http://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=MarkSteere&feedformat=atomBoard Game Arena - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T14:39:11ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.39.0http://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpdiablo&diff=17794Gamehelpdiablo2023-08-15T05:02:39Z<p>MarkSteere: Typo.</p>
<hr />
<div>DIABLO<br />
by Mark Steere <br />
<br />
INTRODUCTION Diablo is a two-player game played with two dice and black and green checkers on a checkerboard of any even size. The number of faces on each of the dice is equal to half the length of the board. For example, if playing on a 6x6 board, the dice will be 3-sided. The board is initially filled with stacks of height one interspersed in a checkerboard pattern. <br />
<br />
The two players, Black and Green, take turns rolling the dice and moving their own stacks. All moves are horizontal or vertical. Only entire stacks can be moved. Stacks cannot be subdivided. Black goes first.<br />
<br />
<br />
PLAYER TURN After rolling the dice, you will take two actions.<br />
<br />
<br />
Possible action combinations:<br />
<br />
a. Move two stacks (or the same stack twice), each move driven by a different die. The two moves can be of the same type or different types (subject to restrictions explained in ACTION TYPES).<br />
<br />
b. Move one stack horizontally or vertically, driven by one of the dice, and remove one of your checkers from the board (subject to restrictions explained in ACTION TYPES).<br />
<br />
c. Remove two of your checkers from the board (subject to restrictions explained in ACTION TYPES).<br />
<br />
<br />
ACTION TYPES<br />
<br />
a. Merging move. <br />
<br />
You may move one of your stacks onto another of your stacks at a distance indicated by one of the dice, merging the two stacks into one monocolored stack.<br />
<br />
b. Capturing move. <br />
<br />
You may capture by replacement an enemy stack of equal or smaller size at a distance indicated by one of the dice.<br />
<br />
c. Move to unoccupied square. <br />
<br />
You may move a stack to an unoccupied square at a distance indicated by one of the dice ONLY FOR ONE OF YOUR TWO ACTIONS. You can’t make two moves to unoccupied squares during your turn.<br />
<br />
d. Remove a checker.<br />
<br />
At the outset of your turn, if you are able to make any kind of a move (merge, capture, or move to unoccupied square) you must do so. If not, you must remove any two of your checkers from the board, concluding your turn.<br />
<br />
If you began your turn with a move to an unoccupied square, then you must finish your turn with a merge or capture if you can. If not, you must remove one of your checkers, concluding your turn.<br />
<br />
If you began your turn with a merge or capture, then you must finish your turn with any kind of a move (merge, capture, or move to an unoccupied square) if you can. If not, you must remove one of your checkers, concluding your turn.<br />
<br />
<br />
BALANCING RULE Black, on his first turn, plays only one of the two rolled dice, of his choosing.<br />
<br />
<br />
OBJECT OF THE GAME A player wins when all of his opponent’s checkers have been removed from the board.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpdiablo&diff=17793Gamehelpdiablo2023-08-15T05:02:09Z<p>MarkSteere: Was a prior version of the rules. Now current.</p>
<hr />
<div>DIABLO<br />
by Mark Steere <br />
<br />
INTRODUCTION Diablo is a two-player game played with two dice and black and green checkers on a checkerboard of any even size. The number of faces on each of the dice is equal to half the length of the board. For example, if playing on a 6x6 board, the dice will be 3-sided. The board is initially filled with stacks of height one interspersed in a checkerboard pattern. <br />
<br />
The two players, Black and Green, take turns rolling the dice and moving their own stacks. All moves are horizontal or vertical. Only entire stacks can be moved. Stacks cannot be subdivided. Black goes first.<br />
<br />
<br />
PLAYER TURN After rolling the dice, you will take two actions.<br />
<br />
<br />
Possible action combinations:<br />
<br />
a. Move two stacks (or the same stack twice), each move driven by a different die. The two moves can be of the same type or different types (subject to restrictions explained in ACTION TYPES).<br />
<br />
b. Move one stack horizontally or vertically, driven by one of the dice, and remove one of your checkers from the board (subject to restrictions explained in ACTION TYPES).<br />
<br />
c. Remove two of your checkers from the board (subject to restrictions explained in ACTION TYPES).<br />
<br />
<br />
ACTION TYPES<br />
<br />
a. Merging move. <br />
<br />
You may move one of your stacks onto another of your stacks at a distance indicated by one of the dice, merging the two stacks into one monocolored stack.<br />
<br />
b. Capturing move. <br />
<br />
You may capture by replacement an enemy stack of equal or smaller size at a distance indicated by one of the dice.<br />
<br />
c. Move to unoccupied square. <br />
<br />
You may move a stack to an unoccupied square at a distance indicated by one of the dice ONLY FOR ONE OF YOUR TWO ACTIONS. You can’t make two moves to unoccupied squares during your turn.<br />
<br />
d. Remove a checker.<br />
<br />
At the outset of your turn, if you are able to make any kind of a move (merge, capture, or move to unoccupied square) you must do so. If not, you must remove any two of your checkers from the board, concluding your turn.<br />
<br />
If you began your turn with a move to an unoccupied square, then you must finish your turn with a merge or capture if you can. If not, you must remove one of your checkers, concluding your turn.<br />
<br />
If you began your turn with a merge or capture, then you must finish your turn with any kind of a move (merge, capture, or move to an unoccupied square) if you can. If not, you must remove one of your checkers, concluding your turn.<br />
<br />
<br />
BALANCING RULE Black, on his first turn, plays only one of the two rolled dice, of his choosing.<br />
<br />
<br />
OBJECT OF THE GAME A player wins when all of his opponent’s checkers have been removed from the board.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpmodten&diff=15961Gamehelpmodten2023-02-06T15:57:13Z<p>MarkSteere: /* BGA DECKS */</p>
<hr />
<div>== INTRODUCTION == <br />
