Basic Concepts
The board comprises 12 small cups, six on each side, with two large cups on either end. (Click
here for a screen shot of the game board.) Player 1's cups
are along the bottom, and Player 2's are along the top. The large cup, or kahala, on
the right is Player 1's home cup, and the kahala on the left is Player 2's home cup.
In my program, Player 1 always makes the first move. Player 1 selects a cup on his side of
the board and picks up all the stones from the cup. The player then moves to each cup in
a counter-clockwise direction and drops one stone into each cup until all the stones have
been dropped. Depending on the variation being played, this may mean the end of a turn
or play may continue, but this is how play always begins.
During each move, a player drops one stone into his home cup as he passes it,
but not into the opponent's home cup. If the last stone dropped lands
in a player's kahala, the player may choose another cup on his side and continue
the turn.
Players then alternate turns until a player has no
stones remaining to pick up on his side of the board. That player then counts the stones
in his home cup, while his opponent moves any stones remaining on his side into his
home cup and counts those stones. Whoever has the highest number of stones in his
home cup wins.
There are several variations of the game, but the basic strategy for each variation is to move
so that the most stones end up in the home cup without dropping stones onto the opponent's
side that may eventually count toward his score.
The Computer Game
When the program opens, it presents a New Game dialog (see picture)
where the type of rules, players, and number of stones may be selected. Select the desired options
and press OK to begin the game.
When it's Player 1's turn, the cups on Player 1's side will be outlined in white ovals; the same
is true for Player 2. Select a cup to begin the turn by clicking on an outlined cup. The cursor
will turn into a pointing hand when hovering over a clickable cup.
When the game ends, a window will appear showing how many stones each player collected and which
player won. To start a new game, click the "Yes" button, or click "No" to make the window go away.
Rules Variations
I've implemented five variations of the game so far, and I'll add more
as I get around to them.
MMP Rules
This is the default in the New Game dialog. This is the way that my daughter learned to play the
game at summer camp last year. I haven't been able to find this variation mentioned anywhere else,
so I named it after Madeline.
Play begins as described in Basic Concepts. If a player drops the
last stone on that player's side of the board, and the cup in which the stone is dropped
is not empty, the player picks up the stones in that cup and continues the turn. The turn ends
when the last stone is dropped on the opponent's side of the board or in an empty cup on the
current player's side.
Traditional Rules
This is how I usually have seen the game described. Play proceeds as described in
Basic Concepts. Each player's turn ends after all stones picked up
have been dropped, regardless of where they land.
Capture To Home
This variation is very similar to Capture Opposite, except that
stones captured from the opponent are moved to the home cup rather than the opposite cup. I've
had the best luck winning this game... but that's just because I haven't updated the computer
engine to be smarter on this variation.
Capture Opposite
This variation plays just like the Traditional Rules, except when
the last stone dropped lands in an empty cup on the current player's side of the board. When that
happens, any stones in the cup directly across the board on the opponent's side are moved onto
the cup on the player's side.
Trysse
Play begins when a player clicks a valid cup. Stones are removed from that cup and seeded
counter-clockwise. Stone are not dropped into the home cups. If the last stone dropped
lands on the current player's side of the board and the dropped stone makes the total
in that cup two or three stones, the stones are "captured" and moved to the player's home
cup. If there are no stones on a player's side, the other player must choose a cup, if any,
that will move stones to that side of the board. If no such move is possible, the player
with stones remaining adds those stones to his captured total. The game ends when either
player has captured 21 stones, becoming the winner.
