SCALA

Scala is a little-known abstract game published in 1986 by Skill Games.
It has features reminiscent of Halma, Camelot, and Lines of Action.

RULES. The game is played with the following setup:

14           [o]
13          . . .
12       . . . . .
11      . . . . . . .
10    . . . X X X . . .
09  . . X X X X X X X . .
08  . . X X       X X . .
07  . . O O       O O . .
06  . . O O O O O O O . .
05    . . . O O O . . .
04      . . . . . . .
03        . . . . .
02          . . .
01           [x]
   a b c d e f g h i j k

* GROUP - A set of connected (orthogonally or diagonally) stones.
* TURN - On each turn, each player moves or jumps one stone.
  + MOVE - A stone may move to any adjacent (orthogonal
           and diagonal) empty cell.
  + JUMP - A stone may also jump over any stone (friend or foe)
           landing on the opposite empty cell (it must be empty).
           A player may make on the same turn, multiple jumps with
           the same stone, and may change direction after each jump.
  + It is not valid to move or jump to its own first cell.
* CONNECTION - After each move or jump, any stones not connected
              (orthogonally or diagonally) to another stone of the
               group is captured.
* CAPTURE - If, after a move or jump, the group is divided, the
            larger of the remaining groups containing pieces of both
            colors survives.
           The smaller group, or the group containing pieces of a
            single color are removed from the board.
           There is only one connected group on the board, after
           each move.
           Some other restrictions:  It's not valid
           to produce two groups with the same number of stones,
           if both groups have stones of both colors.
           It's not valid to separate the two colors completely.
* GOAL - Wins the player who advances one stone into the opponent's
        first cell (the cell marked in the first diagram with a
         color dot).

More information at http://www.di.fc.ul.pt/~jpn/gv/scala.htm

Game Sample

      Final Position
14          [O]             1. f5-h5-j7       d9-b7-d5-f5
13         . O .            2. d7-d9-f11      f9-d9-d7-d5
12       . O X . .          3. d6-b8-d10      f10-h10-j8-j6
11     . . . O . . .        4. h6-j8-h10-f10  d8-b6-d6-f4
10   . . . X O . . . .      5. f6-d6-b6-d8    c9-c8
09 . . . . X . O X . . .    6. c7-c9-e11      g10-h10
08 . . . .       O O . O    7. f10-g10        h10-f10-f12
07 . . . .       . O O .    8. d8-f10(:bc8)   g9-h10
06 . . . . . . . O X . .    9. g5-h6          h10-j8
05   . . . O . X X . .     10. i7-g9          i9-i7-g5
04     . . . X . . .       11. g6-i8          f5-h5
03       . . X X .         12. h6-i7          j8-h6
02         . X .           13. e6-e4-g4-g6    d5-f5-f3(:c6)
01          [o]            14. g10-e12        h6-h4
  a b c d e f g h i j k    15. d10-d11        h4-h3
                           16. i6-k8          j6-i6
                           17. g6-h6          h8-j6
                           18. h7-h8          j6-i5
                           19. e11-e13        i5-h4
                           20. d11-f13        h4-h2
                           21. e13-f14        resigns, 1-0

SCORING HEX-MOKU

Played on a 8 sided hex board, each player gets 1 point for each 4 in-a-row made. The player that gets 7 points or a 5 in-a-row wins the game. Initially, one player drops 3 stones (2 blacks and 1 white) and the adversary decides color (black starts the game).

Sample Game:

    XXX  OOO
 1) k2   o8    
 2) m2   q8    
 3) o2   q2    
 4) i2+  g      
 5) k5   s8    
 6) m8   u8+
 7) w8   k4
 8) m4   n3
 9) n5   l3
10) j5   p5
11) h5   f5
12) k6   l7
13) j7   i8
14) i6   g4
15) k8   l9
16) g6   e6
17) i4   j3  (forced)
18) f7   e8  (forced)
19) m6   o6  (forced)
20) h3 & wins 7-1

Final Position:

   abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABC

 1        . . . . . . . .      
 2       O X X X X O . . .      
 3      . x o O O . . . . .    
 4     . O x O X . . . . . .    
 5    . O X X X X O . . . . .  
 6   . O X X X x o . . . . . .  
 7  . . x . X O . . . . . . . .
 8 . . o . O X X O O O O X . . .
 9  . . . . . O . . . . . . . .
10   . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
11    . . . . . . . . . . . .  
12     . . . . . . . . . . .    
13      . . . . . . . . . .    
14       . . . . . . . . .      
15        . . . . . . . .      