Mod Ten is a shedding card game for 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.<br />
<br />
== DECK ==<br />
Either a single, or double stripped deck is used.<br />
<br />
In a single deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 5s, 10s, and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 player games, additionally: The Ace and 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
In a double deck (BGA default) deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 10s and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 players games, additionally: The Aces and 9s of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds<br />
<br />
== BGA DECKS ==<br />
N players, deck<br />
<br />
2 - single w/o 5s,10s, face cards. <br />
<br />
3 - single w/o 5s, 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
4 - double w/o 10s, faces.<br />
<br />
5, 6 - double w/o 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of S, C, D.<br />
<br />
== RANKS == <br />
High to low: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Suits are irrelevant.<br />
<br />
== PLAY ==<br />
The player to the dealers left leads by placing any card from his hand face up on the table. <br />
Continuing clockwise, players must follow suit if possible. If not, their turn is skipped. If your played card brings the sum of table cards to a multiple of 10, you collect all the table cards, place them face down on the discard pile, and lead another card of any suit.<br />
<br />
== OBJECT OF THE GAME == <br />
The first player to play their last card wins the game.<br />
<br />
== Dealer Selection ==<br />
The dealer of the first hand of the game is selected at random, in subsequent hands it will be the player<br />
to the right of the last player to shed a card in the previous hand.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpmodten&diff=15960Gamehelpmodten2023-02-06T15:56:36Z<p>MarkSteere: /* BGA DECKS */</p>
<hr />
<div>== INTRODUCTION == <br />
Mod Ten is a shedding card game for 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.<br />
<br />
== DECK ==<br />
Either a single, or double stripped deck is used.<br />
<br />
In a single deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 5s, 10s, and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 player games, additionally: The Ace and 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
In a double deck (BGA default) deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 10s and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 players games, additionally: The Aces and 9s of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds<br />
<br />
== BGA DECKS ==<br />
# of players, deck<br />
<br />
2 - single w/o 5s,10s, face cards. <br />
<br />
3 - single w/o 5s, 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
4 - double w/o 10s, faces.<br />
<br />
5, 6 - double w/o 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of S, C, D.<br />
<br />
== RANKS == <br />
High to low: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Suits are irrelevant.<br />
<br />
== PLAY ==<br />
The player to the dealers left leads by placing any card from his hand face up on the table. <br />
Continuing clockwise, players must follow suit if possible. If not, their turn is skipped. If your played card brings the sum of table cards to a multiple of 10, you collect all the table cards, place them face down on the discard pile, and lead another card of any suit.<br />
<br />
== OBJECT OF THE GAME == <br />
The first player to play their last card wins the game.<br />
<br />
== Dealer Selection ==<br />
The dealer of the first hand of the game is selected at random, in subsequent hands it will be the player<br />
to the right of the last player to shed a card in the previous hand.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpmodten&diff=15959Gamehelpmodten2023-02-06T15:55:34Z<p>MarkSteere: /* BGA DECKS */</p>
<hr />
<div>== INTRODUCTION == <br />
Mod Ten is a shedding card game for 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.<br />
<br />
== DECK ==<br />
Either a single, or double stripped deck is used.<br />
<br />
In a single deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 5s, 10s, and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 player games, additionally: The Ace and 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
In a double deck (BGA default) deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 10s and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 players games, additionally: The Aces and 9s of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds<br />
<br />
== BGA DECKS ==<br />
2 - single w/o 5s,10s, face cards. <br />
<br />
3 - single w/o 5s, 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
4 - double w/o 10s, faces.<br />
<br />
5, 6 - double w/o 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of S, C, D.<br />
<br />
== RANKS == <br />
High to low: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Suits are irrelevant.<br />
<br />
== PLAY ==<br />
The player to the dealers left leads by placing any card from his hand face up on the table. <br />
Continuing clockwise, players must follow suit if possible. If not, their turn is skipped. If your played card brings the sum of table cards to a multiple of 10, you collect all the table cards, place them face down on the discard pile, and lead another card of any suit.<br />
<br />
== OBJECT OF THE GAME == <br />
The first player to play their last card wins the game.<br />
<br />
== Dealer Selection ==<br />
The dealer of the first hand of the game is selected at random, in subsequent hands it will be the player<br />
to the right of the last player to shed a card in the previous hand.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpmodten&diff=15958Gamehelpmodten2023-02-06T15:55:01Z<p>MarkSteere: /* BGA DECKS */</p>
<hr />
<div>== INTRODUCTION == <br />
Mod Ten is a shedding card game for 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.<br />
<br />
== DECK ==<br />
Either a single, or double stripped deck is used.<br />
<br />
In a single deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 5s, 10s, and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 player games, additionally: The Ace and 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
In a double deck (BGA default) deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 10s and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 players games, additionally: The Aces and 9s of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds<br />
