Variants

New Variant Requests


This Wiki is for generating a wishlist for variants of existing GT games, no requests for scrabble, bridge, whist, Jass, snap, Pool (!?) should appear here! (use [ Ideas for Games ] for that).

Note that while it is hoped to be able to do some work in this area in the near future, the variant squirrels are making no promises at this stage ;-).

Page created by JK - feel free to send me any thoughts about game variants, especially Reversi and 4iar and we can discuss things more thoroughly.

Low Ball (Caveman-Cromagnon Holdum)


Low Hand wins the pot

Croker (Cribbage-Poker)


Could be suitable for as many players as a standard game of poker, as there is only 6 cards per hand, plus three community cards. So with 6 players, only 39 cards will be used.

Not sure if this would be a variant of cribbage, variant of poker or whole new game, but it's a game some buddies and I came up with on my first deployment in Iraq.

We used a big/small blind ante system.

All players are dealt 6 cards.

First round consists of throwing 2 cards into your own crib, along with a round of betting (these can be done at the same time, as you don't see what anyone else is throwing so it doesn't affect your bet)

Then 2 cards are dealt face up in the middle of the board, these will complete your crib, then another round of betting.

One more card dealt face up, as the "starting card" in a game of cribbage, followed by another round of betting.

After this final round of betting all cards are turned face up, each hand is added up by standard cribbage rules, along with your personal crib (2 cards you threw + 2 cards turned face up in round 2) with both hands using the "starting card". Highest total points wins the pot.

Obviously as per standard poker rules, if at any time you feel you have the lesser hand, and don't want to match the current bet, you can fold and wait for the next hand.

Parachute


Rather than connecting the balls eliminate the balls. Draws might happen often, but it is worth a Beta.

Large Relic Rush (Dragon Jr)


This game is for up to 5 players, and is played on a 9x9 board. The five available colors are blue, green, yellow, orange and red. The start squares are a4, d1, e5, f9 and i6. The 72 squares other than the corners and the start squares initially are unexplored. The contents of these 72 squares, arranged at random, are as follows:
32 squares contain sand; 20 squares contain direction arrows; there are 8 special cards; the 7 relics are Crown, Scepter, Ring, Coin, Helmet, Sword, Vase; there are 4 dinosaurs (Raptor, Stegosaurus, T-Rex, Triceratops); there also is a teleport. Any player landing on the teleport after it has been found jumps to a random square on the board. This random jump cannot be to a start square other than the player's, to a square occupied by another archaeologist, to a square occupied by an active dinosaur or to a dig site.

Mentalis Plus (Dragon Jr)


A row of 4 squares has been added at the top of the board. Also, some of the discs are red or green on one side, and purple on the other. When a player flips a disc, revealing a purple side, this enables him to move a disc from his capture zone back to the main board, next to another disc. If, at the time, the capture zone was empty, the player instead takes a random disc from the bag, and places it on the main board, next to another disc.

Royal Ordo (Dragon Jr)


One disc of each color is randomly chosen to be King. The King is the only one who can retreat. Also, as in chess, the King moves one square at a time. Capturing one's opponent's King wins the game, as do the 3 usual ways of winning: reaching the far edge of the board, splitting one's opponent's discs into groups that can't join up to form a single group, and leaving one's opponent with only one disc, which naturally is the King.

Rock Paper Scissors: Six (Dragon Jr)

In this Rock Paper Scissors hybrid game, the six items are Rock, Paper, Scissors, Fire, Water, Lizard.
Rock smashes scissors; rock smothers fire; rock crushes lizard.
Paper covers rock; paper floats on water.
Scissors cut paper; scissors cut lizard.
Fire burns paper; fire melts scissors; fire burns lizard.
Water submerges rock; water rusts scissors; water extinguishes fire.
Lizard eats paper; lizard drinks water.

American Janggi (Dragon Jr)


In this Janggi variant, a red bishop starts on e1, and a black bishop starts on e10. These are regular chess bishops, except that a bishop in the palace can move along the solid lines of the palace. Also, when a soldier reaches the far edge of the board (rank 10 for a red soldier; rank 1 for a black one), he can be promoted to any type of figure, of the same color, other than a general or an advisor. This promotion is optional.

Misère Officer's Skat (Dragon Jr)


The scoring of points for each round is as follows:
0-15 scores 4 points;
16-30 scores 3 points;
31-45 scores 2 points;
46-60 scores 1 point;
61-120 does not score any points.
The first player to get 10 or more points wins.

Super Diagonal Duel (Dragon Jr)

[This is a game for two players. The board is a 7x7 square. Each player's figures, numbered 1 to 8, initially occupy 8 of the spaces of the 3x3 square in that player's corner. Moves are determined by rolling an 8-sided die.]

Zero Diagonal Duel (Dragon Jr)

[This game is similar to Large Diagonal Duel. The figures are numbered 0 to 9, matching the numbers on the 10-sided die. The number 0, on either the die or a game piece, can count as either 0 or 10.]

Drunken Chess


  • Two dice (pawn=1, Knight=2, Bishop=3, Rook=4, Queen=5, King=6)
  • One of the dice tell WHAT piece to move, and the second HOW to move.
  • Example: First dice 3, second 4 ... either Bishop (3) moves like Rook (4), or Rook (4) like a Bishop (3)
  • 4 and 6 can be used for castling
  • Goal like regular Dice Chess, removing a King.


Jabberwocky Chess

- At the beginning of the game, each player has 16 kings, located along the first two outer ranks of the chessboard.
- Jabberwocky is a fairy chess piece, represented on the chessboard by the King, moves and captures like a regular chess king, but at the end of each move it turns into a different type of chess piece, depending on the previous transformation, following the chain of transformation: King > Pawn > Knight > Bishop > Rook > Queen > King
Thus, after moving a King, the King is transformed into a Pawn of the same color. After moving a Pawn, the Pawn becomes a Knight, and so on.
- There is no promotion for pawns on the last rank, no en passant, no castling.
- Capture is mandatory. If several pieces can be captured, the player chooses any of them.
- At the end of his turn, a player must have at least one King of his color on the board. If this condition is not met, then such a player loses the game.

See the rules here: https://www.chessvariants.com/rules/jabberwocky-chess
The original post with examples of the game was first published on https://www.chess.com/blog/Pokshtya/jabberwocky-chess
For a better understanding of the game, you can play against a bot https://dagazproject.github.io/checkmate/jabberwocky.htm


Cribbage


1. CRIBBRIDGE
- The game takes its name from the fact that players hold 13 cards each, like in bridge.
- Game can be played by 2,3,4 players
- Basic rules for 2 players follow:
- Each player gets 13 cards
- Pone (chosen exactly like in cribbage) starts the game placing her/his card on the table.
- Dealer adds her/his card to the one already on the table.
- Players collect points for pairs, runs, 15s and for FLUSHES (this is different than in regular cribbage)
- Game continues until 31 points (or Go) is reached on the table (exactly like in regular cribbage)
- After the first 31 or Go is reached game continues the same way until all the cards from players hands are on the table
- At any time during the game (when their turn come of course) players can discard one or two cards to dealer's crib.
- Only after each player discarded 2 cards to dealer's crib the deck is cut to reveal a starter card.
- After all the cards were played, dealer counts the points in her/his crib. There is no counting points in players hands.
- Game is played to 121 points.
***
Game for 3 players is exactly the same but the first card to the crib is discarded at the beginning of the game and players
discard one of their cards later on, during the game. Other rules are exactly the same as for 2 players.
***
Game for 4 is where the beauty of partnership shows its face. It has all the qualities of the best card games. It belongs to the family of Climbing games, where the goal is to reach some numerical target(s), in this case just 31 points. Skilled team can show its talents in many ways.
********
I believe this game has a good potential to attract players.