Play Hex in different boards

[from here] Here are some alternate boards to play Hex on. This first one I call "Pex11" because the cells are all pentagons, and the tiling is number 11 on the list of all known classes of pentagon that tile the plane. The complete list can be found here (Check also the Penrose tilings).

Of all the classes given, only two of them, 11 and 14, meet these criteria:
* nowhere do more than three pentagons meet in a point.
* the pattern is topologically distinct from a hexagonal grid.

In a normal hex grid, each interior cell is adjacent to six other cells.
In the type 11 pattern, half the interior cells are adjacent to five neighbors.
and the other half are adjacent to seven. The pentagons are colored accordingly.

PROGRESSIVE POKER

With a normal deck of 52 cards:

Player 1 takes one card from the face-up deck, then player 2 takes 2,
then 3, then both players take 4 at a time till they have 25 each.

As soon as they are chosen, the player must add the cards as he chooses
to one of his 5 poker hands face-up on the table, (all starting empty).

When the 50 cards have all been played, all the poker hands are compared,
each against each, 25 comparisons in all.  Whoever records the greatest
number of wins, wins the game.

* Poker hands are in order:

Straight flush,
4 of a kind,    (i.e. same rank)
full house,     (a 3 of a kind and a pair)
flush,          (all same suit)
straight,       (5 in number sequence, A high or low but not both)
3 of a kind,
2 pairs,
1 pair,         (2 of same rank)
nothing.

Sample Game:

      Player-1                           Player-2
Ah.1                               As.2  Ks.2
Ad.3  Qs.2  Ac.4                   Js.1  2s.2  Kc.3  td.4
Kh.1  Qh.1  Jh.1  th.1             9d.4  8d.4  7d.4  6d.4
5h.3  5s.3  5d.3  5c.3             Qc.3  Jc.3  tc.3  9c.3
4c.5  4d.5  4h.5  4s.5             6s.5  7s.5  8s.5  3s.2
3h.2  3d.2  2s.4  ts.5             9s.2  3c.1  Qd.1  8c.1

Ah  Kh  Qh  Jh  th        1        Js  3c  Qd  8c  ..
Qs  3h  3d  ..  ..        2        As  Ks  3s  2s  9s
Ad  5h  5s  5d  5c        3        Kc  Qc  Jc  tc  9c
Ac  2c  ..  ..  ..        4        td  9d  8d  7d  6d
4c  4d  4h  4s  ts        5        6s  7s  8s  ..  ..

CARDS LEFT:

c : . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . .
d : . K . J . . . . . . . . 2
h : . . . . . 9 8 7 6 . . . 2
s : . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cycle: a game that needs improvement

[This is a bit of a challenge. The original rules follows but they do not provide a good dynamics, the game needs, if possible, improvement]

Played on a square board with orthogonal bridge connections.

On each turn, each player may:

1) Pass, or
2) Drop a friendly stone on an empty cell, or
3) Connect two orthogonally adjacent friendly colors with a bridge, or
4) Capture a stone in custodian capture (both friendly stones must have
been played in previous turns, so it takes a turn just to capture)
* A corner stone may be captured if both adjacent cells are occupied
by enemy stones
* KO rule - not the same board position in two consecutive turns.

After two consecutive passes, wins the player with the largest cycle
concerning friendly bridges.

Egs:

White has a cycle of size 4 (the smallest possible)
while black as a maximum cycle of size 12
.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

.  .  o--o  .  .  .  .
      |  |
.  .  o--o  .  .  .  .

.  x  .  .  x--x--x  .
   |        |  |  |
.  x--x--x--x  x--x  .
      |        |
.  .  x--x--x--x  .  .

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

Capture, since it wastes a move, may not be executed
at once, leaving a lot of potential threats in the board

Should White capture the black stone or just continue to extend
his groups? If Black plays at d2 it forces the capture at d4
and gains one tempo sacrificing one stone (it should then play d1)
.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

.  .  .  x  x  .  .  .

.  .  o--o  x  .  .  .
              
.  .  .  x  .  .  .  .

.  .  o  o  x  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

I'm not sure if it's easy to make larger cycles, so probably the game score
could be the sum of all the max cycles on each group (probably the sum
of the squares of all max cycle sizes - in order to players to take risks in
achieving larger cycles)

The game does not provide tactical richness and thus is dull. If you can work out a better variant, please send your proposal.

