GYGES
Copyright (c) 1984 Claude Leroy
This game is played on the following 8x6 board:
Each player starts with 6 pieces off board: two singles, two doubles and two triples.
- SETUP - Each player places his 6 pieces on his second row.
- TURN - On each turn, each player must move one of the pieces that are in his closest row (that row is called the shore).
- The pieces don't belong to either player. They are shared and may be moved by both players.
- A single moves one cell, a double moves two cells and a triple moves three cells.
- The movement must be orthogonally sideway or forward thru empty cells (no jumps) except the last cell that may be occupied. In that case, the player must do one of two actions:
- BOUNCE - The piece occupying that cell is bounced, i.e., the player must move it (which may produce another bouncing and so on...).
- If a bouncing piece cannot move, all the move sequence is invalid.
- Within a bouncing sequence, the player cannot use the same cell twice.
- RELOCATE - The piece occupying that cell is placed on any empty cell behind the opponent's shore.
- A player with no valid moves must pass.
- The first/last rows cannot be used in a moving sequence (except as the last cell move which wins the game)
- KO - A move cannot repeat the previous board position.
- GOAL - Wins the player that moves one piece to the opponent's first row.
An example North's turn. North must move the triple at a6 (the only piece on his shore). However he can win with the following bouncing sequence: a6-c5-c4-a4-a3-b1 (this last one must be a3-b3-b2-b1 and not a3-a2-a1-b1 which is invalid because the last row was used during the move sequence and not only in the last move to win).
More information about Gyges could be found here before the link went dead around 2004. Here's the original text:
- To: pbmserv-users@gamerz.net
- Subject: Help gyges
- From: Jerome Zago <jzago@ifhamy.insa-lyon.fr>
- Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 00:06:45 +0200
- Organization: INSA de Lyon
- Sender: owner-pbmserv-users@gamerz.net
- User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i
Here are the rules of a very unknown abstract game called Gyges. I've just translated them from french, the author of this game is actually Claude Leroy (http://jeuxsoc.free.fr/g/gyges.htm). It would be nice to play this game on Richard's Play-By-eMail Server in the future. I would be more than happy to write the needed code, even (I'm a computer science engineer when I'm not playing games *grin*), preferably under a Free Software license, so if you're interested... Agt the Walker. Help for Gyges Introduction Welcome to the network Gyges server. The rules of Gyges are below. The commands are the same for all pbmserv games. Rules of Gyges Copyright (c) 1984 Claude Leroy (http://jeuxsoc.free.fr/g/gyges.htm). All rights reserved. Here they have been translated from french, I hope Claude or his current editor won't mind... Starting the Game The two players, "South" and "North", each receive 6 rings (2 singles or aces, 2 doubles, 2 triples). "South", then "North", place their 6 rings *in any order* on their respective starting row. N -> "North" goal . . . . . . -> "North" starting row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -> "South" starting row S -> "South" goal Each slot on the 6x6 board is orthogonally connected to their immediate neighbors (like a Go board). Each player's goal is connected to every slot of their starting row. The game is won by landing any ring on your opponent's goal. Movement Rules On your turn ("South" starts), you move a ring from slot to slot by following the connections. A single ring can only move through one connection, a double ring through two (different) connections (i.e. one empty slot), and a triple ring through three different connections (i.e. two empty slots). For instance (X is a possible move, . an empty slot): X X X or like this: X 1 X X . X X . X X X . 2 . X X . . . X 3 . X . X . X X . . 3 . . X X . 3 . X X . . . X X . X . 3 . X X . X . 