New UPDATED version of my game, needs more analysis

#1 · yung bandoum

28 Oct 2015

-Inspired by Unlur-

Black is trying to connect 3 non-adjacent sides.White is trying to connect 2 opposite.It is ILLEGAL for either player to connect the other player's goal.Black moves first, and gets to place an extra hexagon at any point of the game.

Are there any possible draws? Is there an unfair advantage?

Also: Thanks to Gwylim Ashley for suggesting the game Unlur to me.

-Piqo

#2 · yung bandoum

28 Oct 2015

Why did that get crossed out?

#3 · Castro_bot

1 Nov 2015

Having the option to place one extra stone at an arbitrary point in the game is a really weird rule. How about the first player places arbitrary number of arbitrary color pieces on the board to start, and the second player decides which color to play as. This is essentially a generalized swap rule and guarantees the game is fair.

The length of a win for black increases by 3 for each increase in board size but white's only increases by 2. I think this means white's advantage increases as the board size increases. Is this balanced out in some other way? My suggestion above would do it, but 1 extra move might not be enough.

The win conditions do mean that if one player wins, the other can't win (unlike havannah where two winning conditions could be on the board simultaneously if you didn't stop the game after the first), which leaves the question of whether all possible filled boards have a winning formation (like hex), or if the only way to win is ever illegal for both players. The rule that it is illegal to accomplish the other player's goal makes it much harder to prevent the other player from winning without winning yourself. There are positions where the only way to win would be to form both your own condition and the opponent's condition. That can be possible for both players, in which case it'd be a draw. Here's an example: http://www.trmph.com/havannah/board#4,d7c6d6b5d5b4d3b3d2b2d1b1a1c1a2c3e4e3f4f2g3g2a3a4 . Neither player can legally play in the middle since it'd form the opponent's condition, but it is also the only way for them to win themselves, making it a draw.

Timo

#5 · z