SLOWLY PROGRESSIVE ORTHODOX CHES

Each player plays moves for both colours,
in series 1 3, 3 3, 5 5, 5 7, 7 7, 9...
Every move must be legal for an orthodox chess game

Sample Game

1.   e4    * Nh6      
2. * Ke2   * Na6      
3.   Nc3     Nf5      
4.   e:f5  * h5      
5.   Qg4   * h:g4    
6.   h3      Nb8      
7.   h:g4    a6      
8.   R:h8  * f6      
9. * Rh6   * g:h6    
10. * Ke2   * Nc6      
11.   d3      h5
12.   g:h5    Bh6
13.   B:h6  * a4
14. * b4    * a:b
15. * Bc1   * R:a2
16. * Nb1   * R:a1
17.   Nc3     Ra2
18.   N:a2    Kf7
19.   N:b4    Qf8
20.   B:f8  * K:f8
21. * h6    * N:b4
22. * h7    * N:d3
23. * h8 N  * N:f2
24.   g4      Ke8
25.   g5      Kd8
26.   g6      Ke8
27.   g7      Kd8
28    g8Q++

Final Position

. . b k . . Q N
. p p p p . . .
. . . . . p . .
. . . . . O . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . O . K n . .
. . . . . B N .

This slower progressive sequence allows more strategy since mates are not so fast to achieve and, thus, tactical positions are possible to build and develop.

QUADREX

Players alternately drop one of their own stones onto any empty cell.
If this results in the formation of a small square with two similar
diagonal stones and one opposite stone, then the 4th cell is immediately
filled by the pair's color.  If this results in a similar situation,
the same applies again, and so on indefinitely.   One move equaliser.

The winner is whoever completes an orthogonal own-path in his direction.

Sample Game:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p        Horz  Vert
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   1.   l8    i8
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2.   i11   g10
. . , . . . . x . o o o . , . .   3.   h9    g8
. . . x . . o . . o x o . . . .   4.   g4    k6
. . . . , o . x x x x x . . . .   5.   l4    k4
. . . . o . x . o x x . . . . .   6.   j4    l5+
. . . . . o o o o o . . . . . .   7.   k3++  d4
. . . . . o x . x . . o . x . .   8.   e6    h5
. . . . . . . o . . . . . . . .   9.   f5    h3
. . . . . . x x x . . . . o . .  10.   h7    g6
. . . . . . x x o . . . . . . .  11.   f13   h12
. . . . , o o x . . . , . . . .  12.   h14   h13
. . . . . o x x o . . . . . . .  13.   h15   h16
. . , . . . x o o . . . . , . .  14.   g12   g11+
. . . . . . . o . . . . . . . .  15.   i13+  g14+-
. . . . . . . x . . . . . . . .  16.   f8    i10+
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p  17.   g7+   j6
                                 18.   i6 !  i5+
                                 19.   j7+   n8
                                 20.   n10   resign

This is a new connection game with lots of potential, using a novel mechanism to prevent the expected deadlocks of connections in orthogonal boards.

QUADRAPHAGES

In each turn a player
(a) moves his stones rookwise, the previous # of cells;
(b) announces a new number (between 1 and 8);
(c) moves his stones the new number of cells.

When a stone leaves a cell, it marks it with its own colour.
A stone may not land on a marked or occupied square, or leave the board.
Given a number, stone must move if it can, otherwise it remains stationary.
Intervening own-pieces or marks of either type do not block a move,
but opponent pieces do.  The first move begins with operation (b) & (c) only.

The game stops when all four stones in succession fail to move; then...
the winner is whoever has the most marked cells.

