

Sprouts game - Rexxar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprouts_(game)

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nazgulnarsil
I really like the brussel sprout variation as the shape makes the rules more
visually intuitive. i'm going to introduce this to my friends.

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abstractbill
_... the players cannot affect the result by their play ... a game starting
with an odd number of crosses will be a first player win, while a game
starting with an even number will be a second player win regardless of the
moves._

That makes the brussel variation a lot less interesting I think.

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benjamincanfly
_By enumerating all possible moves, one can show that the first player can
always win in normal-play games starting with n = 3, 4, or 5 spots. The second
player wins when n = 0, 1, 2, or 6._

Am I missing something, or is the outcome of every sprouts games
predetermined?

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timm5
Thats exactly what i said!! What is the big deal? Actually I did play someone
with 6 dots and won... so i think there might be ways of changing the outcome,
for example if you use a line to encircle other lines to cut off their access.
Either way, I thought this was a strategy game and it seems closer to the
"dots and boxes" pencil game, ie...

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timm5
clarification: i played someone as player 1, with 6 dots, and won.

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gjm11
_Brussels Sprouts_ is completely determined: it doesn't matter how you play,
the winner is a function only of the number of spots.

 _Sprouts_ is not; one can play it well or badly, and it makes a difference.

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Angostura
I remember playing this as a kid about 35 years ago. It was described in a
book called The Indoor Games boo, published in the UK. The same book also
introduced me to the rather fun 'Nine Mens Morris' -
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Men's_Morris>

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pwk
I played Nine Mens Morris with my grandmother when I was growing up (we called
it "Mühle"). She never gave me an inch just because I was a kid, and I still
remember with great vividness the first time I ever beat her.

A few years ago I wrote a java applet that plays the game. It's buggy and
unpolished, but usable.

<http://pi-guy.net/games/muehle/>

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bumbledraven
The 7th annual tournament of the World Game Of Sprouts Association is coming
up! <http://www.geocities.com/chessdp/trny2008.htm>

This is your chance to battle four-time world champion Roman Khorkov for first
place. <http://www.geocities.com/chessdp/champions.htm>

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Darmani
At Canada/USA Mathcamp last summer, a few kids found the Nim reduction for
Brussel Sprouts for their project. Shame I don't remember it, though.

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dfranke
Hey, another mathcamper on news.yc. '02/'03 alum here.

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avinashv
I've been playing this game over the summer on long train/plane journeys--it's
brilliant. I incidentally stumbled across it on Wikipedia, too.

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jacobolus
_Winning Ways_ and _On Numbers and Games_ are both excellent. Math is fun!

