Questions tagged [variants]
Officially sanctioned optional rules only. This is not for house rules, see below!
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What's the name of this Connect 4 variant?
I'm being trying to find this variant.
It's a variant where, when you have a full column, you can place a disk into that column and push downwards, causing all the disks to go down one row except for ...
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Why was stone scoring (group tax) abandoned?
The game of go is said to have simple rules. Simpler, say, than chess, because there is no need to learn how pieces move. However, there are various rulesets (Japanese rules, Chinese rules, differing ...
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Strategy for Movable Tic Tac Toe
Movable Tic Tac Toe is similar to the classic game as it uses 3 x 3 matrix and has the same goal of winning, which is to align 3 X's or O's marks horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The ...
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Open lead in a variant of Spades, where players must play a winner if able (CallBreak)
CallBreak is an Indian variant of Spades, The rules differences from normal Spades are:
Solo (no partnerships)
Possible bids are from 1 to 8 (no Nil bids)
Players must play a stronger card than the ...
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Can you identify this likely chess variant?
I frequent a thrifting board game thread on BGG (BoardGameGeek). Recently a nice copy of a supposed chess variant appeared and we cannot seem to identify it.
From that post the game is described ...
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In spades, is a deuce of clubs considered a spade?
In Spades, is a deuce of clubs/hearts considered a spade? I played with some people that argued they consider their suit to be spade.
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Gin-Rummy with different number of cards
Official Gin-Rummy is played with 10 cards. I wish to implement in my game a shorter version with less cards. What are the common/recommended number of cards?
I guess that removing/adding ...
- 4,105
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Gin Rummy with Jokers
Is there any known variant of Gin-Rummy that includes the Jokers?
If yes then, what are the rules about jokers?
How much deadwood a joker counts?
Can be used only for Runs or also for Sets?
A ...
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Checkers - with customized starting setups and AI agents
Does anyone know a Checkers program that allows customized starting setups when playing vs an AI?
My current app - Dammen (in Dutch) - has the possibility to customize the setup, but then I have to ...
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What strategies are there for the “no forced jumps” variant of checkers?
In the standard rules of Checkers as it is played in tournaments and the like, jumps are mandatory, i.e. if it is possible for you to jump, you must jump, and if it possible to do jump again you must ...
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What are the rules for playing Four way Chess [closed]
In 4 way chess on what square do pawns get promoted?
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Winning strategy for NxN Tic-Tac-Toe
In a standard 3x3 Tic-Tac-Toe board, there is a strategy to win if the opponent makes a mistake. As far as I know, the strategy goes like:
Capture the centers
Capture the edges
Capture a square which ...
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Looking to identify an unusual type of solitaire
I went to college in the 1980s and someone there showed me an unusual way to play solitaire that I've played ever since. This game uses one standard deck of cards [no jokers].
Two rows of cards are ...
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1
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Barbu - should the declarer pass after every hand?
The wikipedia page for Barbu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbu_(card_game)#Preliminaries) states:
The declarer names each one of the contracts once. After this declarer
has played all seven ...
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How do Jokers change the bidding in Spades?
In the game of Spades, there are several popular jokers variations which add the two jokers, named big joker and small joker (BJ, SJ) to the ♠ suit while removing the 2♡,2♦.
In the simple jokers ...
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Spades - mirror variant
In Spades, the variant "Spades mirror" means that each player must bid exactly the number of Spades cards she got.
This variant remove the bidding phase of the game and leaves only the playing. Sums ...
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Player count variants for Pitch
Pitch is one of my favorite card games but it is sometimes hard to have the correct number of people to play. There are 2 main variants we play where 1 will play 4 people with fixed teams and the ...
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40k 8th Edition Unit Customization
TLDR
Has 40k lost a lot of its customization and character options?
Are the expected codices supposed to give more options/customization?
Can I take a unique item or character and modify it for my ...
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Crazyhouse Chess: is it possible to get all eighteen queens?
Over here it was previously discussed whether one can end up with all nine queens.
There is a variant of chess called Crazyhouse in which captured pieces may be reintroduced as the capturer's. In ...
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What is timing for Global Conflicts Variant in through the ages?
When playing the Global Conflicts Variant (in the Handbook) points are awarded at the end of Ages 1,2 and 3 for relative military strength. However what is the timing of this.
Does this happen as ...
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How do I play 4D Tic-Tac-Toe? [closed]
Quite simple, how do I play 4D TicTacToe? Anybody can imagine a dot. Anybody can imagine a line. Anybody can imagine a plane. Most people can imagine a solid. What about a four dimensional object? No ...
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Help me refind this 3d go variant - pieces can be stacked in a pyramid fashion
Quite a while back I stumbled upon a 3D variant of the game go. What I recall of the rules:
designed to be playable without extra equipment beyond go board and stones
played on a 9x9 grid
stones can ...
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Different between Capsa, Big two and Daifugō
Is there any rule difference between Capsa (Indonesia), Big two (USA) and Daifugō (Japan)?
Can someone explain it to me?
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What variants are there for the playing-card-based game "War"?
The game War is played with two decks of standard 52-card playing cards. Each player shuffles their deck into a draw pile. Simultaneously, each player turns over the top card. The player with the ...
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What is 5/5/2 variant of the Machi Koro?
Can someone explain this variant in details?
Do we need the expansions for this variant to work? Or is it also applicable to the base game?
