Hard Lines

Here is an abstract game from c.1861 (more information at GARD). A kind of pattern game with captures and (re)drops. Check the board and the rules:

Three old Knight games

At Michel Boutin presentation in the BGS, he mentioned a lot of 19th century board games that were patented in France, UK, Germany and in the US (and most already forgotten). Here are three related games using the Chess Knight, grouped together in a package called Rampant Knights.

These are the board (click to augment)

I found the rules at a Hoyle games edition. Here are the relevant pages:





He also mentioned a board game called "Jeu du Congo" (Game of the Congo) with a hexagonal board:

which was re-edited by Moulin in the French book Jeux de pions d’aujourd'hui. The rules can be found at issue 8 (Winter 2001) of the Abstract Games Magazine.

The Game

Fred Horn showed me a picture of an old 1970/80's abstract game called "The Game"

He mentioned the rules orally, as he remembered:

The board starts empty and each piece (each player has five) enters in the player's corner.

On each turn, each player enters a piece off board or moves one friendly piece.

A piece moves [up to?] five cells in orthogonal directions with, at most, two changes of direction [no jumps allowed, it seems].

One piece may land in top of another. The pieces not in the top of a stack become blocked.

A stack can have, at most, three pieces. When a stack of size three is made, the piece in minority is captured.

When all the player's five pieces are on the board, the player cannot stop a friendly piece in his own corner (but it can move the piece thru it during the move sequence).

Wins the player that moves one of his pieces to the enemy's corner.

Any extra information about this game is appreciated.

Games @ BGS 2010

In the Board Games Colloquium (BGS) it is always easy to find new abstract boards and ideas about games. Let me give a sample of this year, in Paris:

Herein you can see a game from Fred Horn, which basically can be seen as a Mancala kit.

These squares can be placed in any order the players like and every mancala board can be built this way. Of course, this game material can be used into many other types of games.

Here you can see Fred Horn (in the left) playing Fianco, another of his games:

A very interesting game is Nonaga, a 2008 invention by Víktor Bautista i Roca:

Visually, this reminds Zèrtz, but in this case, we have a pattern game and the board only changes shape (it does not decrease in size as in Zèrtz).

More info in Manqala.org, Juegos de Ingenio, Pseudolog.

Ancient Board Games @ The Louvre

Here are some nice examples of race games from Ancient Egypt:
This was the text related to this game:
The obscure Mehen:
And the more known Senet (at least the text said it was Senet, it seems a version, half-way to the game of Ur):




And finally some old, old dice:



(photos taken in April 2010)

MOKU-GO

Play and capture as at Go. Passing is forbidden.
The winner is whoever makes a 5-in-a-row.

Sample Game:
abcdefghijklmnopq       _xx___oo_
    . . . . .       1:   e3   h4
   . . . . . .      2:   c5   g5
  . x . O . . .     3:   e7   d4  
 . o . o o x . .    4:   d6   f8  
. x . o o o x . .   5:   g7   h8  
 . x . . x . . .    6:   i7   k7  
  . x x x o . .     7:   j8   i5
   . o o x . .      8:   j6   j4      
    . . . . .       9:   l4   k5
abcdefghijklmnopq  10:   m5   i3 & xx resigns



Aweet

Aweet: Sudan's mancala (via Viktor Roca, via BBC)

Searching

Anybody have this little book from the 1970s? I found that Frank Tapson also wrote two other books about abstract games:

• Take two!: 32 board games for 2 players (1977)
• Pick a pair!: 30 board games for 2 players (1980)

Any information about games in these books would be appreciated!

Penguins

This is an adaptation of a 2003 commercial game called "Hey! That's My Fish!" designed by Alvydas Jakeliunas and Günter Cornett (*). This new rule set simplifies the game and makes it more interesting.

Rules: 12* move series on a hex-hex board of size 6. The first 3 moves on each side are to place a penguin on an empty cell. After that, the penguins move queenwise, and are not allowed to land on or pass over any other penguin or blank cell. The two moves in a series must be with different penguins. When a penguin moves it leaves the cell behind blank (eaten). If a player cannot complete a legal move, his opponent wins.

Game Sample:

      ooo       xxx
1.  --  l7    j5  o4    
2.  m2  h5    f7  o4m6
3.  k4  i4    r5  n7
4.  m8  l3    p3  c4
5.  o6  e4    n1  p9
6.  q6  l9    d5  n11
7.  j7  l11   m10 e6
8.  p1  lk10  q10 h1
9.  u6  kg6   t7  f3
10.  s6  c8    r7  i8
11.  RESIGN

Final Position:

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

(*) the original rules are: There is a hex board where each cell (fish) valuse 1, 2 or 3 points. Then (1) initially, take turns placing your penguins on tiles with a single fish. (2) move a penguin in a straight line of tiles and pick up the tile you just vacated, (3) if a penguin cannot move, remove it. Check Boardgeek for more information

12* TRICOLEUR HEXXAGON

Like Hexxagon, except there are 3 colors (a,b,c) which capture each other (a takes b, b takes c, c takes a).