<br />
== BGA DECKS ==<br />
2 - single w/o 5s,10s, face cards. <br />
3 - single w/o 5s, 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of Spades.<br />
4 - double w/o 10s, faces.<br />
5, 6 - double w/o 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of S, C, D.<br />
<br />
== RANKS == <br />
High to low: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Suits are irrelevant.<br />
<br />
== PLAY ==<br />
The player to the dealers left leads by placing any card from his hand face up on the table. <br />
Continuing clockwise, players must follow suit if possible. If not, their turn is skipped. If your played card brings the sum of table cards to a multiple of 10, you collect all the table cards, place them face down on the discard pile, and lead another card of any suit.<br />
<br />
== OBJECT OF THE GAME == <br />
The first player to play their last card wins the game.<br />
<br />
== Dealer Selection ==<br />
The dealer of the first hand of the game is selected at random, in subsequent hands it will be the player<br />
to the right of the last player to shed a card in the previous hand.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpmodten&diff=15957Gamehelpmodten2023-02-06T15:54:36Z<p>MarkSteere: /* BGA DECKS */</p>
<hr />
<div>== INTRODUCTION == <br />
Mod Ten is a shedding card game for 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.<br />
<br />
== DECK ==<br />
Either a single, or double stripped deck is used.<br />
<br />
In a single deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 5s, 10s, and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 player games, additionally: The Ace and 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
In a double deck (BGA default) deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 10s and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 players games, additionally: The Aces and 9s of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds<br />
<br />
== BGA DECKS ==<br />
2 - single w/o 5s,10s, face cards. <br />
<br />
3 - single w/o 5s, 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
4 - double w/o 10s, faces.<br />
<br />
5, 6 - double w/o 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of S, C, D.<br />
<br />
== RANKS == <br />
High to low: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Suits are irrelevant.<br />
<br />
== PLAY ==<br />
The player to the dealers left leads by placing any card from his hand face up on the table. <br />
Continuing clockwise, players must follow suit if possible. If not, their turn is skipped. If your played card brings the sum of table cards to a multiple of 10, you collect all the table cards, place them face down on the discard pile, and lead another card of any suit.<br />
<br />
== OBJECT OF THE GAME == <br />
The first player to play their last card wins the game.<br />
<br />
== Dealer Selection ==<br />
The dealer of the first hand of the game is selected at random, in subsequent hands it will be the player<br />
to the right of the last player to shed a card in the previous hand.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpmodten&diff=15956Gamehelpmodten2023-02-06T15:52:57Z<p>MarkSteere: /* BGA DECKS */</p>
<hr />
<div>== INTRODUCTION == <br />
Mod Ten is a shedding card game for 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.<br />
<br />
== DECK ==<br />
Either a single, or double stripped deck is used.<br />
<br />
In a single deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 5s, 10s, and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 player games, additionally: The Ace and 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
In a double deck (BGA default) deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 10s and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 players games, additionally: The Aces and 9s of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds<br />
<br />
== BGA DECKS ==<br />
2 - single w/o 5s,10s, face cards <br />
3 - single w/o 5s, 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of Spades<br />
4 - double w/o 10s, faces<br />
5, 6 - double w/o 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of S, C, D<br />
<br />
== RANKS == <br />
High to low: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Suits are irrelevant.<br />
<br />
== PLAY ==<br />
The player to the dealers left leads by placing any card from his hand face up on the table. <br />
Continuing clockwise, players must follow suit if possible. If not, their turn is skipped. If your played card brings the sum of table cards to a multiple of 10, you collect all the table cards, place them face down on the discard pile, and lead another card of any suit.<br />
<br />
== OBJECT OF THE GAME == <br />
The first player to play their last card wins the game.<br />
<br />
== Dealer Selection ==<br />
The dealer of the first hand of the game is selected at random, in subsequent hands it will be the player<br />
to the right of the last player to shed a card in the previous hand.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpmodten&diff=15954Gamehelpmodten2023-02-06T15:49:57Z<p>MarkSteere: BGA Decks</p>
<hr />
<div>== INTRODUCTION == <br />
Mod Ten is a shedding card game for 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.<br />
<br />
== DECK ==<br />
Either a single, or double stripped deck is used.<br />
<br />
In a single deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 5s, 10s, and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 player games, additionally: The Ace and 9 of Spades.<br />
<br />
In a double deck (BGA default) deck, the following cards are removed<br />
* All games: 10s and face cards.<br />
* 3/5/6 players games, additionally: The Aces and 9s of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds<br />
<br />
== BGA DECKS ==<br />
# of players Deck<br />
------------ -----<br />
2 - single w/o 5s,10s, face cards <br />
3 - single w/o 5s, 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of Spades<br />
4 - double w/o 10s, faces<br />
5, 6 - double w/o 10s, faces; Ace, 9 of S, C, D<br />
<br />
== RANKS == <br />
High to low: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Suits are irrelevant.<br />
<br />
== PLAY ==<br />
The player to the dealers left leads by placing any card from his hand face up on the table. <br />
