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GIPF (game)
Encyclopedia
GIPF is an abstract strategy board game
by Kris Burm
, the first of six games in his series of games called the GIPF Project
.
GIPF was recommended by Spiel des Jahres
in 1998.
The game is lost if a player has no more tokens to play, and since each starts with a set number of tokens, it is clearly necessary to recycle pieces already positioned to keep playing. This is achieved by contriving to line up four pieces of the same colour in a row on the board, at which point those tokens are returned to their owner, and any opposing tokens extending from the line of four are captured.
Because a single player will often move several pieces and change numerous on-board relationships, it is remarkably difficult to predict the state of the board more than one turn ahead, despite GIPF being a game of perfect information
. Play tends to be highly fluid and there is no real concept of long term territorial or spatial development.
The game can be expanded with extra pieces (available separately) called Potentials, which allow different kinds of moves to be made. These are named for the other games in the GIPF Project, though the other games are not actually necessary in order to utilise the Potentials named after them.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
by Kris Burm
Kris Burm
Kris Burm is a Belgian game designer specializing in abstract board games. He is best known for his award-winning GIPF series of games. He was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1957 and still lives there today.Published games include:*Invers, 1991...
, the first of six games in his series of games called the GIPF Project
GIPF project
The GIPF Project is an award-winning series of six abstract strategy games by designer Kris Burm.The series is named after the first game, GIPF, and the idea behind the project is that the reward for winning each of the other games in the series is to allow the winner to introduce new pieces with...
.
GIPF was recommended by Spiel des Jahres
Spiel des Jahres
The Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality...
in 1998.
Gameplay
Players take turns pushing tokens (one player taking black, the other white) from the edge of the tri-gridded, hexagonal board, with pieces already in play pushed in front of the new placements rather than allowing more than one piece on any space.The game is lost if a player has no more tokens to play, and since each starts with a set number of tokens, it is clearly necessary to recycle pieces already positioned to keep playing. This is achieved by contriving to line up four pieces of the same colour in a row on the board, at which point those tokens are returned to their owner, and any opposing tokens extending from the line of four are captured.
Because a single player will often move several pieces and change numerous on-board relationships, it is remarkably difficult to predict the state of the board more than one turn ahead, despite GIPF being a game of perfect information
Perfect information
In game theory, perfect information describes the situation when a player has available the same information to determine all of the possible games as would be available at the end of the game....
. Play tends to be highly fluid and there is no real concept of long term territorial or spatial development.
The game can be expanded with extra pieces (available separately) called Potentials, which allow different kinds of moves to be made. These are named for the other games in the GIPF Project, though the other games are not actually necessary in order to utilise the Potentials named after them.
External links
- Manufacturer's GIPF page
- Play GIPF at BoiteAJeux (french).
- GF1 probably strongest Gipf program which won ICGA tournament in Maastricht 2001
- ICGA Tournaments - list of games
- Play GIPF online at Boardspace.netBoardSpace.netBoardspace.net is the online home of a wide array of strategy games. Some are well known in the gaming community others are obscure by almost anyone's standards. The primary goal of the site is to promote real time games between two humans. Most games have robots you can play and use for learning...
, against human or robot opponents.