Educational Games run with Zillions

Game: Chameleons

Created by Chris Huntoon.

Chameleons move one square in any direction. They may move a single step, or they may leap over a single Chameleon to capture it. A Chameleon that just captured may make another capturing move. Captures are compulsory.
Any Chameleon that stays on a different color for more then one round will change itself to match that color. The central, spiral square is always considered to be the opposite color of the Chameleon that currently occupies it.
The object is to eliminate all of the opponent's pieces.


Updated 10/28/00
fixed image problem with Windows NT/2000.

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Game: Chaverse

Implemented by K. Franklin, May 2003.


Object:
Move all of your pieces across the board and into the Opponent's Home Row. Like Chinese checkers, there is optional jumping and no captures. The four pieces each move only one step at a time unless jumping. When an opponent is next to your home row, you can not remain there - your piece must jump if able to.

History:
From the board game 'Traverse' which is played on a 10x10 board for 2-4 players. These pieces move similarly as Checkers do but can develop the understanding of the multiple pieces that Chess contains.

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Game: Checker Games

Implemented by Uwe Wiedemann, June 2001


This zrf includes a bunch of checker games and variants:

regional or historic checker games
International Checkers (= International Draughts, Polish Draughts, French Draughts)
Shashki (Russian Draughts)
Dame (German Draughts)
English Draughts (= Anglo-American Checkers)
Pool Checker (= Spanish Pool Draughts)
Dammspiel (Old German Draughts)
Turkish Draughts
Grand jeu de dames (= Canadian Draughts)
Choko (a westafrican checker game)
A Liberian checker variant


crossovers between chess and checkers
Cheskers
Byelorussian Cheskers
Knightsbridge
Schachdame (Chess Draughts)


the variants of checker games
Crowed English Draughts
Losing International Checkers
Schlagdame (Losing German Checkers)
Double-Back Checkers
See the description of each game within the program for detailed rules.

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Game: Chessapawn

Invented and implemented by Robert Price, October 2001.

2 Players
2 Variants

This game is an adaptation of Martin Gardner's Hexapawn to a full chessboard. It was also influenced by Johannes Tranelis' Alapo.

Each piece is a Pawn in addition to its ordinary piece type. However, no piece may ever move backwards; and pieces may not make lateral moves except when capturing. The object is to stalemate your opponent, or to get a piece to the far rank such that it can not be immediately captured.

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Game: Chip

Invented and implemented by Ken Franklin, January 2002


The same old game with a new twist: it's Checkers but with Owner switching instead of Captures.

The revised Goal is to achieve 6 King Checkers or reduce the opponent to 5 standard checkers. Repetition is a loss condition & Passing a move is allowed.
In the variants, the number of King Checkers & standard checkers is adjusted to reflect approx. half of a player's opening total.

As usual, Checkers can only move diagonally forward, either by sliding to an adjacent empty square or by jumping over an enemy piece to a vacant square on the other side.
But, Jumping over an opponent's piece SWITCHES it. Jumping is mandatory, and you must keep jumping and checker flipping as long as it is possible. When your Checker reaches the other end of the board, it becomes a King and can then also move diagonally backwards.

Checkers or 'Draughts' has been played since medieval times, but was derived from a much older Arab game, 'Alquerque'.


The board (and checkers) may be switched with the standard Zillions board by selecting "Switch Piece Set" from the "View" menu.

Two colour schemes: Black & White checkers on a Double Blue board, and the basic Black & Red layout.

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Game: Chomp

Invented by David Gale. Implemented by Jukka-Pekka Ikaheimonen.

Object: He who removes the last piece loses. You click on a piece to remove it and all the pieces above and right to it.

Presented in Scientific American in the Mathematical Games column by Martin Gardner.

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Game: Cleave

Created by Chris Huntoon, December 2001


Cleave is a variant of the Thai game of Mak-yek.

All pieces move like a Rook in Chess, that is, any number of squares horizontally or vertically in an unobstructed straight line.

The game uses the complementary methods of capture known as "custodianship" and "intervention." If a Pawn moves orthogonally next to an enemy piece and there is another friendly piece directly beyond that, the enemy piece is squeezed between the two pieces and captured. This effects a capture by custodianship.

Capture by intervention is its reverse. If a Pawn steps between two orthogonally placed enemy pieces, it captures them both.

