OROUBORUS

Players take turns moving both ends of the slime-worm, each to some
adjacent cell. After each move, each end leaves a stone of that
player's colour. The worm may not move onto a coloured cell.

If at some point before the board is full, a worm-end cannot move normally,
the next player who is able to must split the other end into two heads.

A player wins if he makes a 3 in-a-row with his stones.
If both ends become blocked simultaneously, the last player to move wins.

If, at one end, a player is left with only one move, (either physically
or because all others would lead to instant loss), the opponent who
left this situation must make the single move for his opponent,
and then another move for himself; recursively.

Game sample:

The first move recorded is from the most northerly cell,
and if in same line, most westerly.

B starts  
w.ne  w.nw  w.nw  ne.sw  ne.sw nw.se nw.se  sw.ne  w.e  sw.ne  e.e  ne.se  w.ne  nw.e   e.nw,nw,nw  & B wins

Final position:
|      . b . . .
|     b j j b . B
|    j b b j j B J    
|   . b j j b b j B  
|  . . j b j j b b j
|   . b j j b . j .
|    . . b . . . .
|     . . . . . .
|      . . . . .

GO-6-MOKU with restricted dagger

Rules of 9x9 Go, except that there is no passing and the winner is
whoever gets a 6-in-a-row. Suicide is illegal, except that a 6-row
may be completed in an otherwise liberty-less position. No swap.

Neither dagger move may be used to capture, and they must finish
in different groups.

Sample Game

a b c d e f g h i     _XX____OO_
. . . . . . . . .   1. e5    f6  (O gets dagger)
. . . o o x . . X   2. f4    d6
x . o x x . x x :   3. e6    e7
. o . . . x . . x   4. e3    e2
. . o . x . . . .   5. f2    d2
. . o o x o . . .   6. d3    c3
. . . . o . . . .   7. h3    c5
. . . . . o . . .   8. g3    i3
. . . . . . x . .   9. i4    b4,f8
                   10. a3,g9 c6
                   11. i2:   resigns

FLAT-EARTH DOZER-HEX

Like Hex, but lines of friendly stones may push, abalone-wise, smaller lines of adversary stones by exactly their length difference.

If any stones block the full length of a push, the push stops there. A line may push its own length into empty space. Stones pushed off the edge disappear from the game. No friendly stones may be pushed.  Swap option exists.

Sample Game
  
    OO    XX
 1. p4    p6    
 2. j6    l6    
 3. r6    n6    
 4. q5    o7    
 5. r4    n8    
 6. m9    n8s3  
 7. o5    m7    
 8. m5    s5    
 9. q3    m8    
10. n4    q7    
11. k5    u5
12. q3t6  o7s3  
13. p4v4   u7
14. s7     u5
15. q3     v8
16. p4     k9
17. n4     j10
18. s1     w7
19. n4v4:  s9
20. r8     t6v4:
21. q9     l6v6  
22. Resigns

Final Position:

   abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzAB
 ___________OO_________  
 \ . . . . . . . . . o \            1
  \ . . . . . . . . o o \           2
   \ . . . . . . . o x . \ X        3
    \ . . . . . . o o o x \ X       4
     \ . . . o o o x o x . \        5
     X\ . . o , , x x x o . \       6
      X\ . . . x . x o x x . \      7
        \ . . x . . o . x . . \     8
         \ . x o . o x . . . . \    9  
          \ x . . . . . . . . . \  10
           ----------------------  
                    OO

This game presents an Abalano-like mutator which seems to provide new games. Notice however that this mutator does not use the Abalone rule, since phalanxes can shift more than one cell (based on the difference between the pushed and pushing phalanx).

PRIME PICKINGS

With 1 2 2 2.. modifier, each player picks 2 numbers from the available
number list, crossing them off afterwards.  He may place these numbers
anywhere in his board lists, at most 3 per list, or in an opponent list,
at most one per list.  Once 24 numbers have been entered, scoring is done
as follows:-  the row totals are added for each player, but only
the LARGEST PRIME FACTOR of this is entered as the row total.
The player of the 8th number may not make a tied contest there.

Whoever wins the majority of the three pile contests, wins the game.
........................
USEFUL PRIMES: 23 29 31 37 41 43 47 53 57 59 61 67 71 73 79 83
........................

Sample Game:

J starts:
25, 24 23, 22 21, 20 19, 18 17, 16 15, 12 1, 14 6, 7 3,
11 13, 5 10, 9 4 & B wins (it was the player's only option)

                             primed
              player   oppt   score  winner
Board A:  B: 24 23  6    7      5
""""""":  J: 25 12  5   13     11      J

Board B:  B: 20 19 14    3      7      B
""""""":  J: 22 21 ..    9        

Board C:  B: 16 15 11    1     43      B    
""""""":  J: 18 17 10    4      7

Available numbers: 8  2

This is a very interesting number game. The last moves may become very demanding because each player must search a winning combination in a set of options big enough to be explored.

3/2 HEX

On a unlimited stip of hexagons of height 7, one player (here X) tries to connect the two board edges while his adversary (here O) tries to prevent it.