2. Black Cat Cribbage (Dragon Jr)
- As in regular cribbage, sufficient cards are dealt, so that each player has a 4-card hand & so that the dealer can have a 4-card crib. Also, a starting card is turned up, once the crib is complete. If the starting card is a jack, the dealer scores 2 points; if it's a black 7, the dealer incurs a black-cat penalty of 7 points.
- The cards have the same value for counting as usual, except that the jack now has a value of 11.
- Points scored when counting:
 * 1 point, for playing a card that brings the total to 13.
 * 2 points, for playing a card so that the total is 22.
 * 3 points, for bringing the total to exactly 31.
* 1 point, for playing a card giving a total that's less than 31, but so that nobody can get closer to 31 without going over.
* 2 points for a pair (same rank) at the top of the counting pile; 3 for a trio; 4 for a set of four.
* 3 points for a run of 3 (in any order); 4 points for a run of 4, etc. Here the suit does not matter.
- Points scored for hand or crib, including the starting card:
 * 2 points for a pair; 3 for a trio; 4 for a set of four.
 * 3 points for a run of 3; 4 for a run of 4; 5 for a run of 5.  Here the suit does not matter.
* 4 points if all 4 cards are of the same suit; 5 points if the starting card also is of that suit.
 * 2 points for each set of cards with a total value of 13.
* 1 point for king and queen of the same suit (common marriage); 3 points if that suit is the same as that of the starting card (royal marriage).
The game continues until one of the players reaches a score of 121 or more points.

3. Daily Cribbage

here is the weird one. everyday (almost) is a premium day ... how does it work ? every month has the most 31 days, some 30, some 28 and 29 (ooops, we know this number from somewhere, right).
Whenever the number (sum) on the table (during the play) matches the day of the month, player scores 5 additional points as a premium ... you put an Ace and there is 1 of Feb, for example, you score 5 points ... you score 15 for 2 and it's 15th of the month, you score 5 additional points ... got the idea ?

4. 11 Corners cribbage
would like to present my new version of cribbage.
All the rules stay the same, but the goal is somewhat
Different. Please note that 121 is equal to 11x11
I call these 11 points like corners on the board.
The goal of the game is to win most of the
Corners... in practice winning 6 corners is just
Winning the game. Winning the corner means to be the first
To either land on it or land beyond it.
I would recommend to construct round board
Where the starting point is at the same time
Finishing point. And instead of marking the board 5,10,15,20 etc
There should be marks 11..22..33..44.......121

5. Star Cribbage (Dragon Jr)
In this variant, the deck has 55 cards (ace to eight, plus jack, queen and king, in 5 suits: hearts, clubs, spades, stars and diamonds). The rules for this variant are similar to those for Black Cat Cribbage, with the following differences:
  • When counting, a jack counts as 9, while queen and king both count as 10;
  • When scoring a hand or the crib, each way of reaching a total of 15 scores 2 points;
  • 2 points for a pair, 4 for a trio, 6 for four of a kind, 8 for five of a kind;
  • 6 points for a flush in stars; 7 points if the starter card also is a star.


Pipes

  1. Large Dice Pipes- As a relatively new player to dice pipes, it seems to me that the game would benefit from an increase in size, perhaps 20x20 or 24x24. It would allow for a more strategic approach to the game rather than on just the luck of the dice. I recently won a game in 3 or 4 moves because I was very lucky with the rolls and my opponent wasn't. That felt far too quick... The larger board would reduce the impact of a few lucky rolls and allow the opponent to have more opportunity to block. The other Pipes variants might also benefit from a larger board, but Dice Pipes seems especially suited to it.
  2. Dice Pipes...make a 3pt and a 5pt on dice pipes

Mahjong

1. Grandma Jong (Dragon Jr)
[In addition to the 4 usual melds from Mahjong, there now are 3 new ones:
  1. Wind Power (the 4 wind tiles, as a set)
  2. Dragon Power (the 3 dragon tiles, as a set)
  3. Triple Play (3 tiles with the same number, one from each suit)]

2. Wild Tile Mahjong (Dragon Jr)
[There now is a new meld called Trio (3 tiles with the same number, one from each suit).
Also, each dragon can be used as a wild tile for one of the suits.
That is, the white dragon counts as a wild circles tile;
green dragon, wild bamboos tile; red dragon, wild characters tile.
A dragon cannot be used as a wild tile in the Eyes meld, but is valid as such in all the other melds.
In a meld where a dragon substitutes for a numbered tile, there cannot be more than one dragon.]

3. Five Round Mahjong (Dragon Jr)
[In this variant, a player who loses a round does not lose a point. Instead, the player who wins a round scores points as follows: 1 point for winning the round; 1 bonus point for each meld he formed of 3 identical tiles; 2 bonus points for each meld he formed of 4 identical tiles. After 5 rounds, the player with the most points wins the game.]

4. Lucky Seven Mahjong (Dragon Jr)
[In this variant, 4 rounds are played. There is a new meld, in addition to the usual 4: the Lucky Seven meld consisting of the #7 of bamboo, the #7 of circles and the #7 of characters. The player who wins a round scores points as follows: 1 point for winning the round; 1 bonus point for each Lucky Seven meld; 2 bonus points for each meld where every tile is a wind; 3 bonus points for each meld where every tile is a dragon; 2 bonus points for each meld of 4 identical tiles. After 4 rounds, the player with the most points is the winner.]

5. Zero Mahjong (Dragon Jr)
[In this variant, there are four extra tiles, all identical. These special tiles do not have a picture, just the number 0. A meld of 0-1-2 is valid, where the #1 and the #2 are from the same suit (circles, bamboos or characters). Naturally, melds consisting of 2, 3 or all 4 of the new tiles also are valid.]

6. Duet Mahjong (Dragon Jr)
[This variant features four gold dragon tiles. In addition to the usual melds, the following duets are valid: a. North and South Winds; b. East and West Winds; c. Red and Green Dragons; d. White and Gold Dragons. That is, each duet meld is a pair of related tiles.]

Backgammon


Can I suggest a rule change? Like, suppose a player is on the bar, with no moves for ANY dice rolls at all - then can she have her turn skipped? It's not like there's any difference in outcome - or that she might want to concede or double so soon.


+++One Arm Tied Backgammon
Where double sixes, fives, fours, threes, twos, and one only count for 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 respectively. Name needs work. The idea is that so many games are determined by a double, it would be interesting to have a variant where doubles are less influential in the game.

  1. Backward Backgammon, where you can move your counters forward and backward.
    • I think this is a great idea
  2. Real Acey-Deucy (o:
  3. Backgammon Race
  4. Maybe a variant with Jacoby rule, automatic doubles and/or beavers
  5. Chouette - a multiplayer backgammon game, although I think only 2 actually play and the others just manipulate their own doubling cube.
  6. The Jail
  7. Multiplayer back/nack where you use the same numbers thrown for all the games.
    • This would be interesting, to watch how the different boards diverge.
    • Would have to be restricted to one point matches (no doubling) I think.
  8. Roll-over Backgammon. see http://www.bkgm.com/variants/RollOver.html
  9. For Ace/Duecy, The way I learned it, Doubles are like backgammon doubles. Acey/Ducey must be moved, then take and move any doubles of your choice, then you get another roll. The end game was played the hard way. you needed a number to roll to bear off. No moving down.i.e. If you roll a six and don't have one, tough, no taking a five or next number. However that makes for VERY long games. Keep the end game like backgammon, but no extra roll on doubles. It's not called Acey/Deucy for nothing. Oartkickel of the Wolf Pack
  10. I have played a version of gammon called Greek Backgammon, it is similar to race where you start the game with all your pips on the bar on the opposite side to your home board and proceeds the same way initially, but if you hit a pip, instead of sending it to the bar, you actually block it from moving, eg. I am playing white and hit a black pip my white pip can sit there on top of black until I choose to move it, and black is blocked from moving that pip. Also in the version I have played in you roll 2 doubles in a row, you lose a turn, now I am sure this would please some players!! (rofl) Its a really great tactical game but I have never seen it online Dream This is called Plakoto in other places, except for the doubles rule. Masonsmith
  11. Tourne-Case. I would like to see Tourne-Case with 6 checkers each instead of 3 each added as a variant. I believe it would make the game more exciting and more enjoyable. Soemtimes the regular game only lasts a few moves and it is over before you can get a good feeling for the game. Thanks.