The edge of the board may be used to form any line of three to complete a capture. So a Pawn may capture an enemy piece by sandwiching the enemy piece between the Pawn and the edge of the board or by stepping between the enemy piece and the edge of the board. It is possible to move so as to capture in more than one direction at a time.

A player wins when he is able to reduce his opponent to two pieces or less or by blockading his opponent so he is unable to move.

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Game: Clobber

Invented in July 2001 by R. Nowakowski (Halifax), M. Albert (Otago), and J.P. Grossman (MIT).
Implemented by Ingo Althofer, April 2002


Clobber is played on a rectangular grid of size m times n. Two players Red (or White) and Black move alternatingly, with Red to start. The last player to move is the winner. Draws are not possible.

In his turn a player has to jump orthogonally with one of his stones on a stone of the enemy which is placed on a neighouring square. This piece of the enemy is deleted; it has been 'clobbered'. In each move exactly one stone is clobbered. Players are not allowed to move on free squares!

In the starting position the board is completely filled with stones, alternatingly red and black ones.


A first Clobber tournament (on 6x5-boards) was played during the Dagstuhl workshop on Algorithmic Combinatorial Game Theory in February 2002. During this workshop also the first computer Clobber tournaments were played, on 6x5- and on 6x6-boards.

Ingo Althofer wrote a ZRF (named 'Zilly Zillhofer') for Clobber, and it turned out that Zilly is rather strong in Clobber. Especially, in the 6x6-tournament Zilly came in on rank 2, in front of the very fast brute force program 'Deeper Clobber' by J.P. Grossman. The 6x6-computer tournament in Dagstuhl was won by the program 'Bobber' of Bob Hearn (MIT).

Professor Elwyn Berlekamp (U Berkeley) from the community of "Combinatorial Game Theory" has announced a CLOBBER PROBLEM COMPOSITION CONTEST. Deadline is on July 20, 2002. Details may be found at http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~cg2002/an_clobber.html.

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Game: Conflict

Invented and implemented by Alexander Stevens, September 2000.


The objective of Conflict is to capture all your opponents, "Myrmidons" (their simple soldier piece). Among Myrmidons, you will also be provided with "Bucklers", which cannot capture nor be captured, and "Assassins", whom are limited in range, but can jump over other pieces.

The rule in Conflict that makes it different from most games of this style is that, Myrmidons cannot capture, unless they are initially defended. That is to say, you cannot capture unless the Myrmidon you wish to capture with is in an unobstructed line with another friendly Myrmidon. This is called the support rule, and gives the game a greater need for defensive play. A Myrmidon that is isolated from another Myrmidon is a valuable target for your opponent.

In addition to those basic rules, each player is allowed to liberally set up their pieces at the start of the game with in their first four rows.

From my observations, Zillions Of Games plays this game fairly well with very few AI quirks.

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Game: Congklak

Created by W. D. Troyka, September 2001.


Congklak is a Mancala game played in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Phillipines. It is known by a variety of regional names, including Sungka and Dakon. The game is essentially a hybrid of Kalah and Endodoi, also available on Zillions. It employs the capturing method of Kalah with the multi-lap sowing of Endodoi.

Congklak was featured on the cover page of the second edition of Abstract Games Magazine. Unlike Kalah, Congklak is an indigenous game with a long history of local play. As explained in more detail in the "History" section to Kalah, the game Kalah was likely derived from Congklak by an American game enthusiast in the early 20th century.

Congklak is traditionally played on 2x5 and 2x7 boards with cowrie shells or similar counters. This version is played with rubies. (You must pre-apply with our credit department before playing.) The number of rubies in each hole at the start of a game corresponds to the number of holes on each side of the board. Unlike most Mancala games, sowing takes place in the clockwise direction. Rubies are sown into a player's store -- but not the enemy store -- and into the lift hole on subsequent laps.

A turn consists of sowing the rubies from a hole on the player's side of the board. In the 2x7 version (the default), if the last ruby is dropped in the store, the player gets another turn starting from any friendly occupied hole. If the last ruby is dropped in an occupied hole, the rubies in that hole, including the last ruby dropped, are picked up and a new sowing begins as part of the same turn. You can make up to twenty moves in a single turn in this implementation. If the last ruby drops in an empty hole on the player's side of the board, any rubies in the enemy hole directly opposite are captured along with the last ruby dropped, and the turn ends. If the last ruby drops in an empty enemy hole or in an empty friendly hole opposite an empty enemy hole, the turn ends without any captures.

