Comments by JohnLawson

Let me see if I understand 'Lunch' correctly:

If a critter loses its lunch, that lunch disappears from the game; it is
not lying around to be picked up by some other critter.

If a critter drops its lunch, that lunch disappears from the game; it is
not lying around to be picked up by some other critter.

If a critter steals another critter's lunch, the stealing critter must, of
course, already have a lunch.  The result is that the stealee has no lunch
and the stealer has lunch, not two lunches.

Since lunches are not 'conserved' as objects, then they may be considered
more as states, say 'lunchvoll' and 'lunchlos'.

Did I get it?

I've been looking at the point scheme.

The total number of points a player can have for critters next to the
campfire is 24 plus 1 for each Shrew that can be promoted to Chipmunk, or
32.

If you assume that promoting Shrews is difficult: 

Then the likelihood of exceeding your opponent's point count by 30 is close
to zero.

And the likelihood of losing the game even though the opponent's Bear is
eliminated for 20 points is close to zero.

Furthermore, to achieve the maximum score (32) for Campfire propinquity,
there would have to be 16 critters adjacent to the Campfire.  Since the
train passes through each Campfire square 2 of every 20 turns,
orchestrating the 'campout' without some critter getting sqooshed would be
near impossible.

Another interesting effect is that if each side loses its Hunter
(foolishly, since the only way I can see for that to happen is for them
both to be squished by the Train), the game can never end, except draw by
agreement.  Perhaps in this case we need something like a 50-move rule, but
instead of a draw, the winner is declared on points.

I can see the possibility of an urban variant of PASGL 312 called NYCTA
IRT, where commuters jostle to be near the door to get on or off a subway
train without being pushed onto the tracks or having their pockets
picked.

BTW, I noticed no one has actually rated this.  I give it excellent for
concept.  Play is still moot.

I think Joseph is right.  It looks like I missed exactly how points were
accumulated.  I was thinking they would be assessed once, at the end of the
game, but assessing them at the end of each ply makes more sense.

Then missing Hunters might not be a disaster, because if you outplayed your
opponent, your score would eventually exceed his by 30 points anyway.  It
would probably be undesirable to have two royal pieces.

This is another one of those games, like Nemoroth and Captain Spalding
Chess, where you need to spend days studying the rules to have a chance.  I
love this stuff.

I've been meaning to ask how 'PASGL 312' is spoken.

Most straight-forward would be 'pee-ay-ess-gee-ell-three-twelve'.

I've personally been referring to it as
'Pennsylvania-State-Game-Lands-three-hundred-twelve Chess', but this might
be considered hyper-correct.

Other alternatives are also possible; which is most appropriate?

'...I guess you can score enough in one turn to win; with the Train coming
by, you have 10 moves to load up a square and ten moves to empty it; but
some of the emptying moves could go from one Train square to another.'

If you are accumulating points fast enough, it may not be necessary to make
any attempt to unload the Campfire square if you reach the 30 point
advantage before the Train actually squishes your critters.

'Because of multiple occupancy, it's easy to promote a Shrew. However, it
takes quite a few turns.'

And all that time, your opponent is gathering his critters around the
Campfire.  (Do critters gathered around the Campfire sing songs and make
s'mores?)

'...this is baffling to try to play.'

This is an alarming admission.  I confess that, even after actually playing
Nemoroth and Captain Spalding Chess, I am having trouble getting my mind
around PASGL 312, and now the inventor is baffled, too.  Maybe I'm not as
dense as I feared.

'...but some of the emptying moves could go from one Train square to
another.'

Also, if you unload a Campfire square to a Campfire square on the other
track, the train will be back to that square in 10 moves or so.