Continuing clockwise, players must follow suit if possible. If not, their turn is skipped. If your played card brings the sum of table cards to a multiple of 10, you collect all the table cards, place them face down on the discard pile, and lead another card of any suit.<br />
<br />
== OBJECT OF THE GAME == <br />
The first player to play their last card wins the game.<br />
<br />
== Dealer Selection ==<br />
The dealer of the first hand of the game is selected at random, in subsequent hands it will be the player<br />
to the right of the last player to shed a card in the previous hand.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpkonane&diff=14308Gamehelpkonane2022-08-11T21:25:38Z<p>MarkSteere: It's loses. Not looses.</p>
<hr />
<div>== Goal of the game ==<br />
To leave your opponent without any possible move.<br />
<br />
== Setup ==<br />
A square game board made up of rows and columns is initially completely filled with stones, alternating between black and white pieces.<br />
<br />
Black moves first, by taking off one of his stones. He may only remove a stone from the middle of the board (the centre or a piece adjacent to the centre) or from one of the corners. White removes one of his stones that is adjacent orthogonal to the empty square created by Black. There should now be two empty squares next to each other.<br />
<br />
== Player turn ==<br />
<br />
From there on, players take turns making a move. To move, one jump one own stone over an opponent's stone into an empty slot right beyond. Jumps can only be orthogonal, '''not diagonal'''.<br />
<br />
A player may make multiple jumps (thence making multiple captures) with the same stone in a turn, but only if all the humps are in the same direction (no turns). Making more than one jump (when possible) is optional, but the first jump (and capture) is mandatory. Pieces that are jumped are removed from the board.<br />
<br />
<br />
== Game end ==<br />
When one player is unable to jump during his turn loses the game and the opponent wins.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpfractal&diff=13450Gamehelpfractal2022-06-04T02:45:17Z<p>MarkSteere: Added a description. Was just a link to rule sheet.</p>
<hr />
<div>Fractal is a variant of Hex. As in Hex, you must connect opposite sides of the board of your color with a path of tiles of your color. The difference is the unusual tessellation of the Fractal board. The smaller cells near the center de-emphasise the importance of claiming cells near the center.<br />
<br />
https://marksteeregames.com/Fractal_rules.pdf</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpredstone&diff=13449Gamehelpredstone2022-06-04T02:43:00Z<p>MarkSteere: Added description. Was just a link to rule sheet.</p>
<hr />
<div>Redstone is a variation of Go in which red stones are used to capture. Red stones are permanent. They cannot themselves be captured.<br />
<br />
Redstone is a game of annihilation. The goal is to eliminate all enemy stones from the board. Passing is not allowed. Redstone is naturally finite. So there's no need for ko.<br />
<br />
A capturing placement results in one or more groups, of either or both colors, having no liberties. Such a placement can only be made with a red stone. Conversely, a red stone can only be placed if it bounds (completely deprives of liberties) one or more groups of either or both colors. Self capture is allowed.<br />
<br />
When multiple groups without liberties result from a placement, all such groups are removed immediately following said placement, regardless of the groups' colors. Unlike Go, if you unbound your own temporarily bounded group by removing a neighboring enemy group, you must still remove your own temporarily bounded group.<br />
<br />
Since Redstone is a game of annihilation, not of point score, Go’s komi is not needed. Redstone uses the pie rule for balance.<br />
<br />
http://www.marksteeregames.com/Redstone_rules.pdf</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpcephalopod&diff=13448Gamehelpcephalopod2022-06-04T02:39:38Z<p>MarkSteere: Cephalopod - Rules of the Game</p>
<hr />
<div>Players take turns adding dice of their own color to the board, one die per turn. A newly placed die must show a one, unless its a capturing placement, in which case it must show a two or higher.<br />
<br />
If a die is placed horizontally or vertically adjacent to two dice, and the sum of the pip counts - number of spots on the top surface of a die - on those two adjacent dice is six or less, then the currently played die must show the pip sum of its two adjacent dice, and the player must remove those two adjacent dice from the board immediately, while it is still his turn.<br />
<br />
If a die is placed adjacent to three or four dice, and if two, three, or four of its adjacent dice have a pip sum of six or less, then two, three, or four of those adjacent dice (whose pip sum is six or less) must be removed, and the played die must show the pip sum of the removed dice.<br />
<br />
Captures are mandatory only when placing a die onto a square from which captures are possible.<br />
<br />
A player can make a non-capturing placement simply by adding a die to a square from which no captures are possible. A non-capturing placement must show a single pip.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpicebreaker&diff=13447Gamehelpicebreaker2022-06-04T02:36:56Z<p>MarkSteere: /* End of the Game */ clarification</p>
<hr />
<div>==Setup==<br />
* The game is played on a hexagonal grid with side length 5.<br />
* Each player has 3 ships, which are placed at corners. The rest are icebergs.<br />
<br />
==Gameplay==<br />
* On your turn, you must move one of your ships to an adjacent space without a ship.<br />
* You must move it closer to one of the nearest iceberg(s) in the progress.<br />
* If there is an iceberg in the space, you capture it.<br />
<br />
==End of the Game==<br />
* If you capture the majority of icebergs (for example, 28 icebergs on a size 5 board), you win!</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpsilo&diff=13446Gamehelpsilo2022-06-04T02:32:30Z<p>MarkSteere: Silo - Rules of the Game</p>
<hr />
<div>Move your highest checker within a stack to your right one column, carrying with it any enemy checkers that may be stacked above it. Place your checker on top of the stack in that column, if there is a stack in that column. If there’s no stack in that column, just place your checker on the board. Object: Be the first to get all of your checkers into a contiguous sub-stack. In other words, a pure sub-stack of only your checkers. Enemy checkers may be above and/or below your sub-stack, but not inside it.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpoust&diff=13445Gamehelpoust2022-06-04T02:23:41Z<p>MarkSteere: Oust - Rules of the Game</p>