Greek backgammon is known, in Cyprus and Greece, as Tavli. See:- http://www.bkgm.com/variants/Tavli.html

Dionysos - who lives in Cyprus for 8 years!
  1. I was weaned on a Dutch version called Tric Trac which is similar to Greek Backgammon mentioned above where you start with all your pips on the bar and must bring them all onto the board before you can move out of your opponent's home board. After that, the game progresses normally. Dogpile
  2. Ludo
  3. I noticed that the cube makes the game exciting in the middle stages of a game, but not at the end. At the end, the game plays like regular backgammon. A tournament where the game is scored, for example, 9-4, instead of a win or a loss, would be great. A game variant where the cube wasn't frozen and wins and losses were recorded according to the match score would be awesom. This format could be used in a tournament setting so that the overall rating would stay is the T zone and not affect the overall rating. Whimjest
  4. Backgammon Race where the game begins with all the checkers on the bar.
  5. The typical Greek Backgammon continuous play of alternating games: Portes (=1-point Backgammon), Plakoto (as above) and Fevga (almost like Nardy=Russian Backgammon) - full rules for all three games on http://www.bkgm.com/variants/index.html in the Middle Eastern area. It is called Tavli in Greece and Cyprus, and is played almost every day in the Greek cafes. Not, of course, the tourist ones on the coast, but the inland ones, where the board and pips are free if you have just one coffee. What about giving that a try in the backgammon variants? You can get the rules on http://users.hol.gr/~mmagirou/
  6. Matches with a fixed number of games and unrestricted use of the doubling cube, the winner being determined by the higher score at completion of the stipulated number of games. This eliminates use of the Crawford Rule which is an annoyingly artificial compromise to permit use of the cube in limited-points matches. In the event of a tie on score the winner is determined by the number of backgammons won, followed by the number of gammons. If all else fails a tie-breaker can be played to determine the winner.
  7. Allow player selection of match length, either in number of points (for fixed points, variable length matches) or number of games (fixed length, variable points matches).
  8. How about a backgammon variant using Sicherman dice? The odds of rolling a 2-12 are the same, but the odds of rolling a double drop to 1 in 9, and you can't roll above a double4. You can also get single moves up to 8 so it would give rise to all sort of new strategies. More details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicherman_dice
  9. Fayles--start with two checkers on the back point and 13 already home (on the six-point). Blots are returned to the back point--if you have taken that point, you may not hit. Three dice, doubles and triples are nothing special. And the key rule--if you can't use all three dice, you lose the game. Gammons and backgammons don't exist, and while the doubling cube is not traditional, it might be worth adding.
  10. backgammon with dominoes, not dice. , http://www.bkgm.com/variants/DominoBackgammon.html Maybe good for beginners, as there is a bit more luck and a bit less skill. Worth a try Mecir and/or Badger?
    • Big Giant Head - In my opinion, this variant does not increase the level of luck as it reduces the possible 'rolls' at any given moment. Still a good one to introduce!
  11. Double Choice (Triple Choice) Backgammon - http://coan.net/gammon.html - A "user" invented game that adds more strategy & planning to the game, as you can see your opponents next roll choices. (Can also be played with dominoes instead of dice)
  12. How about None Cube Gammon Matches, 3,5,7 and 9 point Matches like Backgammon used to be played before the cube was invented?
  13. 7-30-11...Would like to see the actual roll of dice on gamesheet (5-3, 6-1, etc.).
  14. How about Backgammon Tennis a 4 player game, 2 players on each side, players make i move in four, ie the Black players play moves 1 and 3 the white players play 2 and 4
  15. Money Backgammon. Not with real money, of course, but with something similar to "stones" in Caveman. Both players could start with $X in pretend money (or X amount of stones, "golderos", etc.), and the first player to bankrupt the other is the winner. The Jacoby rule could also be added, perhaps as an option.

Checkers

  1. Crowded Checkers

Mancala

  1. 2-Way Mancala - in addition to choosing a space to play from, you decide whether to distribute the stones clockwise or counterclockwise.


  1. Standard 2 player rules 
    -The Mancala 'board' is made up of two rows of six holes, or pits, each.
    -Four pieces -- are placed in each of the 12 holes.
    -Each player has a 'goal' to the right side of the Mancala board.
-The game begins with one player picking up all of the pieces in any one of the holes on his side.
-Moving counter-clockwise, the player deposits one of the stones in each hole until the stones run out.
-If you run into your own goal, deposit one piece in it. If you run into your opponent's goal, skip it.
    -If the last piece you drop is in your own goal, you get a free turn.
-If the last piece you drop is in an empty hole on your side, you capture that piece and any pieces in the hole directly opposite.
    -Always place all captured pieces in your store.
    -The game ends when all six spaces on one side of the Mancala board are empty.
    -Count all the pieces in each goal. The winner is the player with the most pieces.


Halma

  1. Stealth Halma - you cannot see your opponents pieces
    • I think you would have to make it so you can see pieces that you are able to jump on your turn.
      • wouldn't part of the fun being locating what you could jump?
        • Not really. Maybe on a live game site, but it would be pointless on a turn based site, as you can just use the mouse to hover over every square to see which squares you can jump to, so this would just make locating the pieces unnecessarily complicated IMHO.

Chess


List of potential chess variants to implement.
Ambiguous Chesshttp://www.chessvariants.org/mvopponent.dir/ambiguous-chess.html
Refusal Chesshttp://www.chessvariants.org/other.dir/refusal.html
Grand Chesshttp://www.chessvariants.org/large.dir/freeling.html
Capablanca Random Chesshttp://www.chessvariants.org/contests/10/crc.html
Kriegspielhttp://www.chessvariants.org/incinf.dir/kriegspiel.html
Grand Dice Chesshttps://www.chessvariants.com/play/pbm/play.php?game=Grand%20Dice%20Chess&settings=grand_dice&fbclid=IwAR1GWMJ_TdAON68fr4Q6bbu3z6nFONNmFDpTMMC4Cu1TCQqqo2jHgciP-B4
Talbuthttps://www.itsyourturn.com/t_helptopic2020.html#helpitem1516
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_variant

