Educational Games run with Zillions

Game: Gonnect

Invented by Joao Pedro Neto © 2000.
Rules file and graphics by W. D. Troyka, May 2002


Gonnect is a popular connection game that incorporates the rules of Go. It was invented by Joao Pedro Neto in 2000 and featured in an article in Issue 6 of Abstract Games Magazine. The game is available for e-mail play at Richard's PBeM server at www.gamerz.net, and game strategy is discussed at Neto's World of Abstract Games site.

The game is played on the points of a 13x13 square grid. The players take turns placing stones on empty points on the board, with Black going first. The object of the game is to form a chain of friendly stones connecting two opposite sides of the board. A player can win by connecting the top edge to the bottom edge, or the left edge to the right edge. The four corner points count in both left-right and top-bottom connections. Diagonally adjacent stones are not connected.

Gonnect incorporates the capture rules of Go. If placing a stone results in the complete surrounding of an enemy group of stones, with no holes in that group, then the entire enemy group is captured and removed from the board. Both friendly stones and the board edge are counted when determining whether an enemy group is surrounded. The empty points adjacent to a group of connected friendly stones are called that group's 'liberties.' Capturing occurs when the liberty of a group is reduced to zero. A single stone is considered a group of one. Only orthogonal connnections are considered in determining captures and counting liberties. A player cannot commit suicide by placing a stone into a group whose liberties are reduced to zero as a result of the move. Capturing moves are always permitted and can never constitute a prohibited suicide.

Gonnect also uses the Go rule of "Ko," which is described in detail in the "Game Description" section under the Help menu. Unlike in Go, players cannot pass in Gonnect. This means that the two-eyed groups considered uncapturable in Go can in fact be captured in Gonnect. As the board fills up, a player may be forced to drop a stone into one of two eyes in a friendly group, thus permitting the opponent to play a stone in the remaining eye and capture the group.

Gonnect adopts the 'pie' rule commonly used in Hex. White has the option of changing places with Black on the first turn. This rule discourages Black from seeking a first-move advantage.


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

Updated 07/27/02
guaranteed 100% bug-free now

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Game: Gorgon

Created by Chris Huntoon, May 2001.

Object: Completely immobilize your opponent's forces.

A Gorgon moves diagonally forward, sliding to an adjacent empty square. A Gorgon may petrify an opponent's piece by jumping over it to a vacant square on the other side. A petrified piece is unable to move and blocks the space it occupies for the remainder of the game. Jumps may be in any of the five nonretreating directions: vertically, diagonally forward, and sideways. Multiple jumps are possible.

The top and bottom of the board are considered to be connected, as if forming a tube. A piece leaving one edge will be re-entered at the appropriate space on the other edge.

The first player unable to make a move on his turn, loses.

Updated 01/18/03
forced variant added

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Game: Gradient 4

Invented (1993) and implemented by László Nagy, February 2001.


Just like Vertical Tic-Tac-Toe but here the arrows on the board show where the disk will drop. The player first depositing his four disks in a row will win. The first player to move should deposit his disk only on an arrowhead...

The game is played on four 3x3 CONNECT4 boards, each rotated at an angle of 90 degrees from each other, and the winning four can be achieved on the common part of the boards...

It's a popular game in Hungary for approx. six years.

Updated 10/20/01
added variants

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Game: Grand Camelot

Invented by George S. Parker in 1932.
Rules file and graphics by W. D. Troyka, May 2002


Grand Camelot is a four-handed partnership version of George S. Parker's famous boardgame Camelot. The original Camelot was invented by Parker in 1887, and Grand Camelot was released in 1932. To learn more about Grand Camelot and other variations of Camelot, please visit the web site of the World Camelot Federation at http://communities.msn.com/worldcamelotfederation.