In the 2x5 version, if the last ruby from a sowing lands in the player's store, the turn ends without further moves. I have adopted this rule from the Abstract Games Magazine article. Although most descriptions of Congklak provide that sowing into the store gives you an extra turn, in the 2x5 version the bottom player can win the game on the first turn -- without the top player ever making a move! -- if such moves are permitted.

For the complete rule set, please read the "Game Description" that comes with the game.

Please send any comments or bug reports to dtroyka@justice.com.
For more Mancala games available on Zillions, check out the Mancala game page.

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Game: Conspirators

Traditional French game of the 17th century.
Implemented by L. Lynn Smith, December 2001.

This version of Conspirators is played upon the 19x19 Go board with two players, Black and White.

Each player begins the game with 20 Stones each.

Beginning with Black, each player places all of their Stones, one per turn, within the area defined by the standard handicap points.

Then each player, in turns, may move a Stone in any orthogonal or diagonal direction to an adjacent vacant point, or jump over a friend- or foe-occupied point to the next which is vacant. If other jumps are available, the Stone can continue to jump in any direction.

The first player to place all their Stones upon the Shelters, those red points around the board, wins.

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Game: Contra

Implemented by Ken Franklin, January 2003.

Geese must fully occupy the top endzone which is defended by Fox(es). Geese's marbles can move one step in any direction except backwards(s, se, sw). Foxes' marbles may move a step in every direction and can capture Geese's marbles similarly as in checkers. Fox must make the initial jump but may pass on any available subsequent captures during it's turn.

Stalemate is a loss for either side. Geese loses if it's side is reduced to only 8 marbles (would become unable to occupy the 9-hole endzone).


This 'Fox & Geese' derived game was released in Canada by Maverick Toys & Games Inc. way back in 1976 under the name 'Contra'. A rule allowing 'Fox' to refuse an initial jump (losing that piece until a subsequent jump is made by another Fox), hasn't been coded.

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Game: Corner

Implemented by Joonas Kekoni, March 2002.
Graphics (the best part of it) : copyright by Karl Scherer 2001, used with permission.

You take the marble between horizontal and vertical arrow. Different marbles will give different score.
You move horizontal and you opponent moves vertical arrow.

When either player cannot move score is calculated.

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Game: Court

Invented by João Neto in 2001,
implemented by L. Lynn Smith, October 2003.


Court begins with each player having a force of twelve Peasants on the field. Each player has two Red Stones, two Blue Stones and an additional two Peasant in reserve.

Play consist of either moving a piece on the field or placing a piece from reserve on a Peasant to form a new piece.

Pieces move accordingly:

PEASANT - The Peasant moves to the forward empty cell, and captures diagonally forward (like the chess Pawn).
NOBLE - The Noble (a stack of Peasant and Blue Stone) moves and captures like the chess Knight.
CLERIC - The Cleric (a stack of Peasant and Red Stone) moves and captures like the chess Bishop.
BANKER - The Banker (a stack of two Peasants) moves and captures like the chess Rook.

Captured Red Stones and Blue Stones become the property of the attacker and may be played in subsequent turns. Captured Peasants are removed entirely from the game.

The game is lost by the player who has no Peasants on the field.

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Game: Cowboys

Invented and implemented by Chris Huntoon, February 2003.

Cowboys is a variant of the territorial game Amazons.

The White-hats and the Black-hats are having a gunfight. Each turn consists of two parts, and both parts are mandatory. First, a Cowboy must ride his horse, moving a piece like a Chess Knight. Then, the Cowboy who just moved uses his pistol to shoot a Bullethole into the board. The Bullethole must be exactly a Knight's move away from its present position. This will not only limit his opponent's moves, but also his own. Once a space has been shot with a Bullethole it can not be landed on for the remainder of the game.

There are no captures.
The first player that cannot finish his turn, looses.

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Game: Cows and Leopards

Implemented by Karl Scherer, December 2000.


Source for all variants: book 'Board and Table Games I' by R.C. Bell.

Object: The 2 Leopards try to kill all 24 Cows. The Cows try to trap the Leopards.

You start by placing one of your Leopards. Capture is by jumping. You may move as soon as the second Leopard is dropped. Moves are orthogonally or diagonally.

The Cows can only move when all are dropped. The Cows cannot capture.

Since in the original game the Cows have an easy win, I added the following three versions:
Variant 2: the Cows may not be dropped at any of the 12 corners of the board.
Variant 3: there are only 20 Cows vs 2 Leopards.
Variant 4: No cowdrops at corners, here are only 20 Cows vs 2 Leopards.