<hr />
<div>The goal in Oust is to completely clear the board of enemy stones, to oust your opponent - a paradox since the board is empty to begin with. Your opponent has to add at least one stone before you can capture all of his stones.<br />
<br />
Non-capturing placements: A non-capturing placement either forms no connections (adjacencies) with any stones, or forms one or more connections only with enemy stones. A noncapturing placement does not form any connections with stones of its own color.<br />
<br />
Capturing placements: When you place a stone which forms one or more connections with your own groups, you create a new, larger group of your own stones. You can only make such a placement if said new group will have one or more connections with enemy groups upon its creation and if all said enemy groups are smaller than said new group. Upon making such a placement, all said enemy groups are removed from the board.<br />
<br />
Multiple placements per turn: After capturing one or more enemy groups and while it is still your turn, you must continue to add stones until you make a non-capturing placement, at which time your turn is concluded.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8832Tips dodo2021-07-13T16:18:56Z<p>MarkSteere: Misere Dodo</p>
<hr />
<div>Misere Dodo: I recently added a misere option (opposite object of the game). As hard as Dodo is, Misere Dodo is even harder. You want to remain free and stop your opponent, but to do that, you might have to open a channels to free him temporarily. Paradoxical.<br />
<br />
Update 1: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computer does in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
The notion of moving up the center of the board and making your opponent "flank around you" is perfectly lovely... <br />
assuming your opponent is the accommodating sort and willingly opens up a channel in the center for you. There's no <br />
way to force your way up the center, that I'm aware of.<br />
<br />
I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by advancing your front row of checkers directly forward, then nestling your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do better to hang back (by making oblique moves) and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march. But then if the opposing army approaches with an open channel, your "tight formation" won't be tight for long. I think there is something to it - keeping your army tight, as one of many possible tactics, but it's a long way from a game buster. [Thinking out loud here. Nick stimulated my feeble thought process.] There may be a tactic of rushing some of your checkers forward, trapping a couple of enemy checkers, and later freeing them at the last minute. It's the yin and yang aspect of Dodo. It may be a game of strategy, counter-strategy, counter-counter strategy...<br />
<br />
I've tried Nick's strategy several times as Player 1 and Player 2, using different Ludii AIs set at 1 second. I haven't won yet. Maybe the guy who's "absolutely crushing" everything is using a vintage Atari.<br />
<br />
Update 2: People are questioning Nick's strategy. 1. "I'm obviously not understanding the strategy, because I am unable to [win]." 2. "The strategy seems to fail against Ai Ai (UCT based AI)."<br />
<br />
"The Crusher": "I tried again today and the strategy was much less effective. [...] I think I may have just gotten lucky playing against the AI yesterday." Yes, luck combined with (I believe) running the AI on an antique computer with 10 seconds thinking time. I've never been able to win, with or without Nick's strategy, running AIs at 1/10 second. Of course I'm a dodo of a player, so that has to be considered.<br />
<br />
The good news: Nick started a conversation and got me and others thinking about Dodo strategy. Hopefully a talented player will take an interest and clue the rest of us in. I think Dodo is a complex superposition of parity battles - a juxtaposition of interdependent flows - a quicksand beach. Charging ahead and butting horns isn't by itself a strategy. There has to be interplay between charging and stalling. Sometimes you can hold back and wait until your opponent has no choice but to block you. An oblique move only carries your checker half as far as a directly forward move, so a strategic oblique move or two can have a big impact on timing. And it's all about timing. There will be opportunities throughout play to toss a wrench into the gear train and win. Spotting those opportunities is essential. I can spot them - after they happen and it's too late. I gotta turn that around and see them ahead of time.<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8669Tips dodo2021-07-02T05:16:19Z<p>MarkSteere: Minor edit</p>
<hr />
<div>Update 1: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computer does in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
The notion of moving up the center of the board and making your opponent "flank around you" is perfectly lovely... <br />
assuming your opponent is the accommodating sort and willingly opens up a channel in the center for you. There's no <br />
way to force your way up the center, that I'm aware of.<br />
<br />
I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by advancing your front row of checkers directly forward, then nestling your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do better to hang back (by making oblique moves) and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march. But then if the opposing army approaches with an open channel, your "tight formation" won't be tight for long. I think there is something to it - keeping your army tight, as one of many possible tactics, but it's a long way from a game buster. [Thinking out loud here. Nick stimulated my feeble thought process.] There may be a tactic of rushing some of your checkers forward, trapping a couple of enemy checkers, and later freeing them at the last minute. It's the yin and yang aspect of Dodo. It may be a game of strategy, counter-strategy, counter-counter strategy...<br />
<br />
