SpaceStones

Abstract

SpaceStones is a board game. Any number of players, including a computer media, place their numbered stones in turn on a game board. Each stone scores the number of spaces it bears on Based on a castle in a chess game, though the stones do not capture; rather they score the number of spaces that they bear on like the squares a castle would threaten in a chess game. Different from Sidoku, though all stones are blocking, including one's own, the goal of the game is to capture squares, which are totaled at the end of each round, when all players have played. The number of rounds is based on half the size of the game board divided by the number of players. At the end of the number of rounds a winner is announced.

Description

SpaceStones is a board game. The game board is a matrix of any size of cells; for example, a square matrix of eight rows and eight columns. Each cell of the matrix is a square of the board; and, each player in turn places his numbered stone into a unique cell by clicking the square under the cursor and entering his number. The game involves two or more players, each player in turn placing his numbered stone at the intersection of a row and a column of a game board.

The value of playing each stone is an addition of the number of spaces it bears on from its place in the row to the right edge of the row or until it runs into any stone in the row, plus the number of spaces it bears on from its place in the row to the left edge of the row or until it runs into any stone in the row, plus the number of spaces it bears on from its place in the column to the top of the column or until it runs into any stone in the column, plus the number of spaces it bears on from its place in the column to the bottom of the column or until it runs into any stone in the column.

When every player has played his stone, a round is completed. The number of rounds depends on the size of the board and the number of players. If you want half of the space open for counting, the number of rounds is equal to the size of the board divided by two and that divided by the number of players. For example, using a square 8×8 board, there are 64 spaces; half of that is 32 spaces. A game between one human player and a computer media player would require half of that, which is 16 rounds. A game among two players and a computer media on the same square 8×8 board would require 32 spaces divided by 3 players, which is rounded up to 11 rounds.

A computer media such as a computer processor or a computer disk always plays last. While counting the scores of each player at the end of each round, the computer media places its numbered stone against the side of that stone bearing on the most squares of a player not including the computer. (cf., FIG. 1). As seen in FIG. 1, the first player in this case played a red stone in the left center of the board, claiming 14 squares of space. The computer player reacted by playing its brown stone against the right side of the red stone, blocking 4 spaces off the first stone, and claiming 10 squares of space. This is the strategy of the computer player, to block as many squares as possible from the opponents. It could have chosen to play against the south end of the stone as well; but, the algorithm is the play NESW of the most squares, unless it can block another stone as well. At the end of the each round, those player's scores are recalculated. At the end of the last round, the winner is announced.

In order to calculate the scores of each player, first the rows are scanned from top to bottom; each row is scanned from left to right. Each row contains a number of spaces until either the scan reaches the end of the row at once, in which case the spaces are thrown away, or a stone is found and the spaces attributed to that numbered stone. After that stone, the scanning resumes at zero and continues until either another stone is found, in which case the number of spaces is attributed to both the last stone and the found stone, or the end of the row is reached, in which case the spaces are attributed to the last stone. The same procedure is followed for the columns from left to right; each column scanned from top to bottom.

Claims

1. I claim an nonprovisional patent on my board game, spacestones: It is based on the number of squares that a castle would threaten in a chess game, though the castles do not capture. There are as many numbered stones as there are players in the game, including a computer media player, times the number of rounds in the game, which is based on the board size and the number of players. I have searched the database, and I believe that my game is original.