Variant 5: a version of the game '16 Soldiers'.
Variant 6: the game '23 Soldiers'.


For more freeware as well as real puzzles and games see my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

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Game: Cross-Endodoi

Created by W. D. Troyka, January 2002.


Cross-Endodoi is a variant of the game Endodoi, also available on Zillions. Cross-Endodoi follows all the rules of Endodoi except that holes with an odd number of beans sow clockwise, whereas holes with an even number continue to sow counterclockwise. As in Cross-Wari and Cross-Kalah, the effect of this rule change is to create new tactics for keeping pieces on your side of the board and for controlling the direction of sowing. Sowing occurs in a whipsaw fashion, with beans sowed in one direction only to have the beans in the drop hole picked up and sowed in the reverse direction. By toggling holes from even- flowing to odd-flowing, the opportunities for sowing into an empty hole on your side (and thus threatening capture) are substantially increased.

For a complete statement of the rules, please read the "Game Description" in the Help menu. Cross-Endodoi comes with four variants.

Please send any comments or bug reports to dtroyka@justice.com.
For a list of other Mancala games available on Zillions, check out the Mancala download page.

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Game: Cross-Kalah

Created by W. D. Troyka, May 2001.


Cross-Kalah is a variant of the Mancala game Kalah. Cross-Kalah follows all the rules of Kalah except that holes with an odd number of beans sow clockwise, whereas holes with an even number continue to sow counterclockwise. As in Cross-Wari, the effect of this rule change is to create new tactics for keeping pieces on your side of the board and for controlling the direction of sowing. These tactics are more pronounced in Cross-Kalah because of the nature of capturing. By toggling holes from even-flowing to odd-flowing, the opportunities for sowing into an empty hole on your side (and thus threatening capture) are substantially increased.

For a complete statement of the rules, please read the "Game Description" in the Help menu. Cross-Kalah comes with four variants.

NOTE: Kalah has been substantially updated. A few bugs in the capturing rules have been fixed, hole capacity has been increased from 24 to 36 beans, and the code has been optimized in order to avoid loading problems that some users experienced.
Wari and Cross-Wari have also been updated (again!) to take advantage of ZoG v.1.3, to resolve a compatibility issue, and to correct a minor bug in the capturing logic.
If you have already downloaded these games, I recommend that you download the new versions: Kalah v.2.0, Wari v.3.0, and Cross-Wari v.1.1 (look in the "History" section to see what version you are playing).
Please note that if you are using a "p" version of ZoG, you must upgrade to v.1.3p to play any of these Mancala games.

Please send any comments or bug reports to dtroyka@justice.com.

For more Mancala games available on Zillions, check out the Mancala game page.

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Game: Cross-Wari

Created by W. D. Troyka, May 2001.


Cross-Wari is a variant of the traditional Mancala game Wari. Cross-Wari follows all the rules of Wari except that holes with an odd number of beans sow clockwise, whereas holes with an even number continue to sow counterclockwise. This results in new tactics that permit you to keep beans on your side of the board or to control the direction of sowing. If the flow of beans in Wari can be described as a direct current, the flow in Cross-Wari is an alternating current.

For a complete statement of the rules, please read the "Game Description" in the Help menu. Cross-Wari comes with four variants.

NOTE: Wari has been substantially revised to include three new variants, to increase hole capacity from 24 beans to 36 beans, and to optimize the code. If you previously downloaded the game, I recommend that you download the new version.

Please send any comments or bug reports to dtroyka@justice.com.

For more Mancala games available on Zillions, check out the Mancala game page.

Updated 05/26/01
fixed capturing bug and compatibility with Zillions v1.3.

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Game: Crosscram (or Domineering)

Implemented by Jukka-Pekka Ikaheimonen.

Crosscram is a version of Cram, a game known since the 1950's. Two players place domino-shaped pieces on a square board. Whoever places the last piece, wins; in the misËre (reverse) version the player who plays last loses. In normal Cram players can put their dominoes either way, vertically or horizontally, but in CrossCram one player always plays horizontally whereas the other player always plays vertically.

Some analysis of the game is found in the book "Knotted Doughnuts and Other Mathematical Entertainments", by Martin Gardner.

This rule file has three different board sizes: 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8. With normal and misére play the number of variations is thus six.

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