Gipf
Yesterday was a happy day. It was a bright and warm, and devreux and I walked to Lulu's for dinner, and played some Ticket to Ride: Europe.
Additionally, our package with the remainder of the Gipf Project series arrived, which we've been looking forward to since I placed the order right after Christmas (the place I ordered from wasn't shipping anything until after New Year's).
Several of you are gamers or part of gamer couples. If you have any interest in games of the abstract-strategy genre -- go, chess, othello, etc. -- I would highly suggest looking into them, especially since they are all two-player, have fairly simple rules, and are not too expensive ($20-$40 range, depending on where you get them and which game). I admit to finding them visually striking as well. (Especially when devreux's aim is good. Ouch! Just kidding. *g*)
The project consists of three main parts, in my mind:
1. Gipf, the first game of the series, and the most modular of them all.
2. The other five games in the series* -- Tamsk, Zèrtz, Dvonn, Yinsh, and Pünct, each of which is excellent by itself.
3. Potentials, of which there are five kinds, named after Tamsk, Zèrtz, etc. They are the links in the project -- they are used only in Gipf and have unique powers in it. The designers encourage using them however you may choose to for a given session, anywhere from allowing only one kind of potential to all of them. Potentials may also be challenged in a variety of ways, anywhere from flipping a coin to (if you're ambitious) playing a round of the game associated with the potential. Basically, do what your skills, imagination, and time limit allow. :)
Gipf is a game of pushing -- get four in a row of your color, and those four are removed from the board, along with any others in a direct line. The ones of your color can be redeployed later, while your opponent's are captured, eventually causing one player to run out of pieces.
(And it makes a cool LJ icon.)
Tamsk is a game about timing -- move hourglasses around the board to capture territory, but if an hourglass runs out, it can't be moved again. As an example of potentials, the Tamsk potential allows an extra move in Gipf.
Zèrtz is a game about sacrifice -- picture checkers, but with an ever-shrinking board and both players playing with the same pieces, trying to achieve a winning combination of captures.
Dvonn is a game about stacking -- the tallest one wins!
Yinsh is a game about flipping -- flip markers to try to get five of your color in a row, but your opponent can flip them back just as easily, and for every row of five you complete, it becomes harder to complete the next.
Pünct is a game about connections -- try to connect opposite sides of a hexagon, though it's not as easy as it sounds!
*Sadly, the designer, upon completion of the project, decided that Tamsk didn't really fit in (I beg to differ!) and has announced a new game, Tzarr, to replace it this year. I'm not sure if Tamsk will continue to be produced or not, but certainly not as a Gipf project game. So I guess we don't *quite* have the whole series. But we'll keep playing Tamsk as a Gipf project game even after getting Tzarr!
Additionally, our package with the remainder of the Gipf Project series arrived, which we've been looking forward to since I placed the order right after Christmas (the place I ordered from wasn't shipping anything until after New Year's).
Several of you are gamers or part of gamer couples. If you have any interest in games of the abstract-strategy genre -- go, chess, othello, etc. -- I would highly suggest looking into them, especially since they are all two-player, have fairly simple rules, and are not too expensive ($20-$40 range, depending on where you get them and which game). I admit to finding them visually striking as well. (Especially when devreux's aim is good. Ouch! Just kidding. *g*)
The project consists of three main parts, in my mind:
1. Gipf, the first game of the series, and the most modular of them all.
2. The other five games in the series* -- Tamsk, Zèrtz, Dvonn, Yinsh, and Pünct, each of which is excellent by itself.
3. Potentials, of which there are five kinds, named after Tamsk, Zèrtz, etc. They are the links in the project -- they are used only in Gipf and have unique powers in it. The designers encourage using them however you may choose to for a given session, anywhere from allowing only one kind of potential to all of them. Potentials may also be challenged in a variety of ways, anywhere from flipping a coin to (if you're ambitious) playing a round of the game associated with the potential. Basically, do what your skills, imagination, and time limit allow. :)
Gipf is a game of pushing -- get four in a row of your color, and those four are removed from the board, along with any others in a direct line. The ones of your color can be redeployed later, while your opponent's are captured, eventually causing one player to run out of pieces.
(And it makes a cool LJ icon.)
Tamsk is a game about timing -- move hourglasses around the board to capture territory, but if an hourglass runs out, it can't be moved again. As an example of potentials, the Tamsk potential allows an extra move in Gipf.
Zèrtz is a game about sacrifice -- picture checkers, but with an ever-shrinking board and both players playing with the same pieces, trying to achieve a winning combination of captures.
Dvonn is a game about stacking -- the tallest one wins!
Yinsh is a game about flipping -- flip markers to try to get five of your color in a row, but your opponent can flip them back just as easily, and for every row of five you complete, it becomes harder to complete the next.
Pünct is a game about connections -- try to connect opposite sides of a hexagon, though it's not as easy as it sounds!
*Sadly, the designer, upon completion of the project, decided that Tamsk didn't really fit in (I beg to differ!) and has announced a new game, Tzarr, to replace it this year. I'm not sure if Tamsk will continue to be produced or not, but certainly not as a Gipf project game. So I guess we don't *quite* have the whole series. But we'll keep playing Tamsk as a Gipf project game even after getting Tzarr!