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| Mind Ninja |
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| Overview |
 Mind Ninja is a simple abstract board game for two players invented by Nicholas Bentley. It's also a broad generalization of a game called Hex, invented by John Nash, Nobel Prize winning mathematician, founder of modern Game Theory and subject of the book/movie "A Beautiful Mind". |
| Objective |
| In the game, a player invents a goal pattern, and then one player tries to build it by placing colored stones on the board while the other player places stones to prevent the pattern from being built. |
| Board |
| In general the game can be played on a board of any size and shape. The online version of Mind Ninja played on igGameCenter uses hexagonal board. |
| Initial steps |
| The board begins empty. Before the actual play four preparation steps are performed: |
| 1. Bidding |
| The purpose of this step is to determine what player will get a right to choose the goal pattern. This right is given to a player who is ready to give more free (handicap) moves to an opponent. Both players begin by bidding numbers that stand for free (handicap) turns. The players alternately increase their bids until one player clicks "Pass" button. That player now owns a number of free turns equal to the last bid (however, he does not take these turns yet. He will at the beginning of the actual play). |
| 2. Choosing a goal pattern |
| The player who did not pass in step 1 chooses a goal pattern from among a list of patterns that appear. |
| 3. Setting up an initial position |
| After choosing the goal pattern the pattern inventor can set up some initial position by placing any number of stones of any color on the board (or none at all). At the end of setting the initial position the player should click "Pass" button. The purpose of this step is to set up a position that seems to be balanced both for the builder and the blocker. Important remark! You must not form the goal pattern at this step since the player roles aren't chosen yet! If you form the goal pattern at this step then the second player can choose to be builder and win a game. If you are not an experienced player it is better to skip this step at all by clicking "Pass" button. |
| 4. Choosing a builder and a blocker |
| At this step a second player can analyze the chosen pattern and the initial position and decide whether he wants to play as the builder or blocker. After this step the actual play begins. |
| Play |
| Starting with the builder, the players alternate turns, placing a single stone of any color to any empty cell of the board. Usually patterns require from the builder to place red stones and from the blocker to place blue stones. But this is not true for all the patterns since there are ones that require from both players to play with all available colors. Important remark! The player who got the free (handicap) turns from the bidding step may take one free turn after each of any of his normal turns, until he has no free turns left. If he doesn't take a free turn which is available to him, that free turn is lost. |
| End of Game |
| The game ends either when the board is completely full or the pattern has been built (but never before step 3 is complete). If the pattern has been built, the builder wins. Otherwise, the blocker wins. The game may also end when a player resigns or runs out of time. |
| Patterns |
The igGameCenter currently supports the following patterns:
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| External Links |
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