Knight Line

poker chips

Please see [url=https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1594753/clever-little-game-which-deserves-more-attention]my review[/url].

Another cool Nestorgames abstract, this time with little acrylic tiles that move like knights. Very simple and clean.

So quick to teach. And a ladder of heuristics that makes players feel clever right from the start.

My game. Inspired by the "grail games" thread http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1017068/grail-games in the abstract forums here on BGG, this is my take on a minimalist n-in-a-row game. All that is required are two sets of stackable pieces; no board so, about as minimal as I can make it in terms of material while still being a good strategic game.

This is actually my best tested game. I designed it just before a beach holiday with the family, and spent part of the holiday coding an AI, then used self-play to test the fairness of the game under various parameters. It turns out, according to the AI at least, that allowing the first player to move only a single pieces is the best balancing mechanism; a line of length 4 works best; and the actual starting number of pieces in the stacks isn't too important. Anywhere between 16 and 24 seems viable. I haven't tested beyond that point.

The AI is now available - you can download it from http://mrraow.com/index.php/aiai-home/ (warning: java 8 required)

The components are very cool, just need the tiles and that is basically it. You move your stack of 20 pieces like a knight in chess and try to make 4 in a row, however you must always remain adjacent to the other pieces when moving. So simple but lots going on, wish I was better as the game tends to end too quickly, although I think it is designed that way.

Aha! I had found a bag full of thick-cut plastic squares while thrifting a while back. Now I know what to do with them! Can't wait to give this a try.

Feb 2021: Cute!

Another n-in-a-row game, I found the game play too restrictive. It didn't seem that the number of pieces you pick to move from one stack to another didn't have much of an impact as movement itself is so restrictive.