Grand Camelot is played on a 16x16 board with 19 squares removed from each corner to give the board a roundish appearance. Two spaces protrude from each of the board's four sides. These are called the "castles." There are four players who form two partnerships: Red and Blue versus Green and Yellow. The turn order is Red Green Blue Yellow. The object of the game is for a partnership to move two of its pieces into the opponents' castles. A player can move his pieces only into the castle on the opposite side of the board, called the "goal" castle. For example, Red's pieces can occupy only the castle squares behind Green in the initial array. A partnership wins when any two opponent castle squares are occupied. A victory for the Red-Blue partnership could consist of two Red pieces in the Green castle, two Blue pieces in the Yellow castle, or one in each. You also win by capturing all of the opposing partnership's pieces, provided your partnership has at least two pieces remaining. A draw is declared if both partnerships are reduced to a single piece. If one player loses all his pieces, his partner can continue to play, with the depleted player's turn treated as a pass. A player who has no moves forfeits the turn. The Knight graphic in the upper left corner keeps track of whose turn it is. If it is your turn and you have no move, click the Knight to forfeit your turn.

Each player starts the game with twelve pieces, consisting of eight Men and four Knights. A Man has three basic moves. It may move one space in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. This is called the "plain" move. It may jump over a friendly adjacent piece and continue jumping, at its option, as long as friendly pieces remain to be jumped. This move is called "cantering." And it may jump over an enemy piece, thereby capturing it, in which case it must continue jumping as long as captures are available. A Man may not canter and capture in the same move.

The Knight has all the moves of the Man plus one important addition, called the Knight's "charge." A charge consists of a cantering move (or series) followed by capturing. Once a Knight makes a capture, it must continue making captures if available and may not return to cantering.

Circular canters, i.e., canters that return to an already visited square, are not permitted. Visited squares are indicated by flags, which are cleared at the end of the cantering sequence. To pass on further canters, click the piece and move it to the indicated off-board position in the lower left or upper right corner of the board. The piece will not actually change location.

Capturing is compulsory but there is no requirement of choosing a path of maximal captures. A player is not required to make a Knight's charge, with the exception that when a capture is directly available, the player may satisfy the compulsory capture rule through a Knight's charge. When cantering a Knight must make a capture if one becomes directly available but may do so through a charge.

Special rules govern the castle. Once a piece enters its goal castle, it may never leave. A piece in a goal castle is permitted to move laterally twice during the game. A piece can enter a non-goal castle only when capturing, in which case the piece must be moved out as soon as possible. If the piece cannot move out through another capture on the same turn, then it must be moved out on the next turn (even if this means declining a capture elsewhere on the board). When moving out of the castle, priority is given to capturing or charge moves.

The Green player was White in the original production of Grand Camelot. To make the Green pieces White, and to see a notation key, select Switch Piece Set from the View menu.


Special thanks to Michael W. Nolan for his help in developing this script.

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

Please note: Grand Camelot requires Zillions of Games version 1.3 (or higher)!

Updated 10/12/02
modified notation key graphics; corrected capture bug

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Game: Gro

Invented by Greg Turner, © 1999
Implemented by Stephen Tavener, July 2000


Gro, or the Battle for the Petri Dish
Objective: Gain exclusive control of 3 out of 4 corners (corner spaces are denoted by the dots).

1st move: place a germ in the dish.
On subsequent moves, either:
(a) move a piece to any adjacent space
(b) divide to an adjacent space, or
(c) grow.

Note that all pieces require at least one liberty or they die. In addition, a small piece requires two liberties to grow into a medium piece. A medium piece requires two liberties to divide or move, and three liberties to grow into a large piece. And a large piece requires 3 liberties to divide or move.
A liberty is an orthogonally adjacent empty space. Pieces cannot commit suicide, but they may make a move which is only legal after any captures have been dealt with.


You'll find more rules files for download on Stephen Tavener's web site at http://www.scat.demon.co.uk/free.html

You should extract from the downloaded zip file preserving path names.

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Game: Groups

Groups game © 1998 Richard Hutnik;
implemented by W. D. Troyka, December 2002.


Groups is played on an 8x8 board. Each player has six pieces. The board is empty at the beginning of the game. The players take turns dropping their pieces onto the 4x4 square in the middle of the board. White drops its pieces only onto the checker pattern defined by c4, c6, d3, d5, e4, e6, f4, and f6. Black drops its pieces only onto the other center squares. After all twelve pieces are placed on the board, the players take turn moving a piece one space in any direction -- orthogonal or diagonal -- to an empty square. The first player to connect all six pieces orthogonally is the winner. In a winning connection, it is possible to move from any piece to any other friendly piece by moving only through orthogonally adjacent friendly pieces.