I've tried Nick's strategy several times as Player 1 and Player 2, using different Ludii AIs set at 1 second. I haven't won yet. Maybe the guy who's "absolutely crushing" everything is using a vintage Atari.<br />
<br />
Update 2: People are questioning Nick's strategy. 1. "I'm obviously not understanding the strategy, because I am unable to [win]." 2. "The strategy seems to fail against Ai Ai (UCT based AI)."<br />
<br />
"The Crusher": "I tried again today and the strategy was much less effective. [...] I think I may have just gotten lucky playing against the AI yesterday." Yes, luck combined with (I believe) running the AI on an antique computer with 10 seconds thinking time. I've never been able to win, with or without Nick's strategy, running AIs at 1/10 second. Of course I'm a dodo of a player, so that has to be considered.<br />
<br />
The good news: Nick started a conversation and got me and others thinking about Dodo strategy. Hopefully a talented player will take an interest and clue the rest of us in. I think Dodo is a complex superposition of parity battles - a juxtaposition of interdependent flows - a quicksand beach. Charging ahead and butting horns isn't by itself a strategy. There has to be interplay between charging and stalling. Sometimes you can hold back and wait until your opponent has no choice but to block you. An oblique move only carries your checker half as far as a directly forward move, so a strategic oblique move or two can have a big impact on timing. And it's all about timing. There will be opportunities throughout play to toss a wrench into the gear train and win. Spotting those opportunities is essential. I can spot them - after they happen and it's too late. I gotta turn that around and see them ahead of time.<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8668Tips dodo2021-07-02T02:16:17Z<p>MarkSteere: Minor edit</p>
<hr />
<div>Update 1: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computer does in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
The notion of moving up the center of the board and making your opponent "flank around you" is perfectly lovely... <br />
assuming your opponent is the accommodating sort and willingly opens up a channel in the center for you. There's no <br />
way to force your way up the center, that I'm aware of.<br />
<br />
I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by advancing your front row of checkers directly forward, then nestling your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do better to hang back (by making oblique moves) and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march. But then if the opposing army approaches with an open channel, your "tight formation" won't be tight for long. I think there is something to it - keeping your army tight, as one of many possible tactics, but it's a long way from a game buster. [Thinking out loud here. Nick stimulated my feeble thought process.] There may be a tactic of rushing some of your checkers forward, trapping a couple of enemy checkers, and later freeing them at the last minute. It's the yin and yang aspect of Dodo. It may be a game of strategy, counter-strategy, counter-counter strategy...<br />
<br />
I've tried Nick's strategy several times as Player 1 and Player 2, using different Ludii AIs set at 1 second. I haven't won yet. Maybe the guy who's "absolutely crushing" everything is using a vintage Atari.<br />
<br />
Update 2: People are questioning Nick's strategy. 1. "I'm obviously not understanding the strategy, because I am unable to [win]." 2. "The strategy seems to fail against Ai Ai (UCT based AI)."<br />
<br />
"The Crusher": "I tried again today and the strategy was much less effective. [...] I think I may have just gotten lucky playing against the AI yesterday." Yes, luck combined with (I believe) running the AI on an antique computer with 10 seconds thinking time. I've never been able to win, with or without Nick's strategy, running AIs at 1/10 second. Of course I'm a dodo of a player, so that has to be considered.<br />
<br />
The good news: Nick started a conversation and got me and others thinking about Dodo strategy. Hopefully a talented player will take an interest and clue the rest of us in. I think Dodo is a complex superposition of parity battles - a juxtaposition of interdependent flows - a quicksand beach. Barging ahead and butting horns isn't by itself a strategy. There has to be interplay between barging and stalling. Sometimes you can hold back and wait until your opponent has no choice but to block you. An oblique move only carries your checker half as far as a directly forward move, so a well timed oblique move or two can have a big impact on timing. And it's all about timing. There will be opportunities throughout play to toss a wrench into the gear train and win. Spotting those opportunities is essential. I can spot them - after they happen and it's too late. I gotta turn that around and see them ahead of time.<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8662Tips dodo2021-07-01T12:58:43Z<p>MarkSteere: Minor edit</p>
<hr />
<div>Update: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computer does in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
The notion of moving up the center of the board and making your opponent "flank around you" is perfectly lovely... <br />
assuming your opponent is the accommodating sort and willingly opens up a channel in the center for you. There's no <br />
way to force your way up the center, that I'm aware of.<br />
<br />
I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by advancing your front row of checkers directly forward, then nestling your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do better to hang back (by making oblique moves) and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march. But then if the opposing army approaches with an open channel, your "tight formation" won't be tight for long. I think there is something to it - keeping your army tight, as one of many possible tactics, but it's a long way from a game buster. [Thinking out loud here. Nick stimulated my feeble thought process.] There may be a tactic of rushing some of your checkers forward, trapping a couple of enemy checkers, and later freeing them at the last minute. It's the yin and yang aspect of Dodo. It may be a game of strategy, counter-strategy, counter-counter strategy...<br />
<br />