              _XX_                         _OO_
1.  ....  ....     ....  ....    ....  ....  8  g9g1  c1c9
2.  a7i7  i3a3  6  i7c7  a3g3    c9i9  g1a1  1  a1a2  i9h9
3.  g3f3  c7b7  6  f3f9  b7h7    a2g2  ----  1  h9h8  g2h2
4.  h7h6  f9f8  1  h6i6  f8g8    h2h3  h8h9  1  h3h4  ----
5.  g8g7  i6i5  3  i5i2  g7g4    h4h1  ----  6  h1b1  i8c8
6.  i2c2  g4a4  1  c2b2  a4b4    c8d8  ----  5  b1b6  d8d3

Current Position

a b c d e f g h i    
o o o . . . o o .  1  
o X x . . . o o x  2
x . . O . x x o x  3
x X . . . . x o .  4
. . . . . . . . x  5
. O . . . . . x x  6
x x x . . . x x x  7
. . o o . x x o o  8
. . o . . x o o o  9

1222 UNRESTRICTED 6-MOKU

Wins the player that makes a 6 in-a-row on an unlimited square board.
Each player moves twice, except in the first move where just one stone is dropped

Sample game ('o' starts):

1. --- o24    o23 n24
2. m25 n25    l25 m26
3. n27 o26    p24 p25
4. o27 p27    q27 q28
5. n26 p28    l24 q29
6. o28 n29    'x' resigns

i j k l m n o p q r s t
. . . . . . . . . . . . 20
. . . . . . . . . . . . 21
. . . . . . . . . . . . 22
. . . . . . x . . . . . 23
. . . x . x o x . . . . 24
. . . x o o . x . . . . 25
. . . . x o o . . . . . 26
. . . . . o o o x . . . 27
. . . . . . o o x . . . 28
. . . . . o . . x . . . 29
. . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Can you see why 'o' won the game?

LOVE-Y

LOVE-L modifier:
Along with one's own stone one must play an opponent
stone as (Euclidean) close as possible to one's own.

          .            1.   n6  o5    m5 n4
         . .           2.   g7  f6    h6 g5
        . . .          3.   f8  e7    k7 m7
       . . . x         4.   l10 m11   j10 k11
      x . . o o        5.   j8  i9    i7 j6 !
     o o x . x .       6.   h8  g9    l8 n8
    o x o o x . .      7.   resign
   . x x x O X . .     8.  
  . . o o . . . . .    9.  
 . . . . o x . . . .  10.
. . . . . x o . . . . 11.  
abcdefghijklmnopqrstu

The 5th move for the second player finishes the game abruptly (a kind of mate in 6).

DIAMOND & PIVOTS (v.2)

1. On each turn, each player passes or drops a stone on an empty cell.
   There is a swap option after the first half-turn.
2. If any diamond patterns with four friendly stones are made, the player
   must choose one, choose a stone from it (the pivot), and place
   its other three stones in a line starting from the pivot.
  2.1 Every stone (of either color) that was on those destination cells
      are captured and removed from the board.
  2.2 If, after a pivot movement, another diamond shape is made,
      the player must repeat this procedure.
3. A stone may not be played to make a group of more than four stones,
   unless it thereby makes a diamond.
4. After two consecutive passes, wins the player with more
   stones (if equal, wins the 2nd)

Sample game:
abcdefghijklmnopq
    . . . . .      1.  c7 <--pied  i5
   . . . . . .     2.  d6          j4
  . . . . x x .    3.  e7          k5
 . . o x o x . .   4.  h4          m5
. . x x . x o . .  5.  l4        j6,h4-n4::
 o o x o . . . .   6.  h6     k5,k5-e5,h4-e7:
  o x . . . . .    7.  f4          l4
   . . . . . .     8.  m5          k3
    . . . . .      9.  j4          m3
abcdefghijklmnopq 10.  b6

And then...

abcdefghijklmnopq
    . . . . .      1.  c7 <--pied  i5
   . . . . . .     2.  d6          j4
  . . . . x . .    3.  e7          k5
 . . o . x . . .   4.  h4          m5
. . . . x x x x .  5.  l4        j6,h4-n4::
 x x x x . . . .   6.  h6     k5,k5-e5,h4-e7:
  o x . . . . .    7.  f4          l4
   . . . . . .     8.  m5          k3
    . . . . .      9.  j4          m3
abcdefghijklmnopq 10.  b6

10...   l2,k3-h6::,h4k5,i5-o5:,e5i6,h6-b6::

First player resigns.


SLOW PROGRESSIVE GO 9x9

This game uses a progressive mutator in order to increase the dynamics of the original game. However, unrestricted Go drops would kill the game so two restrictions are added: (a) each stone on a drop sequence cannot belong to the same group (b) an atari stops the sequence.