Groups is related to Lines of Action, with the differences being that pieces in Groups move only one space, only orthogonal connections count, there are no captures, and the game begins with a drop phase. The game also bears a resemblance to Teeko, with the movement of pieces to attain a configuration, although in Groups a winning configuration can take any form provided all pieces are orthogonally connected.

In the Fixed Set-up variants, the pieces begin the game already on the board and there is no drop phase.
In the Queen variants, all pieces can move like a Queen to an empty square.
In the Jumping variants, all pieces can jump over a piece of either player.

For more information on Groups, please visit Richard Hutnik's web site at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/7537/index.html.

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

Updated 01/11/03
jumping move added (by Richard Hutnik)

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Game: Hageby

Created by Markus Salo, January 2003.

Both players take turns placing their five pieces on the board. However, the first player cannot place his first piece on the red space. When done, the pieces are can be moved along the lines to the next space.
Enemy pieces are captured by jumping. Capturing is obligatory. Multiple capture jumps must be made if possible.
The goal is to capture all enemy pieces or move your last piece on the red space.

This game is a variant of my earlier game 'Villbergen'. Like its precessor, this game has a very simple rule set and board but still a lot depth and strategy.
The game is very challenging and the computer opponent is hard to beat.

The name 'Hageby' is the name of a suburb in my beloved Norrköping, Sweden.

Updated 09/20/03
changed win condition: you'll have to move your last piece on the yellow square

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Game: Hageby for three

Created by Markus Salo, July 2003.

The three players take turns placing their six pieces on the board. When done, the pieces are can be moved along the lines to the next space.
Enemy pieces are captured by jumping. Capturing is obligatory. Multiple capture jumps must be made if possible.
The goal is to capture all enemy pieces or have your last piece on the marked space.

This game is a three player variant of my earlier game 'Hageby'. Like its precessor, this game has a very simple rule set and board but still a lot depth and strategy. The game is very challenging and the computer opponent is hard to beat.

The name 'Hageby' is the name of a suburb in my beloved Norrköping, Sweden.

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Game: Halfbreed

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 2001


Object: end up with more disks than your opponent. (8 variants)

Black and White alternate putting disks on vacant squares from an initial opening position.
Each disk must be placed so that it sandwiches a series of disks. The sandwiched disks must be either enemy disks or 'Halfbreeds' or a mix of both.
Sandwiched enemy disks turn to Halfbreeds, sandwiched Halfbreeds change to your colour.
Halfbreeds are neutral.

If one player can't move, he must pass his turn. The game ends when neither side can move, usually when the whole board is filled. The winner is the player with the most pieces of his color.

Variant 2 : The sandwiched pieces nust be either all enemy pieces or all Halfbreeds.
Variants 3, ..., 8: Like variants 1 and 2, but on larger boards.

Halfbreed is closely related to Reversi.


More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

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Game: Halma Star

Halma invented by Sid Sackson.
Implemented by Karl Scherer, August 2002.


Object: Move all your tokens to the opposite turf. (9 variants)

The pieces may shift or jump; there are no captures. There are also draw-avoiding rules. For details see the game descriptions of the various games.

Please note that there are two alternative piece sets available.

Included are 3 zrf files (each comprising 3 variants):

Halma Star I : Home turf must be empty after 40th move
Halma Star II : Only forward moves allowed
Halma Star III : Jumps in home turf forced after 30th move

Additional draw-avoiding rules and special Bonus System for better computer-play (see Halma Star III) by the author.


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

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Game: Harlequinade

Harlequinade © 2000 by Darren Izzard

The board consists of nine squares, each of which is made up of four cells. If a square contains only your pieces, and none of your opponent's, you "own" that square. The object of the game is to become the owner of three squares on the board in a horizontal or vertical line.

There are four variants included, which are basically different starting layouts. The default one seems, to me, to produce the most interesting games.

(By the way, if you're wondering why I called it "Harlequinade," it's mainly due to the pattern I designed into the board. But I reckon it seems to fit the game generally!)

You should extract from the downloaded zip file preserving path names.

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Game: Havoc

Created by Chris Huntoon, January 2003.

The board begins empty. Both players have a set of 18 pieces. They are numbered 1 through 9 and they have two of each number. The game consists of two phases: deployment of forces and the claiming of territory.

In the first phase, Red begins and places any numbered piece anywhere on the board. The players then alternate until all the pieces are used up and the board is filled.