  1. Behemoth Chess
    1. One invincible neutral party wanders the board crushing everything blindly (random movement generated by dice roll).
    2. Otherwise, all rules of chess apply.
    3. Full description: http://www.chessvariants.org/dice.dir/behemoth.html
  2. Changgi (Korean Chess) I think that we have this as of June 22, 2015. See Rules of Janggi and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janggi. *Spelling?*
  3. Kings Corner Chess
    • Isn't this just a shabby version of Fischer Random Chess? On IYT they have KCC, but no FRC. Gameknot knows better I hope.
  4. Crazyhouse Chess - Likely Never to Be Implemented
      • CrazyHouse Chess is more like ShoGi than ChessGi is because of the difference explained below.
        • ;;2;;M3 with the consent of Ray of Light whom I quote below with some boldface added for emphasis.;;2;;
          • The quotation is between this Two-Goldie ( ;;2;; ) and the ones below.
    • From: Ray of Light
    • Date: 24 Jun 2015 1:14PM
    • Subject: Re: Chess Variants
    • Hello, Edward.
    • I did notice that comment that stated that we already had Crazyhouse Chess on the site. I did not write it.
    • Crazyhouse Chess is almost identical to our chessgi. the only difference between Crazyhouse and chessgi is that in Crazyhouse, if a pawn promotes to a stronger piece and is then captured, the captured piece reverts to a pawn in reserve for the capturing player. In our chessgi, if a pawn promotes to a stronger piece and is then captured, it remains the same in reserve for the capturing player.
    • You can either respond to that comment in the Wiki, or even remove that suggestion entirely. I am positive that GoldToken will never add a variant that is virtually identical to chessgi.
    • ;;2;;Quotation ended.;;2;;
  5. Switch Chess
    • Never heard of this?? It's not on chessvariants.com. If no one can give the slighted hunch of what it is in the next week, I guess it's off the list
    • It's mentioned in Pritchard's Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Aka inverter chess. Description is brief, my interpretation is like pieces (not pawns) of like colour form a "co-ordinated" pair, also Q+K of each colour. If a piece is moved to a different rank or file from its partner, then the occupants of the other corners of the rectangle formed by the co-ordinated pieces exchange places e.g. white has Rs at a1/e1 and plays Re5, then anything at a5 goes to e1 and vice versa. Sounds too wild to be of general interest IMO. McStack
  6. Horde Chess
  7. Refusal Chess
  8. Passive Aggressive Chess (where is this variant's definition?)
  9. Maharaja Chess
  10. Hecatomb
  11. Outbreak Chess
    • One player has the normal chess pieces, and the other controls viruses just like in the Outbreak game.
  12. Ultima (Robert Abbott's game)
  13. 4 player chessgi,where pieces are swapped between players ie 2 ppl per team one black one white, white players taken pieces get passed to partner etc- any thoughts? i used to play this at my club, we called it exchange, could be a fun adition.
  14. Shatranj
  15. Capablanca Random Chess
  16. N-Relay Chess
  17. Small Alekhine Chess: Played on a standard 8x8 board, with standard castling, promotion, and en passant rules, this variant includes three non-standard piece types that combine standard piece powers: the Cardinal (Knight + Bishop), the Marshall (Knight + Rook), and the General (Knight + Queen). Starting positions are: Rooks on the a-file, Knights on the b file, Bishops on the c file, Generals on the d file, Kings on the e file, Queens on the f file, Cardinals on the g file, and Marshalls on the h file.
  18. Alekhine Chess: Played on a 14x8 board, this variant includes three non-standard piece types: the Cardinal (Knight + Bishop), the Marshall (Knight + Rook), and the General (Knight + Queen). Starting positions are: Rooks on the a-file and the n-file, Knights on b and m, Bishops on c and l, Cardinals on d and k, Marshalls on e and j, Queens on f and i, Generals on g, and Kings on h.
  19. Inheritance Chess: In this variant, the white rook pawns begin on the third rank and the black rook pawns begin on the sixth rank, castling is not permitted, en passant captures are not permitted, and, most importantly, pieces have inheritance powers. Pieces of a given color on the same file inherit the movement powers of one another. These powers do not stay with each piece for the entire game; the inherited powers are only inherited while the pieces are on the same file as one another.
  20. The Lost Pawns: In this variant, white's pieces actually start on the 7th* and 8th ranks, and black’s pieces start on the 1st and 2nd ranks, with the direction of the pieces remaining the same as with a standard chess game. In other words, all pawns are just one square away from promotion. *White's a-pawn starts on a6, not a7, however; this preserves starting equality for both sides. Two-square pawn advances and en-passant captures are obviously not possible.
  21. Wizard Chess (Dragon Jr) [7x7 board; no queens, but 2 new figures: swordsman and wizard. The swordsman moves 1 square forward or 1 forward diagonally; the wizard moves 1 or 2 squares forward, 1 horizontally or 1 backward diagonally; the wizard's 2-square move can be a jump over an occupied square; a pawn cannot make a 2-square move. Promotion at the 7th rank: swordsman always promotes to wizard; pawn promotes to any figure other than king or swordsman.
    • Initial position for white (mirrored by black):
      • PSSSPPP
      • RNBKWBR
  22. Desert Chess: 10x9 board; 12 squares on the board are desert (b4,b5,b6,c4,c5,c6,h4,h5,h6,i4,i5,i6). The new figure in this game is a camel that moves 1 square vertically or horizontally, and also is allowed to play a chess knight's move. Only a camel can end a move on a desert square. Queens, rooks and bishops can walk through vacant desert squares, however. Also, a knight can jump over desert squares, regardless of whether they are occupied. If the square directly ahead of a pawn is desert, the pawn can move (and capture) one square sideways. The castling move is as follows: the king walks 3 squares toward the rook; then the rook leaps over the king, to land beside him.
    • Initial position for white (mirrored by black):
      • PPPPPPPPPP
      • RNBCQKCBNR
  23. Demotion Chess (Dragon Jr)
    • Any figure that lands on d4 or e5 gets demoted. A demoted queen moves 1 or 2 squares in any direction. A demoted rook moves 1 or 2 squares vertically or horizontally.
    • A demoted bishop moves 1 or 2 squares diagonally. A demoted knight moves 2 squares vertically and 1 sideways. A demoted pawn moves (and captures) 1 square forward.
    • A demoted king moves 1 square forward, sideways, or diagonally backward. A demoted figure landing on one of the demotion squares does not get further demoted.
    • A pawn (regular or demoted) who reaches the far edge of the board promotes to any regular figure other than pawn or king. Any demoted figure, other than a pawn, reaching the far edge of the board, becomes a regular figure of the same type.
    • Suggested names for the demoted chess figures: countess, wagon, deacon, page, scout, earl.
  24. Thematic Chess Update - Rename the current Queen's Gambit to Queen's Gambit Accepted, and add a Queen's Gambit Declined option
  25. Makruk (Thai Chess)
  26. Burmese chess
  27. TurboDice Chess ...combination of Progressive and Dice Chess.
    • Instead of 1Die there are 6 dice rolled. Very aggressive way of playing and never ending fun and surprises.
  28. Massacre Chess
    • In fact, it is more related to konane-like games than to chess, but many classify this game under chess variants.
    • Board size: 8x8 chessboard (but, theoretically, it maybe enlarged, if number of pieces gets increased proportionally).
    • Players: 2 players, first plays with white pieces, second plays with black pieces
    • Pieces: Each player has 8 bishops, 8 knights, 8 rooks, 8 queens
    • Piece arrangement: see links under "sources and references"
    • Goal: To deprive opponent from making legal move (= to stalemate)
    • Moves and course of game: Each player must capture a piece of opponent. Once a player is not able to capture any piece of opponent, he or she is lost. As well, player is lost if all his or her pieces are captured.
    • Sources and references: https://brainking.com/en/GameRules?tp=128 ; https://boardgames.com/boardgame/massacre-chess
    • I believe that this game would be appreciated by anyone who loves konane or who would like to play with chess figures, but not classical (or western) chess. hawretto

Shogi

Yonin shogi (i.e. four players)
  • Instructions can be found on the web, e.g. on Wikipedia. The first checkmated player can get the wood token.
Chu shogi
  • The bare king rule was updated fairly recently. The handicap system might also be doable - though perhaps with difficulty.
Tori shogi

Tournament shogi
  • (Or "pro" shogi or something.) In other words, shogi in which illegal moves can be submitted (within reason), but results in the player losing on the spot. (I noticed that this already happens with Renju.) 81Dojo does this with the special illegal moves of "two pawns", "pawn drop mate", "dropping a pawn/lance/knight on the last rank", "repetition check", and leaving the king in check. Even better if the rule broken can be specified with the system message, so that players don't get confused when they accidentally lose by (for example) checking the king in an endless loop, or doing a pawn-drop-mate.

Go


Storing Go files in SGF format
Storing game records for Go games as ".sgf" files with an option to download the SGF file (rather than “print moves”).
SGF files are standard game record for the game of Go. The formatting is simple and straight forward. The files are also very small (often as small as 2 kilobytes).
Having the game records available in SGF format makes the sharing and analysing of games much simpler as almost every piece of Go software accepts SGF format. It is also the official record keeping format for international Go organisations. (Begadoonie - 2022)

3 and 4 player Go - the rules are exactly the same - just more players. However, more players makes the strategies significantly different, the game more dynamic, challenging and exciting! (December 2017 - tzorec)

  1. change komi on 7x7 go to 9 (ps not for the other board sizes) see - { Board: Go } -- willemien 24 october 2010 (Done Smiling )
  2. Mini Go 4x4 (Coz the larger variants take too bloody long Smiling )
    • Better make it 9x9, that is still playable - it still take ages though!
    • - we do have 9x9 already though, isn't it enough? -- Mecir
    • - and GT has 7x7 Winking 3 — tzorec

Utter Masters' Special 21x21 Go in case some 8- or 9-dan professionals find this website to give them a challenge they won't find elsewhere. Winking 3
This is supposedly the largest odd-numbered square size humans can handle. See { Board: Go } discussion. -- M3 18 July 2008

Cylindrical Go See { Board: Go } discussion. -- M3 18 July 2008

N in a Row

  1. Renju
  2. Pente
  3. Pro-Pente
  4. Keryo-Pente
  5. Rubik's Illusion
  6. Connect6

A Game of Connect6
A game of Connect6 played on a large white board with a grid of black lines. The stones are black and white flattened spheroids.
Players 2
Setup time No setup needed
Playing time 10 min-60 min,
Random chance None
Skill(s) required Strategy, Observation



connect 6 Two players, Black and White, alternately place two stones of their own colour, black and white respectively, on empty intersections of a Go-like board, except that Black (the first player) places one stone only for the first move. The one who gets six or more stones in a row (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) first wins the game.