Here's an example at a 9x9 board (white won 41-40). Herein it is used the slow progressive (1222344456667...)

a b c d e f g h i
. . . o x . . . . 1: c7
. . . o x . . . . 2: g3 g6
. . o o x . x x . 3: c3 e8
. . o x . . . . . 4: e2 g8
. . . o x . . . . 5: d2 d5 e7
. . . . o x x . . 6: d4 e3 e5 f7
. . o . o x . . . 7: d1 c4 e6 f9
. . . . o o x . . 8: e1 f6 g9 h3
. . . . . o x . . 9: d3 f8
a b c d e f g h i

MONOCHROMATIC WHISTLING

MONOCHROMATIC WHISTLING

* On each turn, a player must either move or capture.
* A move is any number of unoccupied spaces in a straight line.
  A moved piece must end geometrically closer to at least one enemy piece.
* A capture is either
 (a) by whistling: a piece moves as above, and any enemy pieces
     which were adjacent to the line of movement, but not adjacent
     to the starting or finishing cell, are removed.
     Captures of this sort may be chained together (checkerswise).
 (b) by crushing: a piece adjacent to any enemy may capture and replace it.
* Capture is compulsory, with mandatory maximum capture (otherwise free).
* A player loses when he has no pieces left.
* After 20 consecutive non-capturing moves by each player, it is a draw.

Game Sample
    == XXX ==       == OOO ==
 1. s1-q1            h8-L8
 2. q1-i9:-c9: (f)   L8-C16:2-o1:2 (f)
 3. t2-l2:o1         g7-c11:c9
 4. i15-c9:c11 (f)   h6-b12:c9
 5. l2-e9:f6e7       x20-B20
 6. g15-b10:b12(f)   B20-M9:3  
 7. J15-M13          M9-N10
 8. v2-z2            N10-I15:M13-e15:2
 9. z2-L14:2         e15:f16 (f)
10. g17:f16          I7-M11
11. u1-A1            M11-G17::-r2:-D2:
12. resign

,'"abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNO
1            . . . . . . . . : . .          
2           . . . . , . . . . . o .          
3          . . . . . . : . . . . . .          
4         . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
5        . . . . . . . . . . . . . o o          
6       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . o o          
7      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
8     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
9    x x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
10  x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , .
12  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
13   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
14    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :          
15     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
16      x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :          
17       . x . . . . . . . . . . . , .          
18        . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          
19         . . . . . . o o . . . . .          
20          . . . . . o o . . . . .                    
21           . . . . . o o . . . .                      
`-.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNO

This is a game of sacrifices to obtain larger captures. There are two ways of capture, but the whistling mecanism is a novel idea due to Bill Taylor.

WEITUWEIQI (a game sample)

Oshiqi mechanics with both players playing "x"s. Chicken start.
Moves are mandatory, and if the game ends by stalemate then
the winner is determined by whether the boundary has been reached.
Any boundary hit is a win for an ESCAPER, otherwise BLOCKER wins.

Unlur or "chicken" starting:-  both sides play moves as ESCAPERS.
If at any time a player feels a blocker is now certain to win,
he announces "I Block!", but does not make a move. The other player
remains the sole escaper and plays the first move in regular alternation.

Note: If, still on the first phase, a player makes a stalemate position
he loses, (opponent chooses "block" and stalemater cannot continue).

Game sample
                             B    J
abcdefghijklmnopqrstu       ----------
     . . . x . .        1.  i6    s6
    . . . x . . .       2.  j5e   q6
   . . . . . x x .      3.  j7n   l1
  . x . . . . . . .     4.  p3    k2
 . . . x x . . . . .    5.  q8    o8
. . . . x . . . x x .   6.  n3!  block
 . . . O x . . . . .    7.  h5se  p11
  . . . : . . x x .     8.  p9    g10
   . . . X . . x .      9.  l11   e4
    . x . . . . .      10.  j9    l9 (forced)
     . . . x . x       11.  i2   1-0
abcdefghijklmnopqrstu

Lovely 4 HexGomoku

Gomoku rules on hex board but each player must also drop an enemy stone as
close as possible to his own dropped stone. Wins by making a 4 in-a-row.

Game sample:

  ___oooo________xxxx___
1.  l25 n25     m24 o24
2.  o26 p27     k22 j21
3.  l23 k24     i24 j25
4.  g24 e24     h25 i26
5.  j23 h23     g22 i22
6.  f21 e20     f23 d23
7.  resigns

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
. . x . . . . . . . . . .  20
 . . o . o . . . . . . . . 21
. . . x o x . . . . . . .  22
 . o x x o o . . . . . . . 23
. . x o x x x o . . . . .  24
 . . . x o o x . . . . . . 25
. . . . o . . o . . . . .  26
 . . . . . . . x . . . . . 27
. . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

This variant, played on a hex board, has less directions to win (6 instead of the 8 on a square board) and that provides a better game, since on the square version it's much easier to win.

