Games

A few changes. One, I changed the background color back to white -- as much as I like the idea behind cosmic latte, I just don't like the color itself as a page background.

Two, I added a new list for links to web games. Ideally I won't put anything up here that's not free to play online and reasonably fun, but I warn you now that I've already found a Java version of Titan, a game my friends and I should have found ten years ago, and it's a bit of a beast. I'll also describe the games I put up there, to give you an idea of how they're played... assuming I've figured that out myself.

So, first up is Hive, a board game that's been put online by its publisher to, presumably, expose it to new players who then go on to buy the physical version. It looks like a lot of game publishers do that, and I've already found a handful that I'd like to pick up if I had some cash. Hive is a bit like chess: you have insect-themed hex pieces that move in specific ways, and you lose if your queen gets surrounded on all six sides. Instead of a board in the usual sense, the layout of the pieces determines where new pieces can be placed and how existing pieces can move. It's easier to see than read. The basic rules are that a piece can't move if it's the only connection between two other pieces, and most pieces have to move around others, not through.

Each side has eleven pieces, of five different types: the queen, which can move one space at a time; the beetle, which moves the same way but can move on top of other pieces; the grasshopper, which can only move all the way across a row of pieces in a straight line; the spider, which moves three spaces at a time, and the ant, which moves as many spaces as you want. Except for the grasshopper and beetle, think of the pieces as sliding along the sides of the others, and you'll understand how they get blocked in or out of other spaces.

That's basically the rules. I'm finding it harder to plan out my moves a few turns ahead, like I do for chess (probably because of the shifting board, and that I don't see the legal moves as immediately), but it's a very interesting game. Definitely worth checking out, if you like games like chess and checkers.