Contents http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connect6
1 Rules
2 Fairness

Rules
The rules of Connect6 are very simple and similar to the traditional game of Gomoku:

Players and stones: There are two players. Black plays first, and White second. Each player plays with an appropriate color of stones, as in Go and Gomoku.
Game board: Connect6 is played on a square board made up of orthogonal lines, with each intersection capable of holding one stone. In theory, the game board can be any finite size from 1×1 up (integers only), or it could be of infinite size. However, boards that are too small may lack strategy (boards smaller than 6×6 are automatic draws), and extremely large or infinite boards are of little practical use. 19×19 Go boards might be the most convenient. For a longer and more challenging game, another suggested size is 59×59, or nine Go boards tiled in a larger square (using the join lines between the boards as additional grid lines).
Game moves: Black plays first, putting one black stone on one intersection. Subsequently, White and Black take turns, placing two stones on two different unoccupied spaces each turn.
Winner: The player who is the first to get six or more stones in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) wins. (This is a departure from Gomoku, where it must be exactly five in a row.)
According to Professor Wu, the handicap of black's only being able to play one stone on the first turn means that the game is comparatively fair; unlike similar games such as Gomoku and Connect Four, which have been proven to give the first player a large advantage, possibly no additional compensation is necessary to make the game fair.

Fairness[edit]
In principle, even some complex games are not fair: either the first or second player has an advantage. (Games such as Gomoku have been mathematically proven to give an advantage to one player or another; complex games such as chess are generally too complicated to analyze fully.) Herik, Uiterwijk, and Rijswijck give an informal definition of fairness (Herik, Uiterwijk, and Rijswijck, 2002) as follows: A game is considered a fair game if it is a draw and both players have roughly equal opportunities for making mistakes. From this, it is argued that Connect6 is fair in the following senses:

Each player always has one more stone than the other after making each move.
For about one thousand opening templates, Professor Wu let the AI program written by his team play against itself, and the result seemed to show that the game does not favor either one for these templates. Note that the AI program can beat most casual players, but this does not necessarily imply that its strategy is strictly optimal.
The initial breakaway (where White plays far away from the initial black stone) is a guaranteed loss for White, according to Professor Wu. The principle is that Black can essentially ignore White's move, giving Black a three-stone lead that is insurmountable.
However, this evidence is not conclusive.

if goldtoken does connect six,.. please please please ensure the game highlights both last turn placements,.. otherwise it is so much time wasted looking at the game history to see where the last two stones were places in an ongoing game..

thank you for your consideration..

connect six

connect six..... six...




Plateau

(Dragon Jr) [Royal Plateau: The board is a 4x5 rectangle. There now are 3 ways to win:
  1. Bingo: All 5 squares in a row are occupied. The top disc on each of these squares is yours.
  2. Tower of Power: You build a tower of 7 or more discs.
  3. Full Jail: You capture 7 or more prisoners.
In addition to the usual 3 weapon colors (blue, red, orange), there's a fourth (green).
A stack with a green disc on top can move 1 square in any direction.
The 15 discs a player starts with now are the following:
  1. 2 mutes (blank/blank) worth 1
  2. 2 greens (green/green) worth 3
  3. 2 blues (blue/blue) worth 4
  4. 2 reds (red/red) worth 5
  5. 1 green mask (blank/green) worth 7
  6. 1 blue mask (blank/blue) worth 9
  7. 1 red mask (blank/red) worth 10
  8. 1 blue king (blue/green) worth 12
  9. 1 red king (red/green) worth 14
  10. 1 twister (blank/orange) worth 15
  11. 1 ace (blue/red) worth 18]

4 in a Row

  1. CAN WE HAVE FOUR IN A ROW VERSION THAT IS SEVEN HOLES ACROSS AND SIX HOLES HIGH, THIS THE ENGLISH VERSION OF THE GAME, PROBABLY QUICKER AS WELL, YOU COULD NAME IT CONNECT 4, PRESENT 4 IN A ROW ARE ALL ON 8 HOLES BY 8 HOLES, IT WOULD BE A GOOD CHANGE
    • There isn't much point in doing this, this is a proved game. That's why everyone uses 8x8. Also the winning strategy isn't too difficult, unlike say, 15x15 Go-Moku which although solved, still makes a good game for mortals! Non-8x8 Giveaway 4 in a row, with odd number of columns would be worth trying though.
  2. 3 (or more?) Player version of all variants (esp. Quicksand).
    • (Three in 4iar would not work because the first player to move will always win)
      • Team based even number multiples could work. You could potentially have a whole club play against another, with each person pitching in just once Nukhulls
      • How about on a larger board?
    • I believe there is a 3 player Ninuki-Renju which is reasonably playable
      • Where would you find this?
      • Yea, but in Renju there are restrictions on first player's second move and probably on second player's second move in this 3 player game as well. I can't think of any reasonable restriction for a first or second move in 4iar.
  3. different board sizes / shapes
  4. grenade 4IAR - each player has 3 grenades. When it is used, the piece it hits and those next to it are all destroyed.
  5. Double Hotspot 4iar - Each player has a Hotspot and may place it as a turn, 10x10 board.
    • Why would anyone use their HS as it gives them just the same advantages as a normal disc except it ALSO counts for your opponent. JK
    • Corollary to above. I took 'place' to mean drop. If you mean place on the board possibly unsupported then it would make a difference to the game - at a guess a win for player 1. JK
    • Well you could win a game by placing it in the middle of the board... no gravity, so you could easily win as soon as you had three in a row. Maybe if rules stated you couldn't win using the extra Hotspot, or for 5IAR with a larger board. Otherwise too easy to win IMHO. Nukhulls
  6. 4IAR Blind - You don't see where your opponent's pieces are until you drop your piece on top of it.
    • Would the previous moves just not be shown, even if you have them turned on?? Kevin - this would be easy to disable JK
      • you can still view previous boards but you will only see pieces that have one of your own pieces above it.
      • when viewing a game that you are not playing in, you would only see pieces with at least one of each colour above it.
        • Actually, thinking about it, you would have to make it so that non-players couldn't see any moves until the game is completed.
  7. Reversi 4IAR - surrounded pieces change colour as in Reversi.
    • I have seen this before - it is VERY tricky to get the hang of, is defintely different in feel to 4IAR and is nasty to think ahead. It is not quite like Reversi in that it is adjacent (incl diagonals) that are flipped, not sandwiched pieces. JK
      • So it could almost be called Outbreak (Ataxx) 4iar? Or am I missing something ? Mark007
  8. Double trouble zero G 4iar
    • I suspect that as both variants are strong for player 1, then this would give an even bigger advantage JK.
      • How about on a bigger board (e.g. 9x9)
  9. Variable-G 4IAR - like zero-g, except that gravity changes direction each turn (first down, then right, then up, then left, then down again, etc...)
  10. QuickerSand 4IAR - Same as quicksand, except that the bottom row dissappears whenever a new line of three is made anywhere on the board.
    • Can you say neverending?
      • OK. How about, only when a diagonal line of three is made?
      • or only when the line of three does not include a piece in the bottom row.
      • or only the column(s) containing the line sink down. The others remain.
  11. 3&4IAR - Normal game except that you must make a line of three if you can.
    • Three gives 1st player win in 4 moves or less.
      • Are you sure, I understood this suggestion to be 4 in a row to win, but if either player CAN make 3iar, then (s)he must - forced move, not a win.
        • Yes that was the idea. You still need 4 to win, but if you can make 3 then you must. Like in draughts where you have to jump if you can.
  12. Sliding 4IAR - the whole board moves left by one after every move. Anything in column A dissappears. You are not allowed to play in column A except to win.
  13. Partial Giveaway 4IAR - every other move you play a piece of your opponents colour.
  14. Takeaway 4IAR - In order to win the game you are allowed to remove any piece from the board. All pieces above it drop down one. You can only do this once, on your last move. If you also make a line of four of the other colour, you lose.
  15. Levitation 4IAR - Pieces are placed two squares above instead of one square above (leaving a gap). When another piece is played on top, the previous piece moves down. (e.g. if blue plays D2 and red plays D3, the blue piece moves to D1.) Pieces are played in the top row as normal.
  16. Quicksand Black Hole
    • Too large advantage for Blue, they would just need to get a horizontal threat, impossible for Red.
      • How about with two BH and/or a bigger board?
  17. Quicksand Hotspot
    • What would happen if the hotspot gets quicksanded?
      • I don't think this is a problem. The game would continue with no hotspot.
        • or it could come back on at the top in the same column?
  18. Quicksand Double Trouble
  19. Quicksand Zero-G
    • Lol, which way would the quicksand go?
      • It can go any way. If column A gets filled, everything shifts left, if row 8 gets filled everything shifts up, etc..
  20. Secret Blackhole 4IAR - The location of the black hole is not revealed until a piece is dropped onto it.
    • Does the piece that is dropped there disappear?
      • No. It would sit on top, just like regular blackhole.
  21. Secret Hotspot 4IAR - The location of the hotspot is not revealed until a piece is dropped onto it.
    • This one has no problems!! Smiling
      • Are you sure Smiling It might introduce a little too much of an element of luck, as it would actually be possible to make a winning move without realising. Could be fun though.
  22. More ideas for different types of hotspots/blackholes
    • Chameleon: takes the colour of the majority of discs in the surrounding 8 squares (no change when even number).
    • Sink: the first time a disc is dropped in the column with the sink, both that disc and the sink dissappears.
    • Grenade: the first time a disk is dropped on the grenade, it explodes taking out everything in the surrounding 8 squares.
    • Quicksand Patch: When the row containing the quicksand patch fills up, all the discs in that column moves down one (thereafter it acts as a blackhole)
    • Invisible Blackhole: same as normal blackhole but is not visible until a disc is placed in it's square.
    • Invisible Hotspot: same as normal hotspot but is not visible until a disc is placed in it's square.
    • Breakout Ball: behaves like the ball in the old breakout game. Each go it moves diagonnally, changing direction when it hits a wall or a disc. When it hits a disc, the disc is removed from the board.
    • Unstable Blackhole: same as a normal blackhole except that once three discs are placed above it, it dissappears, and all discs above it move down one.
    • Flasher: Starts as a blackhole and each go it changes in the following sequence: BH->Blue->HS->Red->BH
    • Reverser: The disc placed in this square changes to the opponents colour.
    • Moveable Blackhole: Same as a normal BH except that a player may choose to move it to any empty square instead of a normal move (any discs above the BH move down to fill the gap).
    • Flipper: When a disc is placed in this square the board is flipped over, the discs in each column slide down so that the last ball placed in each column go to the new bottom row, the second to last ball placed go into the second row etc...
    • Anti-Hotspot: Always takes the opposite colour of the last disc placed.
  23. Low Gravity 4IAR: Pieces are placed in the top row, and all pieces drop one row every turn, until they reach the bottom row, or another piece.
  24. Spherical 4IAR: Just like Cilindrical but the top and bottom are connected.
  25. Simultaneous move selection: Both players simultaneously select their moves. In case of of same column being selected, one player with the initiative drops first, and then initiative passes to the other player. The details to how this is handled are found here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/386015 . This variant works with boards that are only six columns wide.
  26. Brick Four In a Row. Introduces a new piece - a brick, which is described as follows:
  • The brick is placed at random before the game starts, in rows 1-3 (or 1-4), or in columns A or H (any row).
  • The brick becomes the bottom of column it lands in.
    • This means players can't put their pieces directly below the brick. Example: the brick was placed in E3. Therefore, spots E1 and E2 will remain empty for the duration of this game, and first move in column E will be in E4.
    • In all other aspects, the brick should be treated as a blackhole. SunnY DaY
  1. Rapid Four In a Row: The rules are similar to standard Four In a Row with one exception:
  • After blue have made their first move, starting from red's first move, both players put 2 pieces per turn.
    • (I played this game on 7x6 board with my friends; it's tricky, but not a quick win for any player) SunnY DaY
  1. Improved Quicksand Four In a Row. Since 8x8 board is an easy win for second player, I suggest changing the number of columns to an odd number (7, maybe 9)
(Why easy win? Because: only 1 column is empty, so it is the 1st player to make the move. After this, there are 8 options avialable, one being dropping another column down. This remains 7 moves in newly created spots in row 8. For these 7 moves 2nd player starts playing his/her pieces (and he/she has the last move). And it is again 1st player's turn to play in the empty column. Provided we had an odd number of columns, players would be forced to play the move that drops the board one row down in TURNS. 