I've tried Nick's strategy several times as Player 1 and Player 2, using different Ludii AIs set at 1 second. I haven't won yet. Maybe the guy who's "absolutely crushing" everything is using a vintage Atari.<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8661Tips dodo2021-07-01T12:51:03Z<p>MarkSteere: Minor edit</p>
<hr />
<div>Update: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computer does in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
The notion of moving up the center of the board and making your opponent "flank around you" is perfectly lovely... <br />
assuming your opponent is the accommodating sort and willingly opens up a channel in the center for you. There's no <br />
way to force your way up the center, that I'm aware of.<br />
<br />
I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by advancing your front row of checkers directly forward, then hugging your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do better to hang back (by making oblique moves) and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march. But then if the opposing army approaches with an open channel, your "tight formation" won't be tight for long. I think there is something to it - keeping your army tight, as one of many possible tactics, but it's a long way from a game buster. [Thinking out loud here. Nick stimulated my feeble thought process.] There may be a tactic of rushing some of your checkers forward, trapping a couple of enemy checkers, and later freeing them at the last minute. It's the yin and yang aspect of Dodo. It may be a game of strategy, counter-strategy, counter-counter strategy...<br />
<br />
I've tried Nick's strategy several times as Player 1 and Player 2, using different Ludii AIs set at 1 second. I haven't won yet. Maybe the guy who's "absolutely crushing" everything is using a vintage Atari.<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8657Tips dodo2021-07-01T05:49:14Z<p>MarkSteere: Minor edit</p>
<hr />
<div>Update: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computer does in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by advancing your front row of checkers directly forward, then hugging your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do better to hang back (by making oblique moves) and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march. But then if the opposing army approaches with an open channel, your "tight formation" won't be tight for long. I think there is something to it - keeping your army tight, as one of many possible tactics, but it's a long way from a game buster. [Thinking out loud here. Nick stimulated my feeble thought process.] There may be a tactic of rushing some of your checkers forward, trapping a couple of enemy checkers, and later freeing them at the last minute. It's the yin and yang aspect of Dodo. It may be a game of strategy, counter-strategy, counter-counter strategy...<br />
<br />
I've tried Nick's strategy several times as Player 1 and Player 2, using different Ludii AIs set at 1 second. I haven't won yet. Maybe the guy who's "absolutely crushing" everything is using a vintage Atari.<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8656Tips dodo2021-07-01T04:35:31Z<p>MarkSteere: Minor edit</p>
<hr />
<div>Update: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computer does in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by advancing your front row of checkers directly forward, then hugging your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do better to hang back (by making oblique moves) and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march. But then if the opposing army approaches with an open channel, your "tight formation" won't be tight for long. I think there is something to it - keeping your army tight, as one of many possible tactics, but it's a long way from a game buster. [Thinking out loud here. Nick stimulated my feeble thought process.] There may be a tactic of rushing some of your checkers forward, trapping a couple of enemy checkers, and later freeing them at the last minute. It's the yin and yang aspect of Dodo. It may be a game of strategy, counter-strategy, counter-counter strategy...<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8655Tips dodo2021-07-01T04:34:43Z<p>MarkSteere: Minor edit</p>
<hr />
<div>Update: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computers does in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by advancing your front row of checkers directly forward, then hugging your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do better to hang back (by making oblique moves) and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march. But then if the opposing army approaches with an open channel, your "tight formation" won't be tight for long. I think there is something to it - keeping your army tight, as one of many possible tactics, but it's a long way from a game buster. [Thinking out loud here. Nick stimulated my feeble thought process.] There may be a tactic of rushing some of your checkers forward, trapping a couple of enemy checkers, and later freeing them at the last minute. It's the yin and yang aspect of Dodo. It may be a game of strategy, counter-strategy, counter-counter strategy...<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8654Tips dodo2021-07-01T03:43:03Z<p>MarkSteere: Minor edit</p>
<hr />
<div>Update: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't <br />
work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. Only thing I can think of to <br />
explain the discrepancy is that my computer is faster and does more in a second than the tester's computers did <br />
in 10 seconds. Hard to imagine though - this crappy Dell I bought in Mongolia 2 years ago is superior to <br />
anything. But, if your computer is 12 years old, that could explain it.<br />
<br />
At any rate, this is something - maybe a good start. <br />
<br />
And... maybe not. I'm not really fit to comment on strategy, but that being said... The AIs always beat me and <br />
they always make plenty of oblique moves. Logically, if you're using Nick's "tight formation" strategy by <br />
advancing your front row of checkers a little, then hugging your next row in right behind them, etc., you'd do <br />
better to hang back and let the enemy come to you. You can keep your formation tighter if you're not on the march.<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8651Tips dodo2021-06-30T22:31:32Z<p>MarkSteere: Adding Nick Bentley's strategy.</p>
<hr />
<div>Update: Nick Bentley's Take On Dodo:<br />
<br />
