| Game: Cellf |
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Created by Larry Wheeler, 2004-12-04
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2 variants
requires ZoG 2.0
Territory
2-player
download 882 K
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Updated 2004-12-26
now scores correctly when game ends by 3-time repetition. |
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Cellf is a self-modifying territorial game inspired by cellular automata
(like John Conway's Game of Life). The 45-square board doubles as a rule table,
and each move enforces one rule even as it changes another. The game ends
when no further moves can be made, meaning the rules have stabilized, and
all rules have been enforced. In the end the winner (if any) is the player
with the most stones on the board.
The two players are called X and Y, after the horizontal and vertical axes.
How the current rules affect a given square is determined by
how many X and Y stones surround the square in the eight directions: if the
number of player-X neighbors is x, and the number of player-Y neighbors is y, look at the
given square's 'rule square' at position (x,y) on the board, viewed as a table.
Viewed as a 'rule', an X stone at position (x,y) proclaims: 'Any square with
x player-X neighbors and y player-Y neighbors shall have an X stone'. Analogously if the (x,y)
square has a Y stone, or is empty. A player's move enforces one such 'rule'.
In the main variant, small dots and holes are used to indicate the possible
moves, giving four types of pieces:
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Potential (small dot): this square is 'really' empty, but there is a stone
on the 'rule square', so the owner of the this Potential can change this to
a Stable stone.
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Stable (solid stone): this stone is supported by a friendly stone on the
'rule square', so this Stable stone cannot be taken or flipped.
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Unstable (stone with hole): this stone's 'rule square' is empty, so this
Unstable stone can be taken by the enemy player.
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Reversible (stone with center of opposite color): this stone's 'rule square'
has a stone of opposite color, so the enemy player can flip this to a Stable
stone of the enemy color.
All the indicators are automatically updated on each move. Note that Potentials
don't count as stones; they represent empty squares where stones can be added.
Players cannot take or flip their own pieces; they must pass when they have no
legal moves. The game ends when both players are forced to pass.
There are many possible final states. The most likely outcome is that one player
takes over the whole board, or that the board is cleared by mutual annihilation.
There is also a fairly frequent situation where one player occupies just over half
the board, winning 23 to 22. It's also possible to end up with a stable block of
four stones (similar to the blocks in Life), or many isolated stones supported by
a self-stable one in the lower left-hand corner.
Strategically, the most basic idea is to match rules to patterns and vice versa, that is,
place stones on squares that represent patterns that exist or are about to
exist in the current situation. Conversely, you can try to create patterns that
correspond to the rules of squares you already control. For example, in the
early stages, there are few pieces on the board, so the squares on the lower
left tend to be the most important, but as the board fills up, the emphasis
moves gradually outward. A player with dominance in the lower left corner,
conversely, might do well to try to keep the board sparse by taking unstable
pieces.
The other variant, Cellf Classic, represents the game as it is played on a physical board. No indicators
are used, just stones. This is harder for humans to play, but Zillions is faster with this variant,
and sometimes more accurate, because the Potentials of the main variant can skew the values, since
they count as pieces.
Thanks to Dan Troyka for an implementation hint.
Piece images were created with the aid of the fabulous POV-Ray™ ray
tracer. |
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Download Cellf now!
(882 K)
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