Since Blue moved second during the deployment phase, he moves first during the claiming phase. A player may claim any space occupied by an opponent's number as long as they have a number of equal or higher value orthogonally adjacent to it. A space is claimed by the planting of a Flag. Once a space is claimed with a Flag it may not be reclaimed by an opponent.

A player who has no move must pass. The other player can continue planting Flags as long as possible. The player with the most pieces on the board at the end of the game wins.

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Game: Hearts (cards)

Implemented by Jeff Roy, January 2002.


This game plays one hand of the card game Hearts. The object is to avoid winning tricks that contain any of the 13 hearts or the queen of spades.

To deal the cards, press the DEAL button. After the cards are dealt, press the PLAY button to begin play. The human player leads (any card) to the first trick. The other players follow in order, playing a card of the same suit as the card led, if possible, or otherwise playing any card. The highest card of the suit led takes the trick. The winner of a trick leads the first card to the next trick. To take a trick, simply click on the card that you want to lead to the next trick (or click FINISH if it is the last trick).

A player taking a trick receives one point for every heart in the trick, and thirteen points if the queen of spades is in the trick. The object of the game is to take the fewest points, or to take every single point ('shoot the moon'). A player who shoots the moon wins the game. If no player shoots the moon, then the player with the most points loses.

Note that due to the limitations of Zillions, this game plays only one hand, players do not pass cards before play begins, and your hand is not sorted by suit.


Hearts dates from the 1800s and is a variation on older 'nullo' games, in which the object is to lose tricks rather than taking them.

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Game: Hex

Hex invented by both Piet Hein and John Nash,
Implemented by Jeff Roy, July 2000.

Try to create a continuous chain of pieces linking your two sides of the board.

Hex is traditionally played on an 11x11 board. This implementation uses smaller boards, and the first player is prohibited from playing his first piece onto the center.

Note that the referee is not actually a player (he just checks to see whether someone has won), so don't try to play him.

This is a beta release. Please report bugs to me at jeffrey_a_roy@yahoo.com.

Hex was discovered independently by Piet Hein and John Nash.


In general, the best offense is a good defense. Focus on preventing your opponent from forming an unbroken chain rather than on forming your own chain.

With perfect play, the first player can always force a win. A draw is impossible in this game.

Updated 11/11/00
fixed problems with Zillions 1.2.1; improved computer play; updated graphics; added bonus game Snakes.

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Game: Hex-Tac-Toe

Created by W. D. Troyka, © 2001


This 3-player tic-tac-toe variant is played on a small (19-space) hex board. As in tic-tac-toe, the object is to get three of your pieces in a row. The players take turns placing pieces on the board. The design of the hex board allows an extra direction along which to form lines.

Although the game is fully determined (it's easy to work out all move combinations), no single player can force a win or a draw. Any two players can always prevent the third from winning.

This raises interesting strategic issues. When players form alliances, only one can win. Often the losing player can decide who wins by choosing which threat to block.

Hex-Tac-Toe comes in three board sizes with three, four, or five hexes to a side.

Updated 09/08/01
conformed rules of 3rd variant to the first two.

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Game: Hexapawn

Invented by Martin Gardner, March 1962,
implemented by Robert Price, October 2001.

2 Players
33 Variants

Hexapawn is played on a 3x3 board as pictured below. Pawns move as in Chess, except there is no double step. You win if you "promote" one of your Pawns (that is, get it to the final rank). You lose if it is your turn and you cannot move.

The variants are versions of the game on larger boards, and with Berolina or Berolina Plus Pawns. A Berolina Pawn moves diagonally forward without capturing, and captures straight ahead. A Berolina Plus Pawn moves as a Berolina pawn, but can also capture to the side.

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Game: HexDame

HexDame game & art work © 1995-1999 by Christian Freeling
HexDame.zrf Rules File © 2000 by Ed van Zon

HexDame is the hexagonal translation of 'International Draughts/Checkers', which I will refer to as Dame. The rules of Dame as put down in 1723 by a Polish citizen of Paris, in my opinion, cannot be improved. HexDame follows them literally.

A complete illustrated description of the rules is included in the download.

The image below depicts a beautiful HexDame problem, White to play and win, that was composed by Leo Springer, an endgame expert in Dame.