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Does a Go variant on an infinite board exist?
I've just read the paper Better Computer Go Player with Neural Network and Long-term Prediction which seems to make a big step in direction of getting a better algorithm playing Go than any human.
...
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Can I legally make a boggle variant? [closed]
Is it legal to create a boggle version that has a different name, language and rules without being sued by hasbro?
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Whist Variant with points suit
This variant played as a normal Whist, with the last card dealt face-up to determine the trump suit. the other suit with the same color as the trump suit is now the point suit. For example, if ...
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Unusual Chinese Checkers jump that moves three spaces?
I recently found out about a rule where if one marble is 2 spaces away from another, and the next 3 spaces after it are unoccupied, you can jump 3 spaces? So if your marble is in one on the board, and ...
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Is the "snake" turn order for Blokus fairer than the traditional turn order?
My friends and I play pretty much everyday. I was wondering if a snake order is actually more fair than the traditional 1-4 with the last person being at a disadvantage.
Snake turn order would have ...
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"A player must capture as many pieces as possible." What happens if he doesn't?
There's a rule that says "A player must capture as many pieces as possible." What happens in the event a player didn't see the move with the most captures, and makes a move that takes fewer? What ...
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What is this game, played with chess board and pieces, but with totally different rules?
Multiple decades ago, I was introduced to a game as described in the title of this question. What I can remember of it is:
The two rooks had different functions. They were distinguished by placing ...
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Are there any playable Twilight Imperium 2 player variants?
I love TI 3rd edition, but can't always get together 3 players willing to commit the amount of time it takes to play a game.
Are there any 2 player variants of this game?
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Baker's Dozen: rule about kings
I've seen various versions of the rules of "Baker's Dozen" (e.g. on about.com, Wikipedia) stating that the rule for kings is simply that they are placed to the bottom of the column they end up in.
...
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Can House Arryn be used under the rules of the base game?
In the Feast for Crows expansion a new house (House Arryn) was introduced along with a new set of rules for a 4 player game that changed the way you scored victory points. Is it possible to use House ...
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How can I balance mandatory quests in two-player games of Lords of Waterdeep?
I am looking for a variant to balance out mandatory quests when playing 2 player. I understand that normally they are powerful, and exist as a catch up mechanic, allowing all players to target the ...
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Must all three men be on the back line at once in Little Wars' "Blow to the rear" Variation?
On page 56 of Little Wars, Wells writes,
The Blow at the Rear game is decided when at least three men of one force reach any point in the back line of their antagonist. He is then supposed to have ...
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How to counter oddities of Shade-Tree Checkers? (long distance king jumps, etc)
I know someone who played checkers with a guy, and he plays with non-standard rules. People he plays with have their own rules, in this case, he played where the kinged checkers piece can jump ...
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Where can I find more Brood War scenarios?
The Brood War expansion of Starcraft introduces the idea of the Scenario Game Mode, which basically comprises a pregenerated galaxy setup with special victory conditions. Often, playing scenarios ...
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What's the point of the covered character in the Bang! 2-player variant?
The official two-player variant rules say that at the start of the game, you get two character cards, and you choose one to be your "exposed" character and one to be your "covered" character. You can ...
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Promised future trades as part of legal trades? (Solution described, alternatives/comments requested)
When making a trade in Settlers of Catan, there is no official rule encouraging or prohibiting making a promise (to make a certain type of trade or perform some kind of action in the future) during a ...
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Opening strategies in Chess 960 (Fisher Random Chess)
I had a go at Chess 960 the other day, but whereas I thought I might do better against the computer as it didn't have an opening book, in fact the opposite happened as it quickly found holes in my ...
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Chess variant that allows humans to be competitive vs computers
It seems that computers can beat the majority of chess players out there, and at the current rate in which distributed computing is going, it seems like the #1 chess player out there will be computers ...
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How to speed up a game of Empire Builder?
Are there any rules variants that I can use to speed up a game of Empire Builder? I love playing Empire Builder, but the fact that it takes so long tends to put off some of my friends.
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Is there a variant of chess such that in the starting position Bishops and Knights are switched?
White's back row would look like this: RBNQKNBR and Black's would undergo an equivalent change.
Where can I learn more about this variant/play this variant with someone experienced?
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How can I play a short/small, but still satisfying round of Diplomacy?
I liked playing Diplomacy back in university, where I had almost no problem gathering seven people with a whole day (including the nights) to spend.
Nowadays however, I'd consider myself lucky to ...
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Boggle variations? [closed]
This summer we have company staying with us, and they greatly enjoy playing Boggle. I'm looking to spice things up a bit, though - any ideas for Boggle variations that we can try? There will be two to ...
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Is there a "Campaign Mode" set of rules available for Arkham Horror?
Are there any rules (official or otherwise) that would govern trying to string together multiple games of Arkham Horror into some sort of a campaign structure? The idea would be for the investigators ...
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What do you do about contradictory rules of Pit?
The rules of Pit are oddly contradictory. For n players choose n commonities, add in the Bull and Bear, shuffle and deal out the cards. The rules state that everyone gets 9 cards. Doh! With the Bull ...
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Why Does Magic Use The "Paris Mulligan" Rule?
In the early days, Magic had crazy, subpar mulligan rules: you could shuffle up and draw a new 7 if your hand had no lands or all lands, otherwise you were out of luck. A long time ago the Paris ...
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