"1. move straight forward, rather than obliquely forward, especially for stones that start in the middle of your initial formation<br />
2. It's better to move up the center of the board and make your opponent flank around you, than the reverse.<br />
<br />
"If so, it's possible that the dominant strategy is:<br />
<br />
"1. move the pieces at the center of your formation straight forward, starting with the ones at the front of your formation<br />
2. then moving the pieces behind them straight forward as well.<br />
3. If the other player doesn't adopt this strategy, you win.<br />
4. If the other player does adopt this strategy, all the pieces will first gather at the center of the board, at which point there will be cold and fairly obvious a 'who has to move obliquely first' battle, and the outcome of that determines who wins. prob P1.<br />
<br />
"This is just an operational hypothesis. Not convinced it's right. Just putting it out there for study."<br />
<br />
Another player confirmed that this strategy "absolutely crushes" humans and AI alike. I tried it and it didn't work for me at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I still can't beat any AIs. At any rate, it's something - maybe a good start.<br />
<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_dodo&diff=8625Tips dodo2021-06-30T11:37:14Z<p>MarkSteere: General discussion of Dodo. It's still a young game, and there isn't a lot known about strategy yet. I will update this section as strategy develops.</p>
<hr />
<div>The consensus on Dodo is that it's hard to know what to do. For most of us, Dodo strategy will be elusive. Hopefully someone will write a strategy guide. One guy beat an AI app, so I know it’s possible to have a clue. I can never beat AI, even set at 1/10 second thinking time. It always stalemates at least one step ahead of me, like magic. <br />
<br />
I called it Dodo because the rules are very easy to learn. It didn't occur to me that it would be a hard game to play. Maybe I should have called it Einstein. Someone suggested Cascade, which would have been a good name. It's like two way pachinko. <br />
<br />
For the time being, Dodo seems to be a good game for children, and a good game for gifted players. There's not a lot of middle ground right now, though a strategy guide might open that up a little.<br />
<br />
There's yin and yang in Dodo. If you rush forward to blockade yourself, then in doing so you also blockade your opponent. If you open a channel for your opponent to pass through, then via a cascading effect, he opens channels for you. This results in a lot of close finishes. It may be unsettling for some, though it’s not a flaw.<br />
<br />
I'm a decidedly below average player of games, but after playing Dodo 50 times or so, I feel like I'm starting to develop a vague inkling of what's going on. With familiarity, it becomes easier to see further ahead, and to at least attempt strategy. As with quicksand though, strategies can sink and resurface.<br />
<br />
One analytical description of Dodo (by Mike Zapala, the same guy who beat the AI): "Hex4 Dodo is 'bigger' than Checkers in terms of board size, army size, state space, game length, branching factor and game tree complexity. Indeed, its game tree complexity is comparable to International Draughts." It’s a big game on a small board.<br />
<br />
Dodo is kind of an essential game. As with all games, the ability to peer ahead into possible futures is important. But without known tactics or strategy, lookahead is all you have. Not to say that Dodo is opaque. It's all there in plain sight right in front of you. It's just a lot to process. <br />
<br />
Dodo is a very fair game. Player 1 won 50.5% of 10,000 random playouts. Hex was clocked at 52.45%. Most games have significantly higher than 50.5% random play, move order advantage. Especially opposing army games. I've had to scrap a number of such designs because an overwhelming first move advantage quickly developed.<br />
<br />
So there's no need for the pie rule in Dodo (Player 2 having the option of switching colors on his first turn).<br />
<br />
I attribute Dodo's fairness to the wide range of possible total moves per game. There can be no passthrough, or complete passthrough, or anything in between.<br />
<br />
Dodo isn't vulnerable to mirroring (either by Player 2, or by Player 1 moving to center and then rotationally mirroring Player 2). And it doesn't seem to be vulnerable to any other sort of tricks.<br />
<br />
All in all, Dodo is a high quality game, though that won't necessarily translate into popularity. Let's wait and see.<br />
<br />
I'm fairly confident that someone much smarter than I will make headway in Dodo and develop concrete tactics and strategy. Stay tuned. I will post any such developments here. Dodo was only born in May, and it's gonna take a little time. It won't be like Reversi where sides are good and corners are even better. It'll be more involved than that.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Tips_gopher&diff=8283Tips gopher2021-05-17T08:07:13Z<p>MarkSteere: Simple tactics for Gopher play.</p>
<hr />
<div>Try to make moves (placements) which result in more available moves for you, and less available moves for your opponent, as a general tactic. This will not guarantee victory. You can have tons of free moves and still lose. It's generally good to move into a corner to minimize your opponent's responses. Though again, there are exceptions. Move to an edge cell next to a corner if it will create an extra move for you (or deny a move to your opponent).<br />
<br />
Zones will form. Isolated areas. If you can be the first and last to move into a zone, go for it. Otherwise hold off. Try to get "reserves". A reserve is a move you can make at any time. Save it until you need it.<br />
<br />
Keep your fingers crossed. You can get lucky in Gopher. There are plently of opportunities to apply clever strategy in Gopher, but sometimes you just have to guess. If you make a few good guesses, you can win.</div>MarkSteerehttp://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/index.php?title=Gamehelpgopher&diff=8050Gamehelpgopher2021-04-22T13:50:25Z<p>MarkSteere: Gopher rules</p>
<hr />
<div>Red starts the game by placing a red checker anywhere on the board. Thereafter, Blue and Red take turns adding their own checkers to the board. You must place your checker next to one enemy checker and no friendly checkers. The last player to place a checker wins.</div>MarkSteere