Please note: HexDame requires Zillions of Games version 1.2 (or higher)!

Updated 11/04/00
Improved implementation.

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Game: HexEmergo

Invented by Christian Freeling and Ed van Zon, 1985
implemented by Ed van Zon, March 2003


HexEmergo - the hexagonal variant of Emergo - is a column checkers game.
Zillions plays HexEmergo a lot stronger than Emergo, since it's a much more tactical game.

Like checkers type games and Bushka, column checkers is about a simple two-men-three-squares scenario: put a black and a white man on adjacent squares. Now the white man can jump the black man, landing on the third (vacant) square and removing the jumped man from play. That's checkers type capture. Alternatively, the white man can jump the black man and taking it along underneath as a prisoner, landing on the third square. That's column checkers capture.

Now with a little imagination, one can see a man capturing several men as prisoners in a multiple capture. Next imagine this piece itself is jumped by the opponent: the guard is captured and the prisoners are now released! This released column can now in turn start to make prisoners and these will buried under several guards - to release them, the piece must be jumped a corresponding number of times!
That's the general idea, and the most significant difference with checkers type capture is that no pieces ever leave the board! Obviously a win is achieved by capturing all the opponent's men.

A complete and illustrated explanation of the rules is included in the download.


Emergo derives from the Latin 'Luctor et Emergo', the motto of the Dutch province of Zeeland, and meaning 'I wrestle and emerge'. You'll find this name to be very appropriate.
HexEmergo originates in the game Lasca, invented by the legendary world champion Chess Emanuel Lasker.

HexEmergo is just one of the games invented by Christian Freeling; they can all be seen, and some of them played, on the internet in the MindSports ArenA.

Hexagonal Emergo is featured in R. Wayne Schmittberger's "New Rules for Classic Games" (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York - ISBN 0-471-53621-0) and in Games Magazine (February 1986).

Please note: HexEmergo requires Zillions of Games version 2.0 (or higher)!

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Game: Hexi

Designed by Stephen Tavener, July 2000
based on OCTI™ (US patent # 6,182,967) by Donald Green


Objective: To win, get any of your pieces onto one of your opponent's Hexi spaces (shown in blue on the board).

Hexi
Each player starts with 5 pieces (pods) and 19 prongs. A move consists of either:
(a) adding a prong to a piece
(b) moving a piece in the direction of one of its prongs
(c) dropping a pod on an empty Hexi space (some variants only)
(d) making one or more jumps in the direction of a prong.

When jumping, you may choose to capture any jumped piece - friend or enemy.

Hexi for Kids
Also included is Hexi for Kids - a simplified version of the program which is easier for children (and computers) to play. In this version:
- players have unlimited prongs
- jumping an opponent's piece always captures it
- jumping a friendly piece never results in a capture.


You'll find more rules files for download on Stephen Tavener's web site at http://scat.demon.co.uk/free.html

OCTI
You can find out more about OCTI at http://www.octi.net/.
There's an OCTI for Kids available for Zillions of Games.
OCTI™ is a registered trademark.

You should extract from the downloaded zip file preserving path names.

Updated 03/03/02
Fixed image loading in the variants.

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Game: Heximondas

Invented and implemented by Keith Carter, April 2002


Heximondas is based on Epaminondas © 1975 Robert Abbott
Epaminondas, is often described as a modern classic.

Heximondas owes a lot to W. D. Troyka. The functional core of this rules file, the majority of the documentation, the audio, the game pieces, and the color scheme of the board were all derived from his work on Epaminondas for Zillions and are used with his permission.


The object of the game is to move a piece into the win zone. For the base game that is the three farthest hexes . In the Full Win Zone variant that is the entire far row. Motion in the game is performed by phalanx. A phalanx in the game consists of a line of adjacent pieces that moves together any number of spaces up unto the number of pieces contained in the phalanx. A phalanx that encounters a smaller enemy phalanx elimates the enemy phalanx.

When a player moves a piece into the winning zone, the opponent is given a grace move to equalize the situation by capturing the piece just moved or by moving a piece itself onto its far row. A win is declared when a player has a piece on the far row (or one more piece than the opponent has on its far row) and the opponent has completed the grace move without equalizing the situation. Repetition is a loss. See the game description within the game for a complete description of the rules.


Please send comments and feedback to keith@tsongas.com.

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