3 Recognizing your Rings There are no "white" or "black" pieces, like in Chess or Go for instance. Actually, you can only play your "proximes", i.e. the rings on the closest row from your goal. That particular row is called "shore". 1 2 3 4 5 6 N . 3 . . . . 6 . . 2 1 . . 5 . 2 1 2 3 . 4 . 1 1 3 2 . 3 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . 3 1 S On that diagram, the shores are still the starting rows (1 and 6). Therefore North and South can only play one triple ring each. If South plays 16-46 and North plays 62-41, then the shores become rows 3 and 5. Bouncing Indeed, your move can use other rings, that is if your ring lands on another ring at the end of its movement, then it can borrow that other ring's movement, and so on. 1 2 3 4 5 6 N . . . . . . 6 3 . . . . . 5 . . 1 . 1 . 4 1 . 2 3 . 3 3 3 . 2 2 . 1 2 . . . . 2 . 1 S Here North can reach South's goal (therefore win) by playing 51-43-33-31-21-(11-12-)S. South playing before North can ward off that threat by playing 15-26-36-66, which becomes North's new proxime (her shore is now row 6). Eurydice's Taboo Whether your move includes bounces or not, you cannot use the same connection several times... but you can reuse the same slot ! 1 2 3 4 5 6 N . . . . . . 6 1 . . . . . 5 3 . 2 3 . . 4 3 . 2 1 1 . 3 2 . 1 3 2 . 2 . . . . . . 1 S For instance, North's ace cannot win by 51-41-31-21-S since the 31-32 connection would be used twice: 51-41-(42-32-)31-(32-22-)21-(11-)S. Whereas South can win by 24-(14-15-)25-(24-)34-44-(54-64-)N although slot 24 is visited twice. The Goal You cannot go past either goal, and your goal can only be the destination of your opponent's last move. Relocation Instead of bouncing on another ring, you can put your ring there and relocate that other ring anywhere but past your opponent's shore. 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 N N N 2 1 3 1 3 2 6 2 1 3 1 3 2 6 2 1 3 . 3 2 6 . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . 4 --\ . . . 2 . . 4 --\ . . . 1 . . 4 . . . . . . 3 --/ . . . . . . 3 --/ . . . 2 . . 3 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 2 1 1 3 2 2 3 1 1 1 . 3 2 3 1 1 1 . 3 2 3 1 S S S For instance, from the starting position above, South can play 13x14=44, which means that instead of bouncing the triple (originally at 13) at 14, you put it there and relocate the double (originally at 14) to 44, which threatens 14-44-64-N. North can then ward off the threat by playing (for instance) 64x44=34, which also prevents South from reaching the two rings in the middle in her next move. Renop Law ("repetita non placent") You cannot play a move reproducing an anterior position. Stalemating When a player cannot play anymore (no legal moves), her opponent keeps moving till winning or till the stalemated player can play again: whichever event happens first. 1 2 3 4 5 6 N . 3 . 3 . 3 6 1 1 2 2 3 2 5 . . . 1 . . 4 . . . 1 . 2 3 . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 1 S Here North is stalemated, therefore South can win by 34-44-43; (here North is still stalemated) 43-53-N. Gyges Notation Here is a sample game: South North 1 231123 2 321123 3 16-35 4 61-53 5 15-24 6 66x65=21 7 13-14-24x35=33 8 62x53=36 9 14-24-35x36=43 10 64-54 11 12-33x54=14 12 65-35x36=34 13 Resign Because, for instance: 13 14-24-35-36-66 14 63-64 15 11-22 16 64-54-35-36-S N N N N N 3 2 1 1 2 3 . 2 1 1 2 3 . 2 1 1 3 . . . 1 1 3 . . . 1 . 3 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . 3 . . . . . 2 . . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . 3 . . . 3 . 1 3 . . 3 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 3 1 1 2 3 2 3 1 1 2 . 2 3 1 1 . . 2 3 . 1 . . 2 3 . . . . S S S S S N N N . . 1 . . . . . . 1 . 1 . . . . . 1 . . 2 3 . . . . 2 3 . . . . 2 3 . . . . 3 . . . . . 3 . . . . . 3 . . . . . 3 1 1 3 . . 3 1 1 3 . . 3 1 1 3 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 2 . 2 . . 2 . . 1 . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . S S 1 To play several moves in a row (stalemated opponent), split your moves with a semi-colon. For instance: 34-44-43; 43-53-N