On the other hand, playing 5 in-a-row with the Love mutator seems very hard to force a win. The game tends to prolong itself without a final outcome.

134* TRICOLEUR HEXXAGON

Rules like Ataxx in a hex board (like Hexxagon, except:

There are three colors: A,B and C. A flips B which flips C which flips A (flips means the enemy piece becomes just like the moved piece, just like Ataxx). Also, a piece captures enemy pieces of the same type (ie, removes them from board).

Initial setup:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFG
        A . . . b . . . c           1
       . . . . . . . . . .          2  
      . . . . . . . . . . .         3
     . . . . . . . . . . . .        4
    B . . . C . . . a . . . A       5
   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .      6
  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     7
 . . . . . . . ___ . . . . . . .    8
c . . . b . . /   \ . . B . . . C   9
 . . . . . . .\___/. . . . . . .   10
  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    11
   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     12
    a . . . A . . . c . . . b      13
     . . . . . . . . . . . .       14
      . . . . . . . . . . .        15
       . . . . . . . . . .         16
        C . . . B . . . a          17
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFG

A player wins the game by eliminating one enemy color.

---

Game sample (abc even turns, ABC odd turns):

 1. k13                           abc ABC
 2. u13q13  w17     e13i13      
 3. j16     k13     q17m17 k1       9-12
 4. q1t2    j8      v6     D12     12-12
 5. m13k11  k15     m5p6   G9D8    12-13
 6. i9k7    j8l6    v6v8   s3      13-13
 7. l10     l14     B6     p6s5    12-17
 8. t2p2    t4      C11    w9      16-14
 9. l14p14  D8z8    l10l8  f4      13-17
10. t4x4    p2l2    w17u15 C11A9   16-15
11. b6b8    j6      n16    g3      13-21
12. x4A5    j2      y9w11  y9      17-17
13. B8x8    g3k3    l6o5   o15     12-19
14. s3q5    c9      A5y7   z16     16-18
15. o15s15  l2n4    k13o13 e5e7    14-20
16. C13z14  v12     z16B14 x2      16-20
17. u15x16  o5r6    o13s13 e7b8    12-24
18. x8v10   w3      v12x10 z14z16  15-22
19. s13u11  q13s11  r6u7   k11n12  14-23
20. x10t10  v10v12  x4     D12A11  17-20
21. p14s13  n12p14  u7u9   k7o7    16-20
22. v12t14  u11r12  w11s11 y5      17-20
23. t12     u9x8    o17    o7s7    14-24
24. y5w7    r14     x16t16 y17u17  16-21
25. s13s15  n16-n14 u7     v12     11-26
26. u17u15  y15     C5z6   C11     13-24
27. u7u9    t12v14  v12x14 w7y5    10-25
28. z16w15  z6z4    D10    z14     14-21
29. u9y9    r14v14  o17r16 s5      13-22
30. w3t4    B14B12  x14    x6      16-20
31. y9B10   r16t14  s5     s11u9   11-24
32. resigns

Final Position:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFG
        c c . . . . . . b          1
       . B . . . . . . b .         2
      . . B . . . . . . . .        3
     B . . . B . . : . c c .       4
    . . . . . . B B . . c . .      5
   . . . A . . . . . . c . . .     6
  . . . . . . . . A . . . . . .    7
 B . . . . A . ___ . . . . . . .   8
B B . . . . . /   \ B . . . . . .  9
 . . . . . . .\___/. . . . A A .  10
  . . . . . . . . . . . . A A .   11
   . . . . . . . B . . . . a .    12
    . . . . . . . . . . . . .     13
     . . . . C . . C C a a .      14
      . . B . . . . . . . .       15
       . B . . . . . . . .        16
        B . C . . . . . .         17
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFG

This is a remarkable game, with lots of strategic planning in order to achieve local victories based on the deployment of its different units. An army configuration can be strong in one sector and vulnarable in another.

VERY SLOWLY PROGRESSIVE Y

Progressive Y (with the drop restriction of just one piece per friendly group per turn) with the following move sequence:1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 6 7 8 8 8...