The connecter plays two stones on each turn, provided that they do not belong to the same group of pieces. The preventer playes three stones on each turn with the same restriction.

If the connecter is unable to achieve his goal in 20 turns, he loses the game.

Game sample:

        __XX_________OO___
      1. H3 H5    G6 K6 I4
      2. D5 G4    E4 C6 I6
      3. D3 E6    C4 D7 L5
      4. F5 A6    G2 z7 F7
      5. B5 x7    K2 F3 y6
      6. B7 y4    y2 J1 A4
      7. v3 H1    I2 t1 w2
      8. z3 L3    A2 D1 J3
      9. E2 K4    J5 B1 w3
     10. w6 x3    u2 u4 z5
     11. t3 x5    r1 r3 o2
     12. N3 N5    O4 Q6 N7
     13. resign

Final Position

   mnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV
1   . . o o . . . o o . x o . . . . . .
2  . o . . o o o o . x o o . . . . . .
3   . . o x x x x . x o x o x x . . . .
4  . . . . o o x o o o x o x . o . . .
5   . . . . . x o x x x x o o x . . . .
6  . . . . . x o x o x o o o . . o . .
7   . . . . . x o x o o . . . o . . . .
   mnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV

This is a hex variant of different goals and powers, but which is quite balanced.

OROUBORUS

Players take turns moving both ends of the slime-worm, each to some
adjacent cell.  After each move, each end leaves a stone of that
player's colour.  The worm may not move onto a coloured cell.

If at some point before the board is full, a worm-end cannot move normally,
the next player who is able to must split the other end into two heads.

A player wins if he makes a 3 in-a-row with his stones.
If both ends become blocked simultaneously, the last player to move wins.

Game sample:

J starts  
nw.e  w.se  w.ne ne.e   e.sw  nw.se
w.w sw.sw sw.w  se.w  se.ne   e.w  
B wins

Final Position:

       . . . . .
      j b . . . .
     b b j . . . .
    j j b j . . . .
   . b . .[b]j j b .
    . J B . . b j .
     . . B J . j b
      . . b j b .
       . . . . .

Y-MOKU

The winner is whoever first makes
(i)  a line of 5 (or more) adjacent stones of his own colour; or
(ii) a standard Y-connection of his own colour.
Swap option exists.

Game Example:
                              _XX_   _OO_(was swapped)
            .              1. m11     m9
           . .             2. p10     j10
          . . .            3. o9      n8
         . . . .           4. p8      n10  
        . . . . .          5. o11     o7
       . . . . . .         6. l10     k9
      . . . . o . .        7. k11     i11
     . . . x o x . .       8. s11     q11
    . . . o o x . . .      9. l8      h12
   . . . o x o x . . .    10. g13     f12
  . . . o x x x o x . .   11. resign
 . . o o . . . . . . . .  12.
. . . x . . . . . . . . . 13.  
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy

Damello

[A game between checkers and Othello sent by Giuseppe Acciaro]

The game is played on a 9x9 square board, where both players have 18 stones placed initially on their first two rows. There are four special red squares at D5/D8/B6/G6 (these are the coord given by the author, but they do seem too asymmetric).

Soldiers move vertically and diagonally. They capture with jump vertically and diagonally forwards. Capture is mandatory.

A Soldier that reaches the last row becomes a King, moving like in International Checkers except that it must land in the first square after each jump/capture.

When exactly one piece is between two enemy soldiers (orthogonally or diagonally), it changes color. If the piece is between at least one enemy King, then it is removed from board.

If any piece lands on a red square (either by move or capture) it is captured and removed from the board.

A player wins if the adversary cannot make a valid move.

A Progressive moku

Played on a Go board. Black drops one stone, White then drops two stones, Black drops three, and so on...

A player wins if he makes a 5 in-a-row but he must just drop one stone in his last turn.

CHERRY

Cherry is a Alak variant. First the rules of Alak:

This game is played on a 1-D line. Black and white alternate in placing single stones on a line of n points. If placing a stone thereby removes all the go-liberties of any group of stones of the opposite color, those stones are immediately removed. It is illegal to place a stone where one was just removed. Placing is compulsory if legal, and the game ends when the player having the move cannot legally place anywhere. The winner is the player with the most stones on the board at game end.

Cherry (invented by Bill Taylor, 2008) is played on a semi-infinite line segment where the first cell is marked (*):

* . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Wins the player the occupies the first cell with a friendly piece that cannot be captured by the adversary in the next move.

A sample game:


* . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
* . x . . . . . . . . . . . ...
* o x . . . . . . . . . . . ...
x . x . . . . . . . . . . . ...

X wins because O cannot drop into the 2nd cell right now.


PUSH WOOD

(by Richard Nowakowski, 2003)

Play on a line of N dots (this is an 1D game) each player has M pieces on the line extremes. For e.g., if N=9 and M=3:

x x x . . . o o o

On each turn, each player may:
* move forward a friendly stone to any empty cell or move out of the board (jumps are allowed).
* push a friendly stone backwards if it is backward adjacent to an enemy stone. Every stone in that group is pushed backwards any number of cells until it finds another stone. If there are no more stones, the player may even push out the group or part of the group over the line extreme.
* There is a KO rule: a player cannot repeat the previous position (variant: the player cannot push back any stone that was pushed back in the previous move).