Chinese Checkers

  1. Variant for a 1v1 game where player's can choose 2 OR 3 home bases.




Reversi

  1. Request Reversi (in this variation, a player has to suggest a move, his opponent can grant the move in which case it must be made, otherwise the player must make a move elsewhere)

    • Does the Request variation make sense?  I can see the twist it adds, but wouldn't the game take twice as long as normal?

      • Request variations can be used for most games, and yes they do increase the time, it makes a reasonable chess variant, normally called Refusal Chess.

        • It does not change the overall playing time. One way to do this is the following:

        • If you have to make a move, you must make 2 choices, a primary and a secondary. If the opponent logs in, he first sees your first choice and gets to reject or accept it.

        • If he rejects it, the second choice is made automatically. In this way, you still only need 30 logins per player, not 60. 

          • Ok, now I get it. Smiling

  2. Hotspot Reversi - currently being discussed in [ Hotspot Variations ]

  3. Double Trouble Reversi (see also [ Hotspot Variations ])

  4. Reversi 4IAR - see 4IAR section above

    • As noted above, it is more of a 4IAR variant than a reversi one JK

  5. automatic Reversi (4 squares in middle already placed) How about just calling it original Reversi?

    • The original Reversi game (1800's) had no disc placed. The 1970's Japanese version (Othello) does. 1926

  6. Should there be non-populable spots for the black hole/hotspot in these variations of reversi.

    • I'm such an old-school player of the game, that I'm having a hard time accepting/understanding the variations.

      • For BH, I reckon everything is populable (just like for BH 4inarow), however for HS and DT there are likely to be some HS positions that are unacceptable (just like there are in 4 in row (you did know that didn't you ;-) ). My worry is that there may not be any possible placements of HSs that make the game fair. I reckon the initial central 4 squares could be possible *** BH placements. If there are any others keen to contribute to the discussion about playability of HS maybe we should create a new Wiki for it. JK

  7. Double Blackhole - maybe a fairer game unlike one blackhole which is a parity advantage to black The_Burglar

    • I agree; the number of moves should be the same for both players. 1926

8.  Team Reversi - Players 1 & 3 are the black team.  Players 2 & 4 are the white team.  Player 1 makes 1st move for the black team.  Player 2 makes 1st move for white team.  Player 3 makes 2nd move for black team.  Player 4 makes 2nd move for white team.  And so on throughout the game.   Sir Lawrence of the GoldTable  .




Salvo

  1. Giveaway Salvo (you try to place your ships so they get hit, first person to hit all 5 ships at least once loses)

  2. More than 1 shot at a time when playing 2 player games. Makes for quicker games

    • Definitely more than one shot 4 would be better. Computuer should be able to place ships.

    • A variation where you get as many shots as you have ships

      • Battleboats plus and Dark Battleboats plus on its your turn

  3. Global Salvo- Make the board 4x4 bigger, add 1-2 boat(s) to the game but no more than 2. Allow only 2 or 3 shots per move but no more than 3. This game can also expand into other varients such as devious global salvo and others. I think this game is a good compromise for all and should be easy to code because the basis is all ready here.

  4. The possibility to relocate a ship (at the cost of a move)

  5. Different ammo for different ships (bigger ships have more ammo, this making it for once more important to sink the bigger ship first), when ammo is out you have to reload (takes one move) make a sub really a sub which for example only can be hit with a sinkbomb. The possibilities here are endless.

    • I think the multiple shots is a good idea, but should be dependant upon how many boats you have left unsunk. (e.g. 5 boats = 5 shots,and so on) :o)

      • This is classic Salvo as described in a quite old Dover book of paper-and-pencil games.  I don't know where my copy of the book is, but I remember this rule.  It makes for a quick game and a decided advantage for discovering opponents' ships early in the game.  I believe fire is resolved simultaneously, which allows for the small possibility of complete annihilation of both navies!

  6. FixitDave's version, when I played battle ships on paper I made a few rule changes Smiling

    • You had a small island covering 6 squares, the island can be placed in any shape as long as the 6 sections are directly connected (no diagonals).

    • You also have an atom bomb, it will sink/destroy the entire ship/island if it hits.