Game:

1.  k7 (X started)
2.  n8 k9
3.  j8 g9
4.  k5 n6
5.  m5 m7 f10
6.  m9 q9 h8  l6
7.  h6 o7 f8  o9
8.  h4 p6 p8  g7
9.  i3 i5 i9  l4  i11
10  i7 q7 h10 b10 m11 e11
11  j4 c9 j10 n10 t10 q11
12  m3 j2 o11 s11  j6 e9
13  l2 f6 l10 r10 c11
14  e6 d10 ...and wins next move.

Final position:

abcdefghijklmnopqrs
          .            1
         o x           2
        x . o          3
       o x x .         4
      . x o x .        5
     x x o o o o       6
    o o o x x x o      7
   . x o x . o o .     8
  x o x x o o x o .    9
 o o x o x x x . x x  10
. x o . x . o o x o . 11
abcdefghijklmnopqrstu 12

In most games (Go, Hex, Y, Moku...) the progressive variant without any restriction does not provide a propoer strategic background. In our experience, a progressive mutator sequence (and there are several, as we already saw during this blog) does have a very good partner, the group restriction mutator. Using both, each multiple drop within a turn is balanced so that no group of connected pieces is extended by more than one piece (except, of course, when two groups merge by placing one stone inbetween).

Y using the Lovely mutator

LOVELY modifier: along with one's own stone one must play an opponent
===============  stone as (euclidean) close as possible to one's own

                             ooo      xxx
                            ---------------
          .             1.  k7,j6    l6,k5
         . .            2.  n8,o9    i7,h6
        . . .           3.  j10,i11  g7,f6
       . . . .          4.  g9,f10   h10,g11
      . . o . .         5.  m9,n10   m11,o11
     o o x x . .        6.  k11,l10  k9,l8
    . x x o . . .       7.  resign
   . . . . o o . .      8.
  . . o . x o x . .     9.
 . . x x o x x . . .   10.
. . . o x o x o . . .  11.
abcdefghijklmnopqrstu

This mutator is based on Vincent Everaert's In Love Gomoku. One problem, imho, with In-Love mutator is that it permits tabu cells, ie, isolated cells where it's not legal to drop pieces. This tabu cells can produce much more drawish games (which seems the case with Gomoku). Using a closer cell to place the enemy stone, tabu cells are eliminated while still allowing all the tactical possibilities of the original mutator.

WHISTLING TRICOLEUR

* On each turn, a player must either move or capture.
* A move is any number of unoccupied spaces in a straight line.
A moved piece must end geometrically closer to at least one enemy piece.
* A capture is either
(a) by whistling: a piece moves as above, and any enemy piece of the
appropriate colour which was adjacent to the line of movement,
but not adjacent to the starting or finishing cell, is removed.
But only A takes B takes C takes A.
(b) by crushing: a piece adjacent to any enemy may capture and replace it.
* Capture is compulsory, but it is mover's choice among alternatives.
* A player loses when he has no pieces left.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABC
1 . . . a c . . . 1
2 . . . . b . . . . 2
3 . . . . . . . . . . 3
4 A . . . . . . . . . C 4
5 B C . . . . . . . . A B 5
6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
11 b a . . . . . . . . c b 1
12 c . . . . . . . . . a 2
13 . . . . . . . . . . 3
14 . . . . B . . . . 4
15 . . . C A . . . 5
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABC
This is one game with a scissor-rock-paper mechanism, where fights must be carefully balanced with pieces of different status in order to succeed.

[update May 2011] There is an older, 1990, game called Tanagra that uses a similar capture mechanism.

CHICKEN GOMOKU (yet another sample game)

Black must make a 5-in-a-row, White must prevent him.
Both players play black moves until one declares
to be black, simultaneously passing.
Then alternation as usual starting with white.

a b c d e f g h i 0. J: e5 f3 h9 B takes x
. . . . . . . . . 1. e4 d5 10. f3 b3
. . . o o x x . . 2. c5 d4 11. a3 h5
o x x x x o x . . 3. f6 d6 12. f5 h4
. . . x o o o x . 4. d7 g3 13. h6 RESIGN
. . o x x o x x . 5. f4 g2
. . . x o o . o . 6. e2 g5
. . . o . . . . . 7. g4 d3
. . . . . . . . . 8. d2 c3
. . . . . . . x . 9. e6 e3