10
votes
In spades, is a deuce of clubs considered a spade?
The deuce of club and hearts do not considered a spade in the standard game, however there are variants where they do.
From Pagat:
In some versions of Spades, some or all of the four twos are ...
- 3,734
6
votes
Why Does Magic Use The "Paris Mulligan" Rule?
There is an excellent article up by one of the Magic developers that discusses the issues with various mulligan types, and why they upgraded to the new "Vancouver" Scry 1 mulligan.
A quick summary:
...
- 1,975
6
votes
Why Does Magic Use The "Paris Mulligan" Rule?
One element that I haven't seen in any of the answers yet: a 'lenient' mulligan rule advantages some deck archetypes over others. Some decks are built on the concept of redundancy: for a mono-Red ...
- 5,391
6
votes
What is this game, played with chess board and pieces, but with totally different rules?
It's Ultima
King, represented by the King.
Withdrawer, represented by the Queen.
Chameleon, represented by the Bishop.
Long Leaper, represented by the Knight.
Coordinator, represented by the Rook.
...
- 71
5
votes
Accepted
How do I play 4D Tic-Tac-Toe?
You could draw a 2D array of 2D boards, like this:
▢▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢b▢
aaa ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢b▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢
c▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢c▢ ▢▢▢
▢b▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢c
You'd probably want a 4x4 array of ...
- 11.1k
5
votes
What variants are there for the playing-card-based game "War"?
There is a variant of war, called "Strategy War" or "Armed War" (a joke on hands) where, instead of pulling the card from the top of your deck, you chose it from your hand. This works as follows:
...
- 17.2k
4
votes
Does a Go variant on an infinite board exist?
There is a Go variant without boundaries (but, of course, on a finite board): Torus Go. It is sometimes played in Go clubs or as a side event on Go tournaments. On a traditional board I find it very ...
- 1,187
3
votes
Different between Capsa, Big two and Daifugō
According to Wikipedia, Cap Sa and Big Two are the same game while Daifugo has slightly different rules. I could scrutinize those pages and try to summarize the differences here, but I think there's ...
- 11.1k
3
votes
Accepted
Help me refind this 3d go variant - pieces can be stacked in a pyramid fashion
It sounds like it might be Margo, except that Margo is played on a 7X7 grid, not 9X9. Per the linked website by Cameron Browne:
Two players, White and Black, each have at least enough marbles of
...
- 196
3
votes
Winning strategy for NxN Tic-Tac-Toe
Optimal play on NxN boards where you need N in a row leads to a draw for all N > 2.
Contemporary Combinatorics, by Bela Bollobas has a proof of it. Below is a summary of this. The images below are ...
- 17.2k
3
votes
Looking to identify an unusual type of solitaire
This sounds like it's equivalent to Clock Patience, but with a less space-consuming layout and using the aces as the starter pile rather than the kings. I've also seen it referred to as "Travellers".
- 956
3
votes
Accepted
What is 5/5/2 variant of the Machi Koro?
This variant seems to have been introduced with the Harbor Expansion and I'm not sure it would work well with just the base game. It's a way to avoid having only low (resp. high) numbered buildings ...
- 1,830
3
votes
Does a Go variant on an infinite board exist?
There are variants like 3 dimensional Go, which may be interesting to you. However, from personal experience as well as seeing higher dans struggle, I'd guess humans are far worse at them than ...
- 6,882
3
votes
Checkers - with customized starting setups and AI agents
I found a Windows program on https://dammen.startpagina.nl/ (checkers is called 'dammen'in Dutch). On this page I installed the program "dam 2.2". This is amazing. I can customize the setup (...
- 61
3
votes
Can you identify this likely chess variant?
Michael Ireland, the person who posted their copy on chessvairants.com, remembered some details, and replied with some added information (original post here). I will quote it here:
Viking Chess Rules ...
3
votes
Strategy for Movable Tic Tac Toe
The game you are describing is more similar to Three Men's Morris than to Tic Tac Toe. Unlike Three Men's Morris, the extra movement options under the rules you cite mean the game is likely a draw ...
- 17.2k
2
votes
How can I balance mandatory quests in two-player games of Lords of Waterdeep?
Late answer, but how about allow other quests and for every mandatory quest not competed at the end of each round, deduct 2 points. So an annoying penalty that can get progressive worse, but not ...
2
votes
Can I legally make a boggle variant?
Copyright only covers specific implementations, i.e. the exact wording of the rules. Patents are a nonissue in this case, Boggle was released in 1972 so any patent applying to it would have expired ...
- 146
2
votes
Whist Variant with points suit
After some play-testing with friends, the complexity was intimidating, and so we settled on these rules:
The last card is dealt face up, and it is the point suit.
There is no trump suit.
...
- 171
2
votes
Does a Go variant on an infinite board exist?
With a time control, you could play on the infinite board. A player could be forced to pass when the time limit is reached. Eventually, both players pass (unless somebody resigns before) and the game ...
2
votes
What are some alternatives to using dice in Settlers of Catan?
I wrote a Mathematica script to handle the dice rolling. It keeps track of all previous dice rolls, and weights the next dice roll probabilities according to the difference
(expected # times rolled) ...
- 121
2
votes
Accepted
Barbu - should the declarer pass after every hand?
In France, it's not considered a house-rule, but a variant. It's usually played that way with newcomers because it makes the game more active and seems more "fair" since people don't have to do their ...
- 920
2
votes
Accepted
Player count variants for Pitch
I'm an avid pitch player as well, 4pt 10pt and 13pt :)
For 2-3 players, you can play 4 point pitch with no teams! I find 4 point perfect for times when you need something to do but don't have a whole ...
- 136
2
votes
Accepted
40k 8th Edition Unit Customization
Has 40k lost a lot of its customization and character options?
Yes and no. In Matched play your options are much more limited, but in Open, and to a lesser extent Narrative play whatever your ...
- 4,766
2
votes
Crazyhouse Chess: is it possible to get all eighteen queens?
If that is the goal of both players, should be easy to achieve. Simply move weak side king away from his 1st rank and build a wall of minor pieces between him and the passed pawns. With a little ...
- 806
2
votes
Accepted
What is timing for Global Conflicts Variant in through the ages?
There is ambiguity, but I would do the Global Conflict culture award first, and then follow the usual start of a new age process as defined in the rulebook.
Discard antiquated cards
Remove antiquated ...
- 29.9k
1
vote
How do you become a toad in Talisman?
It is hidden in the encounter section of the rules:
Other times the encounters are hostile
and attack the character, or even turn him into a slimy Toad!
You will remain a toad for three turns, ...
- 11.6k
1
vote
What variants are there for the playing-card-based game "War"?
My simplified version of War involves splitting the card deck into equal black and red piles. The two jokers can be added on to each pile as either the strongest or weakest cards as agreed upon by ...
- 11
1
vote
Baker's Dozen: rule about kings
Given the game limitations caused by Barry's variant, and the vast number of resources that can be found contradicting her, I would think that the common rule is to place Kings at the bottom of ...
- 7,785
1
vote
Is there a variant of chess such that in the starting position Bishops and Knights are switched?
Here is a photo from a Chess Pioneer (Russia) camp in the 1960s--1970s...notice the pieces are switched, so that White's back rank is, in fact, RBNQKNBR
- 11
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