  7. Radar Salvo (See One ship from one player for one turn, only once per game)

    • alternatively why not make each square next to where you go is made visible.

  8. Super Devious Salvo - Same as Devious Salvo, but you don't see other players' misses.

  9. Some variation on devious salvo where the ducks can get their own back (I feel sorry for them).

  10. I'd like to see a version where the decoy explodes when hit and blows up anything in its area Smiling

    • That's a good idea, you could call them mines instead of decoys.

  11. I've seen a version where when you hit a ship, you get another shot. The next player only gets their go once you miss. This could be popular, as it will make for a faster game.

  12. Moving Salvo - All ships that are placed horizontally automatically move one square to the right every move. Vertical ships move up. When a ship reaches the edge it then starts moving in the opposite direction. Once a ship is hit, it stops moving. A ship will also stop if it would collide with another ship. Once a ship is completely sunk, it dissappears allowing other ships to sail over it.

  13. Diagonals! The original manual game was restricted to files and rows because the pegs had to fit in the holes - no such restrictions apply to an online game....this would add a whole new dimension - files, rows AND diagonals. I think this would make for an interesting variant, or just expand the original.

    • The original didn't have pegs and holes. It was played on pencil and paper. Diagonals might be a nice option though.

  14. Classic Battleship (Hoyles Book of Games 1940s) 1 Shot for each ship remaining; Diagonal placement of ships allowed; Simultaneous shooting 5 shots each to start; Report only # of hits on each type ship and when a ship is sunk not which shot hit which ship; hits on ships not show on opponents board only where shots were fired. 

  15. Devious or Stealth Dice Salvo




OutBreak

  1. How about hot spots or patterns?

  2. The original game (Ataxx), you also had blocks (similar to blackhole in BH 4IAR).

  3. How about Dark OutBreak - Best on Large board, can only see the pieces directly next to your current pieces.  Can not "jump" into dark space.

  4. Had an idea for 8 player outbreak with octogonal board.  Would change the strategy a lot. Jaime




Dominoes

  1. Run Out - first to use all their dominoes wins ! easy game - just follow doms already laid ie 6 on 6 etc

  2. Block Dominoes (instead of drawing from the boneyard when you can't go, you knock and miss a turn).

  3. Cross Dominoes (play in four directions off the doubles)

    • This is better with the double-nine (or even bigger) domino set.

  4. threes, fives & sevens

  5. three fives, sevens and elevens

  6. three fives, sevens, elevens and thirteens

  7. all primes (three fives, sevens, elevens, thirteens, seventeens ans twenty-threes)

  8. Tri-ominoes........ 3 sided tiles

  9. Spinner you can play sideways off the first double played. (not sure if this is the same as "Cross Dominoes" I read that one as being able to play off all doubles)

  10. 'FOUR HAND TEXAS' ------THIS MAY CAUSE TOO MANY PROGRAMMING OBSTACLES OR MIGHT BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO PLAY !!! 

    Opposite players are partners, each person drawing seven pieces (double-six set). -Ten points each are given  on the five-five and six-four; five points are given on the five-naught, three-two and four-one;

-Each trick counts as a point; this makes a total of forty-two possible points for each hand.

-Bidding is to the left of the one chosen to start who is called the dealer. Dealer bids last. 

-The ‘double’ of the trump bid is the highest, as for example, if 3’s are trump the 

three-three is the highest; then comes the six-three, the five-three, etc. 

-Doubles also may be bid and when made trump the highest double takes the trick. 

-No trumps may also be bid.


    Each bidder bids the value of his hand and other players may raise or pass as they choose. -Thirty is the lowest bid that can be made to start. 

-When a player has bid a limit bid, namely 42, each of the other players has the privilege of

continuing the bid by doubling, in other words, the second bidder after a bid of 42 is made, must bid 84 or pass.

-The third bidder must bid 168 or pass and the fourth bidde must bid 250 or pass.

-Bidding is continued until one player secures the bid after all others have passed. 

-Trumps are not named until after bidding has been completed. 

-Player must follow suit and if he cannot do so, he can either trump or discard.

-Bidder has first lead.


    Each side scores the number of points actually taken in unless the bidder fails to make his bid, in which case, the side not bidding counts its own score plus the amount bid.

-When limit bids have been made the winner counts the amount of his bid, if a limit bidder 

loses his bid his opponents score the amount of his bid plus the score they make. 

-Two Hundred and Fifty points constitutes game and in case of a close game when both sides 

'go out’, the bidder is always he winner even though his total points over 250 may be less than his opponents.


    In playing no trump, the highest spot of the piece led becomes the trump for that particular trick, and other players must follow that trump or discard, in no trump the ‘double’ is always the highest.  In this game, tricks and honors are what count and there is no line built.   Excerpts taken from Cardinal Industries, Inc.

#11-SPINNERS-First Double played in all GT`s Domino Variations is played on all 4 sides. First played on the 2 sides and then the ends. Many of our Domino players, as well as myself, learned Dominoes (and all variations of Dominoes)like this,using the first double played as the Spinner.

Perhaps add this feature to the existing Domino games or Add New Domino Games of Dominoes,Muggins and Three's and Five's with Spinner.

#12 Mexican Train Dominoes




Square CrossDowns

Square CrossDowns Advanced Competitive variation rules by baron_backgammon



same as for regular Square CrossDowns Rules

with the addition of these bonus scoring additions



explanation: 

I wanted to create a variation of this game with advanced rules for competitive players.

this variation is based on the idea of earning extra points for things accomplished while playing the game.

these extra points are calculated at the games end, then added to the final score.



accomplishment-points earned

highest score acheived by any player during the game-4

longest word acheived by any player during the game-3

use of the letter z without using a wild tile during the game-2

use of the letter q without using a wild tile during the game-2

use of the letter x without using a wild tile during the game-1

use of the letter v without using a wild tile during the game-1

use of the letter j without using a wild tile during the game-1

note-use of the letter is not limited to the first use of the letter during the game.

forming 2 words in one move-1

forming 3 words in one move-3



these bonus scoring additions could be applied to stacking CrossDowns.




Grabble

  1. Grabble with no multipliers

  2. Grabble Swapper Race

  3. Small Grabble

    • Small Grabble Swapper

    • Small Grabble Race

    • Small Grabble Swapper Race

  4. Large Grabble

    • Large Grabble Swapper

    • Large Grabble Race

    • Large Grabble Swapper Race 

    • giveaway grabble 

    • challenge grabble

    •  

Dots

  1. Giveaway Dots games

  2. Add 2 Dice to dice dots... That would make it more interesting.




Shake, Rattle & Roll

  1. Liar Dice

  2. Ketchup shake (catch-up) shake

    • I spend a lot of time here along with a lot others I'm sure waiting for your opponents to move. What about a variant to where you play as much or as little of your side as you like when you're on, then when your opponent comes on he could do the same. Time limits could still apply as 1 day or so on. The game would sit on your page until you move, save it & then line up again as games do now. Could be our 1st form of solitaire game.Linda J

  3. Golf Poker

Hello, here is the new approach to play Dice Poker 6D ... something for golf lovers ... below are the rules:



1. There are 18 holes in the whole course ...



2. I introduced 3 additional categories: 1 pair, 2 pairs and 3 of a kind (nothing new, they exist in regular poker) that gives us 18 categories (holes). Below is the score table for all 18 holes:



Ones - a sum of all 1's 



Twos - a sum of all 2's 



Threes - a sum of all 3's 



Fours - a sum of all 4's 



Fives - a sum of all 5's 



Sixes - a sum of all 6's 



1 Pair - 2 dice with the same numbers+ 4 dice with different numbers - sum of all dice (examples for 3 new categories below)



2 Pairs - 2 dice with the same nubers + 2 dice with the same numbers(different than the first pair) + 2 different dice (different from 2 first pairs) - sum of all dice



3 of a kind - 3 dice with the same numbers + 3 different numbers - sum of all dice



4 of a kind (4 or more dice with the same number) - a sum of all dice 



5 of a kind (5 or more dice with the same number) - a sum of all dice 



Full House (3 dice with the same number + 2 dice with the same number, and those two numbers must be different) - sum of the dice 



Full Car (2 dice with the same number + 2 dice with the same number + 2 dice with the same number, and those three numbers must be different) - sum of the dice 



Full Hotel (3 dice with the same number + 3 dice with the same number, and those two numbers must be different) - sum of the dice 



Large Straight (a straight of 5 or more dice) - 123456(21points) wins the hole over 23456(20 points) which wins the hole over 12345(15 points) 



Full Straight (a straight of all dice) - 1 point scored immediately in the hole (when other player scores  in this hole, it's a draw for this hole)



6 of a kind (all dice with the same number) - higher 6 of a kind is the hole winner (222222 beats 111111 etc.)



