Group in alpha

Future games in need of testing and feedback
Forum rules
Please DO NOT POST BUGS on this forum. Please report (and vote) bugs on: https://boardgamearena.com/#!bugs
Post Reply
User avatar
MarkSteere
Posts: 265
Joined: 09 March 2021, 19:21

Group in alpha

Post by MarkSteere »

Group is a very simple game. Players take turns placing stones of their own color onto a hexagonal board. The goal is to form a monocolored group of a certain size. On a size 5 board (61 cells), you must form a group of at least size 9. On a size 6 board (91 cells), you must form a group of at least size 11.

Group game page
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=group

Group rule sheet
https://www.marksteeregames.com/Group_rules.pdf


-----------
REVIEWERS: Please try Group. If you like the game, please approve it so it can go into beta.
-----------


Why those particular group sizes? Because groups of at least those sizes are guaranteed to form, according to a certain geometric/topographic principle *.

Group has an anti-blob, placement rule. With each placement, you must form the smallest friendly group possible. Without that rule, Player 1 could just continually grow one group, and Player 2 couldn't do anything to stop it. There would be runaway first move advantage.

* Group size = 2L - 1, where L is the side length of the board.
Almost all abstract games that are governed by geometric/topographic principles are connection games, like Hex, Atoll, and Conect. Group is not a connection game (though its founding principle is derived from connection game principles). It's the rare exception.
Post Reply

Return to “"Alpha" games”