Star (board game)
Encyclopedia
Star is a two-player abstract strategy
board game
developed in by Craige Schensted
(now Ea Ea). It was first published in 1983 in Games magazine. It is connection game, related to games such as Hex, Y
, Havannah, and TwixT
. Unlike these games, however, the result is based a player having a higher final score
rather than achieving a specific goal. He has since developed a slightly more complicated version called *Star
with better balance between edge and center moves, writing "*Star is what those other games wanted to be."
Star is played on a board of hexagonal spaces. Although the board can have any size and shape, a board with unequal edges is generally used to avoid ties. Players may not place stones on the partial hexagons off the edge of the board; these are used for scoring. One player places black stones on the board; the other player places white stones.
The game begins with one player placing a stone on the board. To avoid giving an advantage to the first player, a pie rule
is used, allowing the second player to switch sides at that point. Players then alternate turns, placing a stone on an empty hexagon on the board. Players may pass; the game is over when both players pass.
At the end of the game the players count their scores. A "star" is a group of connected stones belonging to one player that touches at least three partial edge hexagons. The score of a star is the number of edge hexagons it touches minus two. A player's score is the total of all the stars of that player's color. The player with the higher score wins.
For any given board, the total final score of the two players is constant.
Abstract strategy game
An abstract strategy game is a strategy game, aiming to minimise luck, and without a theme. Almost all abstract strategy games will conform to the strictest definition of: a board or card game, in which there is no hidden information, no non-deterministic elements , in which two players or teams...
board game
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...
developed in by Craige Schensted
Craige Schensted
Craige Eugene Schensted is a physicist who first formulated the insertion algorithm that defines the Robinson–Schensted correspondence; under a different form, that correspondence had earlier been described by Gilbert de Beauregard Robinson in 1938, but it is due to the Schensted insertion...
(now Ea Ea). It was first published in 1983 in Games magazine. It is connection game, related to games such as Hex, Y
Y (game)
]Y is an abstract strategy game which was first described by Claude Shannon in the early 1950s. Y was independently invented in 1953 by Craige Schensted and Charles Titus...
, Havannah, and TwixT
TwixT
TwixT is a two-player abstract strategy game invented by Alex Randolph. It is a member of the connection game family, along with games such as Hex, Havannah, Y, PÜNCT and *Star...
. Unlike these games, however, the result is based a player having a higher final score
Score (game)
In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties...
rather than achieving a specific goal. He has since developed a slightly more complicated version called *Star
*Star
*Star is a complex abstract strategy game by Ea Ea, a designer of Y. It is a redevelopment of his earlier game Star.-Rules:*Star can be played on graphs of different sizes. The three shown boards have 105, 180, and 275 nodes of which 30, 40, and 50 are on the perimeter...
with better balance between edge and center moves, writing "*Star is what those other games wanted to be."
Star is played on a board of hexagonal spaces. Although the board can have any size and shape, a board with unequal edges is generally used to avoid ties. Players may not place stones on the partial hexagons off the edge of the board; these are used for scoring. One player places black stones on the board; the other player places white stones.
The game begins with one player placing a stone on the board. To avoid giving an advantage to the first player, a pie rule
Pie rule
The pie rule, sometimes referred to as the swap rule, is a meta-rule used to balance abstract strategy board games. Its use has been first reported in 1909 for a game from the Mancala family. Among recent games, Hex uses this rule...
is used, allowing the second player to switch sides at that point. Players then alternate turns, placing a stone on an empty hexagon on the board. Players may pass; the game is over when both players pass.
At the end of the game the players count their scores. A "star" is a group of connected stones belonging to one player that touches at least three partial edge hexagons. The score of a star is the number of edge hexagons it touches minus two. A player's score is the total of all the stars of that player's color. The player with the higher score wins.
For any given board, the total final score of the two players is constant.