
Ask HN: Are there board games like Go, Hex etc but a bit simpler? - justaguyhere
Looking to make board game playing computer programs. Go, Hex etc are way too complex for my skill level, are there others that are simpler than Go but not too simple?<p>Also, are there any good books on programming such games? Games that are purely logical&#x2F;computational and do not involve any graphics?
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ArtWomb
See John Conway's classic on Combinatorial Game Theory _Winning Ways For Your
Mathematical Plays_

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winning_Ways_for_your_Mathemat...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winning_Ways_for_your_Mathematical_Plays)

As far as programming agents to play board games you can check out this Python
implementation of Monte Carlo Tree Search

[http://mcts.ai/code/python.html](http://mcts.ai/code/python.html)

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jbottoms
Go is sometimes played on a reduced size board, like 9 X 9. You can play a
game in 45 minutes or less, but YMMV.

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minkzilla
I would highly recommend playing 9x9 Go! It is a lot shorter and generally
played at a faster pace (lower time controls). It still retains a good balance
of strategy and tactics.

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Jtsummers
There are actually a number of abstract games that can be played on a go board
with go pieces.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_played_with_Go_equipment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_played_with_Go_equipment)

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billconan
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomoku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomoku)

gomoku is simpler

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barry0079
What about Othello?

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S4M
Connect 4 should be really easy to implement.

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Ginguin
Tak is relatively new but is pretty fun to play for an abstract game.

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matt_the_bass
Blackjack. You could even use a command line text interface.

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tropo
tic-tac-toe

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iends
Chess? Checkers?

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Random_Person
Mancala

