on the tower before the marble reaches the bottom.          There are six marble positions. Position One is at the top of the tower and gives the player about a minute to complete the task. Position Six gives only ten seconds.          The marble track is made out of popsicle sticks. There are over 2000 popsicle sticks used in the construction of the entire marble track.

A boat must then be brought to the dock to catch the marble before it lands in the Marosian Sea. If the marble lands in the sea, the team's Marosian figurine does not move ahead.          The boat must be weaved in and out of the islands without knocking over any of the rocks. There are six different positions where the boat can start. Position Six is the farthest from the dock and Position One is the closest.

Reaching the Marble Mansion first is the ultimate goal of the game. The Marble Mansion is where the Marosians shape the rocks into marbles. Some of the marbles are irregular and don't make it down to the boat dock. They either fall of the track or get stuck. If this occurs, the team's figurine does not move ahead.          The first team's Marosian to reach the door to the mansion wins the game.

Dare squares help the teams move forward. Dares can be funny and mentally or physically challenging. The dares definitely add a fun element to the game.

There are six sizes of rocks and towers, as well as six marble and boat positions. Seen here are Towers One (above) and Two (below).

A separate table houses the rocks and the dice rolling station. You can see the six sizes of rocks. Rock One is the smallest and Rock Six is the largest. Conversely, Tower One is the largest and Tower Six is the smallest. Stacking a large rock on a small tower is very difficult so in this game, rolling all sixes is the most difficult play and all ones would be the easiest play.

There are four indicators on the table where dice will be placed to show which size rock and tower will be chosen as well as which marble and boat position will be chosen. The picture to the right shows that a marble position five was chosen.

The team must first roll two white dice to determine their point possibility. If the team rolls a 7, then the team's move will be determined by the rock chosen and the marble position chosen.

The team then rolls a green and a red die. The green die must go on either of the green indicators which are rock or tower, and the red die must go on a red indicator which are marble and boat. The team rolls a second time with a green and red die. If the dice group, the dice must go with a corresponding color indicator, but if the dice split on either side of the yellow line, they can switch color indicators.

This team's outcome will be a Rock Two, on Tower Three, with the marble in Position Five and the boat in Position Five, with a Rock/Marble point possibility. So if the team succeeds, thet will move ahead seven squares on the path, 2 for rock and 5 for marble.

ROCK TOWERS, Marble Mansion          Done the pictionary and charades thing? Looking for something different yet totally awesome? ROCK TOWERS is the coolest, most fun and biggest board game you will ever play. Five feet long and four feet tall, made completely from discarded wood and ordinary rocks, ROCK TOWERS will make your get-together one that everyone remembers. This game is perfect for a group of friends, family, couples or even business associates. *ROCK TOWERS, Marble Mansion is played at the Junkyard Symphony Headquarters in Kanata, 78 Tamblyn Cres. A host is present for the entire game to facilitate. Beverages and munchies are also provided. *Duration: Average game lasts 2 to 3 hours *Ages 16 and up. Max 10 players Background          ROCK TOWERS was first invented by Junkyard Jonny when he was vacationing at Bonechere Provincial Park in Ontario near Pembroke in 1999. Jonny was swimming on the beach searching for nice looking rocks. He then had the idea to use the rocks for a game in which players had to stack the rocks on a larger rock without the rocks falling. The first player to cause a rock to fall would be out of the game. The winner would be the last player left in the game.          Over the years, Jonny played the game with his family and close friends, developing the game board and adjusting the rules to make the game more interesting. The game was always a huge success so Jonny eventually decided to seek patent protection and trademarks for the game, which he achieved after a substantial investment of time and money.          Originally the game was much smaller and was designed to be sold in stores, but Jonny had the idea of creating a large game that would be rented instead, so that the amount of resources needed for the game would be reduced. Renting the game instead of selling it would also keep it unique, like all of Junkyard Symphony's shows. The Rules          How does your team get to the mansion first? You must be able to successfully place a rock on a Rock Tower without it falling, and catch the marble in the boat before it falls into the Marosian Sea. It's not as easy as it sounds for the ROCK TOWERS fill up with rocks, there are six sizes of rocks, six sizes of towers, six positions of where the marble can start, and also six boat positions, one being the closest to the dock and six being the farthest. Size six rocks are the biggest so they are the hardest to place, and the size six tower is the smallest and hardest to stack on. The number one marble position is the longest and six is the shortest, so basically all ones is an easy play and all sixes is difficult.          To Begin, the team must roll two dice to determine what the point possibility will be. The point possibility chosen will indicate the number of spaces the player will move ahead on the board. The team then rolls 4 dice, two at a time to decide what the number on each die will correspond with, either a rock, a tower, the marble position, or the boat position. Rock Six and Tower Six are difficult but will move the player 12 spaces if the point possibility is Rock/Tower. A Rock One on Tower One will be easy to place but will only move the player ahead two spaces. Since the numbers associated with the marble position and boat position do not affect the movement of the player on this roll, it is best to roll a one for each, as one is the easiest position for both. However if the point possibility chosen is Marble/Boat, then it is better for the player to chose a high marble and boat position with an easy rock and tower size. This will move the Marosian figurine farther along the path.         Next, partner one must place the marble on the track in the chosen starting position. The player then rushes back to the start to tag the second partner who grabs a rock and quickly places it on a tower without letting it fall. The player then quickly tags the first partner or the third partner who brings the boat to the end of the track to catch the marble before it fall into the Marosian Sea. If the team succeeds, their Marosian charachter will move ahead on the board. If team fails, their Marosian character does not move ahead.          There are also dare squares that help the team advance, for the Marosians are known to be a fun loving fearless bunch and those who are the same will fit in best. The game is lots of fun and there are two hosts who facilitate the game so the players know what to do. All you have to do is play and enjoy the evening. How it was built         The five foot long, four foot tall ROCK TOWERS, Marble Mansion game was made almost entirely out of wood that was discarded into the garbage. It was carefully sculpted using a special navigator saw and painted with special paint to give it its rock like appearance. The board itself was an old table. The rocks that are placed on the towers are real rocks collected on the shores of the Ottawa River. The Marosian figurines are Smurfs from Jonny's childhood collection and re-used in the Junkyard Symphony tradition. The ROCK TOWERS game is covered by U.S. Patent No. 7,052,013, other patents pending.