Wins the last player that has a legal move.

A sample:


x x x . . . o o o
x x . x . . o o o
x x . x o . . o o
. x x x o . . o o
. x x x o . o . o
. x x . o x o . o
. x x . . o x o o
. x x . o x . o o
. x x . o x o . o
. x . . o x o x o
. x . . . . . . o
. . x . . . . . o
. . x . . . . o .
. . . x . . . o .
. . . x . . o . .
. . . . x . o . .
. . . . x o . . .

x resigns


Trabsact Sagme Diaries

A game, when moved, usually travels with its own social context. For e.g., a game from the Trok planet, in the island of Mag, is played only by children with lemur-like and duck-like animals. Some centuries ago, the game went to a neighbor island, Dag, and, even if the rules changed a bit, the ducks and lemurs are also thrown by the Dag children. [T.Sagme, Travels]

GO-6-MOKU

Rules of 9x9 Go, except that there is no passing and the winner is
whoever gets a 6-in-a-row. Suicide is illegal, except that a 6-row
may be completed in an otherwise liberty-less position. 1st-move swap.

a b c d e f g h i      _oo__xx_
. . . . . . . . .   1.  b2  d4
. o o o . O . . .   2.  d3  e4
. . x o o x . . .   3.  e3  f3
. x . x x o o . .   4.  c4  c5
. . x . x x . . .   5.  f4  c3
. . . . . . . . .   6.  c2  b4:
. . . . . . . . .   7.  d2  f5
. . . . . . . . .   8.  g4  e5
. . . . . . . . .   9.  f2  resign

FREE Y

Swap option exists.
Winner is whoever makes a connected group that either
   (a) includes two nearly-opposite edge-points; or
   (b) includes three edge-points whose inter-point distances
                     are all less than half the circumference.

abcdefghijklmnopqrs     _oo_ _xx_  (after swap)
    . . o x . .      1.  g3   j6
   . . o x . . .     2.  k5   l6
  . . o x . . . .    3.  m5   n6
 . . . . . . . . .   4.  o5   p6
. . . o x o o o . .  5.  h6   i5
 . . . o x x x x .   6.  g5   i3
  . . . o . . . .    7.  i7   l8
   . . . . x . .     8.  h2   j2
    . . O . . .      9.  i1   k1?
     . . . . .      10.  i9   resign
abcdefghijklmnopqrs

PROGRESSIVE FENCES

Cul-de-sac with L-shaped walls allowed.
Walls may be placed along edges, but not beyond them.
Win by crossing over the target edge.

The turns are progressively 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 6... moves, with a move being
one orthogonal step by the player's stone, or one length of 2-wall placement.
A player may distribute his available moves as he pleases (so placing a wall
costs two moves), subject to not being permitted to completely wall off
his opponent from his target.

Sample game (notation: Xy* means that a wall was placed at coordinate Xy with a certain shape given by symbol *. If * is 1,2,3 or 4 it means a L-shaped wall on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th quadrants; if * is - means a horizontal wall with center Xy; and if * is | means a vertical wall with center Xy):

1. S (Bottom)                   1        
2. NN                           2        
3. SS                           2        
4. N Fi-                        3        
5. Fh4 Hh3                      4        
6. Fd| Ge2                      4        
7. NES Hj2                      5        
8. He2 Hc| Fb3                  6        
9. Fj4 Ej| Gb2                  6        
10 Ib| Jc| Id- E                7        
11. NNNESSEN                    8
12. Kb3 Kd4 Je- Hk|             8
13. NEESSWSWW                   9
14. If2 Gf- Ef1 Ed| Dc1        10
15. SWWWNNNWNW                 10
16. SWWSSWN Bk- Dk-            11
17. SSSSSE Bg- Dg- Dj-         12
18. WWNNNEEE Fg1 Hg4           12
19. Eh1 E2E Df-  Bf1 Bd- Ce1   13
20. Bb| Cc- NWWW Jg2 Kg3 Ki-   14
21. Bottom resigns

Final Position
                    Top's goal
   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L
 a + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
   :   |                   |       |           |
 b :   |   +   +   +---.---'   +   |   +---.   :
   :   |       |       |       |   |   |   |   :
 c :   +-------`---+   +   +   |   +   |   +   :
   :               |   |       |       |       :
 d :-------+   +   |   |   +   +-------+   ,---:
   :       |       |   |   |   |           |   :
 e :   +   +---+   +   +---'---'   +-------+   :
   :   |           |               |           :
 f :   +---+-------`---+-------+---'   +   +   :
   :     T             |               |       :
 g :-------+-------+   `---+   ,---+---'---.   :
   :               |         B |           |   :
 h :   +   +   +   +---,---+---.   +   +   +   :
   :                   |       |               :
 i :   +   +   +   +-------+   +   +   +-------:
   :               |           |               :
 j :   +   +-------|   ,---+---'   +   +   +   :
   :               |   |       |               :
 k :-------+-------+   +   +   |   +   +   +   :
   :                           |               :
 l + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L
                   Bottom's goal