Rules of Psycho

Copyright (c) Christian Freeling

Psycho is a game of simultaneous movement. From 2 to 6 player may compete.

       a   b   c   d   e
     +---+---+---+---+---+
   5 |   |   |   |   |   | 5
     +---+---+---+---+---+
   4 |   |   |   |   |   | 4
     +---+---+---+---+---+
   3 |   |   |   |   |   | 3
     +---+---+---+---+---+
   2 |   |   |   |   |   | 2
     +---+---+---+---+---+
   1 |   |   |   |   |   | 1
     +---+---+---+---+---+
       a   b   c   d   e

Starting the Game

Each player starts with 5 stones in one space.

The original rules state that the players agree on a starting position. This server chooses random spaces for the players to start on, excluding the center space.

You may change the number of stones each player starts with by giving a -stones parameter to the challenge command. e.g.

     psycho challenge sneezy grumpy bashful doc -stones=3

Moves

On each turn, a player places the same number of stones as he has in his fullest space. Thus on the first turn, each player plays five stones.

Moves are specified as a comma separated list of number of stones and the coordinates to place them on.
e.g.

     1a2,1a3,3c3
     5b2
     3-e1,2-a4
     1a2,1a2,1a3,1a4,1a5

Processing a Round

When all players have submitted their moves, all stones are placed on the board as specified. Then follows a process of elimination.

If more than one player occupies a space, one stone of each player is removed from that space, until only one player (or no players) remains.

Winning the Game

After the round is processed, whichever player has the most 5-in-a-rows is the winner. Lines of 5 may be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

If more than one player has the same number of 5-in-a-rows, any other players are eliminated, and the game continues. Stones belonging to eliminated players remain on the board.

If a player runs out of stones, he is out of the game.