Chance (any dice combination) - a sum of all dice</ol>



Now, player that get higher score in particular hole is the winner of this hole ... who wins more holes wins the whole course and becomes champion ... when players win equal number of holes it's a draw. After players score points for a particular hole, software  replaces scores for O for the loser and 1 for the winner ... during the game it is very important to target scores already made in particular holes. WINNING THE HOLE IS THE SUB-GOAL (similar to real golf) ... fixed scores for hotel, car, full house etc are abolished and replaced by actual point scores and it adds more excitements to the game ...here are the examples of 3 new categories ...



1 pair ... 44 5631 (no numbers can repeat itself) - example of wrong sequence: 44 1354 (4 is repeated)



2 pairs ... 33 11 24 (no numbers can repeat itself) - example of wrong sequence: 33 11 35 (3 is repeated)



3 of a kind ... 444 132 (no numbers repeat itself) - example of wrong sequence: 444 564 (4 is repeated) ... 



I wonder what do you think about this Golf Poker ...?





Cheers, Andy (aikidomino)



#I call it "Shake it in Order" and the way it works is:



1. Use the Shake Rattle & Roll board and rules to start.

2. Each person tries to get ones on their first roll, twos on their second roll, threes on their third roll, etc. All the way to the end of the board ending


      with chance.

3. If someone plays in the wrong spot they loose. This would be in the program of the game itself so could not happen.





I have played this and tested this games with several players in my club (The High Rollers Club - which is the best club to test this with). It had a very high percentage of people liking the game and would play it if offered. Some say they had play a game like in in some ways in other clubs but not this exact one and way. I think if it was an offered game it would have good success. I believe (not to tell you how to do your job but just as a thought) if you were to copy all rules, codes, and information from "Shake Rattle & Roll" into a new file called "Shake it in Order", change background color, rename the different required inputs, etc, and lock all inputs then add the command to unlock top posittion (1's) on first move, next (2's) on second roll, etc should pretty much make the new game. I know there is more to it but since I do not know what language used so cannot say what commands to use.








American Rummikub

**where you don't lay your tiles down until you have a complete hand with a discard. 

example 333,777,999,10 11 12 13.

**use points to win first one to get 500 or 1000. Tiles 2 through 9 worth 10 points, 

10 through 13 worth 20 points, wild tiles are worth what you use them for unless you 

are caught with it in your hand then 50 points. and the 1 is worth on how you use it, 

10 if used as a low tile or 20 if used as high. Points are added and subtracted at the 

end of each round.

Thx, Gypsyfire





***American Rummikub and Rummikub

***Play a "straights only" variant.    I have been invited to several games based on what I have said in my profile and everyone has enjoyed it much more and it does not take a long time to play.    In the three of a kind version if a player puts three of one number down then you have to hold a possible straight until you get the opportunity to take a number from the board or get a wild card.



Works for both games



Thanks  TedEBear



How about a couple of new versions for fun. One that uses even numbers only and one with odd numbers only mysticdragon




DOMINATION:

***I think it would be interesting to have a "Team Domination" variant for 4 or 6 players. There are many ways it could work, but one very simple way would be to have the object be to eliminate all the opposing team's armies, with no changes at all to the play of each turn. I.e., players could still legally attack all other players' territories, including teammates. A strategic reason for attacking/capturing a teammate's territory might for example be that teammate 1 is passing through teammate 2's territory to attack an opponent's territory, or teammate 1 is capturing a territory where teammate 2 deliberately left only one army, so that teammate 1 could easily secure a continent bonus. This would require very little reprogramming, as the only rule changes would be determining the end of the game, determining the multiple victors, and implementing rating changes accordingly.



Alternatively, a team variant could permit teammate's armies to occupy the same territory. This would be more realistic in terms of allies not shooting at each other, but continent bonuses would necessarily be a little more complicated. For example, the extra armies could be split among team members when the team collectively controls a continent. Or, for continent and territory bonus purposes, each territory could be considered occupied by the team member who most recently captured the territory from the enemy team (or from neutral armies), or whose armies were initially placed in that territory if the territory has never been captured, and would be continued to be counted as that player's territory even if that player removes all of his armies, leaving only a teammate's armies present. A continent bonus would only be awarded if a single team member "occupied" all the territories in a continent in that sense. 



Thanks  Let the Wookiee Win variant for 4 or 6 players. There are many ways it could work, but one very simple way would be to have the object be to eliminate all the opposing team's armies, with no changes at all to the play of each turn. I.e., players could still legally attack all other players' territories, including teammates. A strategic reason for attacking/capturing a teammate's territory might for example be that teammate 1 is passing through teammate 2's territory to attack an opponent's territory, or teammate 1 is capturing a territory where teammate 2 deliberately left only one army, so that teammate 1 could easily secure a continent bonus. This would require very little reprogramming, as the only rule changes would be determining the end of the game, determining the multiple victors, and implementing rating changes accordingly.



Alternatively, a team variant could permit teammate's armies to occupy the same territory. This would be more realistic in terms of allies not shooting at each other, but continent bonuses would necessarily be a little more complicated. For example, the extra armies could be split among team members when the team collectively controls a continent. Or, for continent and territory bonus purposes, each territory could be considered occupied by the team member who most recently captured the territory from the enemy team (or from neutral armies), or whose armies were initially placed in that territory if the territory has never been captured, and would be continued to be counted as that player's territory even if that player removes all of his armies, leaving only a teammate's armies present. A continent bonus would only be awarded if a single team member




DOMINATION



Instead of countries, could there be kingdoms, along the lines of Game of Thrones?  Perhaps GT could name them differently, as I imagine there are copyright laws one can't violate.  Thank you!






EXECUTIONER  JTOhio



Howdy! Just a suggestion for ya.. with Executioner, I think it would be better and much more fair to be given another turn whenever a letter is guessed correctly. My opponent and I keep "stealing" each other's words following a correct guess by the other! Laughing




Whist



How about, in Whist variant Spades, allow partnerships.  When inviting, you could (maybe) choose your partner, and in tournaments, the stronger players could (maybe) choose their partners, too, or something.  The way it works is, if neither partner has a nil bid, the bids are combined to form the "contract", so if the partnership fulfills their contract, they gain the points, and lose them otherwise. For example, if I bid 2 and my partner bids 5, our exact numbers of tricks don't matter, as long as our combined total equals 7 tricks taken: then we get 70 points; otherwise we lose 70.



Also, how about two- or three-player Spades. The rules are similar but different from four-player Spades. --DoubleU



Rules for three-player: Every player gets 17 cards, and the last card is discarded. Overtricks cost a player 10 points each; or, if you prefer, they gain a player one point as usual, but every tenth costs 100 points.

Rules for two-player: Players start out drawing two cards from a deck, choosing which one to keep, and discarding the other one. BUT! The decision on which to discard must be made before you look at the second card. Thus, you draw a card, look at it and one of two things happens: (1) You discard it and keep the next one, or (2) you keep it, look at the next, and discard it.


For details, see Pagat pages: https://www.pagat.com/auctionwhist/spades.html



How about, for Hearts and Spades, "long" variants. That is to say, just like "fast" goes to half the points (100 for Spades, 50 for Hearts), and "short" to a quarter (50 and 25), "long" variants could go to either double the points (400 for Spades and 200 for Hearts), or 2.5x the points (500 for Spades and 250 for Hearts). Or something. Or both.




All Aboard Falsecut



I'd like to see a variant where you HAVE to draw some number of destination cards.  Many games are just two players racing to complete routes and defeats the point of the game.  I do it too but only because you have to in order to play the game at all in many cases.



Cribbage Equal Cribs = same as regular cribbage except game is only over after all players have had same number of cribs with at least one player scoring 61 or 121. This could be applied to all cribbage variants or by itself

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