Win by annihilating opponent; or having most pieces in a blocked position.
Players must leave opponent with a non-pass move, if possible.

Sample Game

| abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy  
|       A . . . . . c        1
|      . . . . . . . .       2
|     . . . . B . . . .      3
|    . . . . . . . . . .     4
|   . . c . . . . . a . .    5
|  . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
| b . . . . . . . . . . . B  7
|  . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
|   . . A . . . . . C . .    9
|    . . . . . . . . . .    10
|     . . . . b . . . .     11
|      . . . . . . . .      12
|       C . . . . . a       13
| abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy


    ___ABC___      _____abc____
01. ....   e9      r4     o11
02. e9b8   m3j4    o11q9  g5e7
03. j4g5   g9i11   c7     p4
04. k11    g5d6    q9o7   t6
05. n10    g1i3    t6w7   s9s7
06. n10n8  i13     s5q7   Bs6
07. m8r8   i13m13  w7t8   Br6
08. n10    m13q13  q1     s9
09. n10r10 s13s11  q1n2   t8t10
10. u11    m11o9   Bq5    Ao2
11. q9     v10     t6w7   Cm3
12. i3e4   As9     w7u9   An6
13. s9w9   r10     Cl4    Al6
14. x8     o9m7    An6    q5m5
15. u9s7   f6      o5q7   n6k7
16. j10   p8       j7g7  Bn4        
17. f4h6  d6f4     e7g5  l4n6      
18. c7e9  s11s9    Ah6   Co7        
19. Bf10  s9q7     n6p8  Ai7        
20. j10h8 e9h10    Ag7   q9s11      
21. g13g11 h10l10  Cr12  t10v8      
22. Be11  l10p10   s11u9 r4r6      
23. t10   q11      r6r8  Bl6        
24. Ch10  Aj10     As9   Bj6        
25. Cg9   p10n8    As11  s9o9      
26. j10m9 g9i7     j6f6  Ao9        
27: i7i5 f10f8     Ao11 Bg7    
28: d10  g11j12    h6h4 o11l10
29: Ck11 Ag11      l6n8 r10u11
30: Aj10 l10p10    n8q9 g7i9
31: j10n10 Aj10    s11o11 An8
32: i9g7   p12     q9s11 f4h6
33: k11m9  Ak11    q11o9 Bq11
34: j10n10 k11n12  t10p10 v8s9
35: p12t12 Ao11    w9u11 s9q8
36: Bf10   Ao11    t12p12 Ag7
37: j12f12 f10j10  g7i9  Cn10
38: f12h10 e11h12  Cl10  n10j10
39. resign

Final Position

| abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy  
|       . . . . . . c        1
|      . . . . c . . .       2
|     . . . . c . . . .      3
|    . . b . . b a . . .     4
|   . . b b . b . . . . .    5
|  . . . a . . . . . . . .   6
| . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
|  . . . . . . c c . a . c   8
|   . . . : . c c . . a .    9
|    B . : c c . . . . a    10
|     . A c . . c c c c     11
|      . B . . c c c .      12
|       . . . . . . .       13
| abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy 14

SQUARUBORUS

[variant of Ouruborus] 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 players continue, making single moves if necessary, until the next player who is able to must split the other end into two heads.

A player wins if he makes a 4 in-a-row with his stones (ortho or diag). If both ends become blocked simultaneously, the last player to move wins.

Sample Game:

J starts: sw.se w.ne n.s e.nw n.n n.ne w.n w.se
ne.se n.s sw.s sw.se se.s s.w s.nw s.s ne.w? e.n & wins

Final Position:

. . b . . . . .
. j j b j b . .
b b j j j b . .
. j j b b b j .
. b b j j j b .
. j J B . . j .
. b . . B j . b
. . . . J b b j

TRI-HEX

Each player drops a triangle group of 3 pieces (2 of its color) on empty cells. A triangle may also be dropped with pieces overlapping other triangles provided the colors do not change, and at least one previously vacant cell could not be filled by a regular move.

Sample Game:  
    ___xx_______oo__ (was swapped)
1.  f4  ne    l8 n
2.  p6  sw    o9 ne
3.  u7  sw    n4 s
4.  j6  ne    s7*nw  
5.  u5  sw    u11 n
6.  z8  sw    u9 ne  
7.  x6  sw    resign  

Final Position:

             X X X
: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJK  
| . . . . . . . . . . . . .             1
|  . . . . . . . . . . . . .            2
|   . . x . . . . . . . . . .  O        3
|    . o x . . x . . . . . . .  O       4
|     . . . x o o . x o . . . .  O      5
|  O   . . o x x o o x X O . . .        6
|   O   . . o o x o x o X . . . .       7
|    O   . . x . o . x o x o . . .      8
|         . . . x o . x o x . . . .     9
|          . . . . . o o . . . . . .   10
|           . . . . . x . . . . . . .  11
|            . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
|             . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJK    
                    X X X

Truncated Progressive Chess

Basic progressive chess; but giving or releasing check, promoting or capturing
may not be done in a move series, except that the series be voluntarily
shortened to length one. (The subsequent series are unaffected.)

Sample Game:

1. e4
2. d5 e5
3. c4 d4 f4
4. Bg4 f5 Nf6 Nf3
5. a4 b4 h4 g3 Be2
6. h5h4h3 Bf3g2 Qe7
7. g4 g5 b5 Bf3 Ne2 Rg1 Nd1
8. Nb4 a5 b6 Ng4 g6 Bg7 c5 Rc8
9. B:g2
10. Nd3+
11. Kf1 (F)
12. Ne3++

Final Position:

. . r . k . . r
. . . . q . b .
. p . . . . p .
p O p p p p O .
O . O O O O . .
. . . n n . . p
. . . N N . B O
R . B Q . K R .

134*QUIKQUAX

As soon as a diagonal pair appears, it automatically gets a diagonal join.
The moves in each series must be in different quadrants.

Sample Game:
             |                         OO|                XX--
a b c d e f g|h i j k l m n    
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1.  ..  ..  ..  e6     ..  i5  i10 e10
. . . . . . . x . . . . . .  2.  f7  i7  g10 l10    e3  m6  g8  h8
. X x . x . o . . . . . . .  3.  g3  h7  j8  f9     f5  h2  g12 h12
. o . o x x . . x x x . X .  4.  g6  j5  e8  l12    c10 g5  h5  k9
. . . o o x x x x o x o . .  5.  e5  k7  l8  f11    e4+ e12 k5  k11
. . . . o . o . . o o o x .  6.  d4+ l9  k6+ d9     c3  c12 k13 j4++
. . . . . o . o o . o . . .__7.  l13 l5+ d11 b4     b3  m4  d12 m12
. . . . o . x x . o . o . .  8.  OO resigns
. . . o . o . . . . x o . .  9.
. . x . x . o . x . . o . . 10.  
. . . o . o . . . . x . . . 11.  
. . x X x . x x . . . o X . 12.  
. . . . . . . . . . x o . . 13.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.  
a b c d e f g|h i j k l m n      
             |

QUADRATOLL

Quadrex-connection game.
The winner is whoever joins two opposite groups of his own colour.

:   a b c d e f g h i j k l        XX   OO
:   o o o o o o x x x x x x        =======
: x . . . . x x x . . . . . o   1. h2   i5
: x . . . o x o . x . . . . o   2. g5   g7
: x . x o o o o . . . . . . o   3. f7   e7  
: x . x x x . x . . . . . . o   4. h7   h6+  
: x . . o . . . x . o . . . o   5. g8++ f6+
: x x . . . o o o o . . . . o   6. a7+  c9
: o x . . . o x o x . . . . x   7. b8   e9
: o . x . . . x x x . . . . x   8. b10  g10
: o . . o . o . . . . . . . x   9. e2   c3
: o . x . . . . o . . . . . x  10. d4   f2
: o . . . . . . . . . . . . x  11. f1++ c5
: o . . . . . . . . . . . . x  12. b3   d2
:   x x x x x x o o o o o o    13. c4+  e3++
:   a b c d e f g h i j k l    14. f4   resign

TRIANGLE QUADREX

Each turn, the player drops a tile of 2 of his own pieces and one
opponent piece that are not in deadlock position.  Single pieces
are added automatically as per quadrex rules.     If any cell is
unplayable by regular tiles, it may be played with an overlapping
tile, provided previous colours do not change.

Each turn, the player drops a mininmum-sized triangle of 2 of his own pieces
and one opponent piece that are not in deadlock position.  Single pieces
are added automatically as per quadrex rules.  If any cell is
unplayable by regular tiles, it may be played with an overlapping
tile, provided previous colours do not change.


| a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o    ___XXX_____OOO___
| x . . . x x . . . . . . . . . 1.  c3  es   b11 es
| o o o o o x o . . . . . . . . 2.  f10 en   h12 ne+
| . . o x o x . . . . . . . . . 3.  c8  se+  e10 nw+  
| . x x x o x . . . . . . X . . 4.  a9  en   b6  se
| o x o o o . . . . x x O O O . 5.  a8  ne+  d6  nw
| x x x x o x . . o x o o x x . 6.  c7  ne   f6  ws+
| x o o . o . . . . x o o o x . 7.  a5  en   a1  se  
| x x . . . . . . . . o x x x o 8.  c4  ..   e1  sw+
| o x o o o o x . . x o o x . . 9.  g2  ws+  f4  en
| . x x x x o x o o o o x x o . 10  l12 nw   n12 nw+
| . x o . . o o o x x x x o o . 11  i12 es   i11 ne++-
| . . o . . . x o o x . o o x . 12  n10 wn+  k5  ne
| . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . 13  i6  es+  j9  en+
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14  l9  ne   m6  sw+
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15  o8  wn+  m4  se+
| a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 16  X resigns

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.