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Zendo (game)
Encyclopedia
Zendo is a game
of inductive logic designed by Kory Heath in which one player (the "Master") creates a rule for structures ("koans") to follow, and the other players (the "Students") try to discover it by building and studying various koans which follow or break the rule. The first student to correctly state the rule wins.
The rules were published in 2001 after more than a year of playtest
s and changes. A boxed set of the game was released by Looney Labs
at the 2003 Origins Game Fair but is now out of print. The set contained 60 Icehouse pieces
in red, yellow, green, and blue, 60 glass stones and a small deck of cards containing simple rules for beginners. Zendo is also published in Looney Labs' Playing with Pyramids, a book of rules and strategies for a dozen popular games playable with Icehouse pieces.
Zendo can be compared to the card game Eleusis
and the chess variant Penultima
in which players attempt to discover inductively a secret rule thought of by one or more players (called "God
" or "Nature
" in Eleusis and "Spectators" in Penultima) who declare plays legal or illegal on the basis of their rule(s).
" and be marked white if and only if it complies with the rule; otherwise, it will be marked black. Rules should be formulated in very specific terms so that the Master does not accidentally misjudge koans or wait until the middle of a game to ponder an ambiguity.
Some example rules, listed in increasing difficulty, are:
It is worth noting that rules are often harder for Students to solve than the Master expects, and that extremely short games are not as disappointing to Students as extremely long ones are frustrating.
After this, the Master will take the role of a moderator and judge, and the Students will begin to play, beginning with whomever the Master picks and proceeding clockwise.
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
of inductive logic designed by Kory Heath in which one player (the "Master") creates a rule for structures ("koans") to follow, and the other players (the "Students") try to discover it by building and studying various koans which follow or break the rule. The first student to correctly state the rule wins.
The rules were published in 2001 after more than a year of playtest
Playtest
A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and flaws before bringing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise....
s and changes. A boxed set of the game was released by Looney Labs
Looney Labs
Looney Labs is a small game company based in College Park, Maryland, USA. It is named after its founders, Andrew Looney and Kristin Looney.- Card games :...
at the 2003 Origins Game Fair but is now out of print. The set contained 60 Icehouse pieces
Icehouse pieces
Icehouse pieces are pyramid-shaped gaming pieces invented by Andrew Looney and John Cooper in 1987, originally for use in the game of Icehouse.- Description :...
in red, yellow, green, and blue, 60 glass stones and a small deck of cards containing simple rules for beginners. Zendo is also published in Looney Labs' Playing with Pyramids, a book of rules and strategies for a dozen popular games playable with Icehouse pieces.
Zendo can be compared to the card game Eleusis
Eleusis (game)
Eleusis is a multi-genre card game where one player chooses a secret rule to determine which cards can be played on top of others, and the other players attempt to determine the rule using inductive logic....
and the chess variant Penultima
Penultima
Penultima is a game of inductive logic, played on a chess board. It was invented by Michael Greene and Adam Chalcraft in Cambridge in 1994. The game is derived from the chess variant Ultima , and played with a standard chess board and pieces, each piece having different movement and capture rules...
in which players attempt to discover inductively a secret rule thought of by one or more players (called "God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
" or "Nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
" in Eleusis and "Spectators" in Penultima) who declare plays legal or illegal on the basis of their rule(s).
Rules
Zendo is designed for three to six players. One is the Master and the others are Students.Setup
A game will require:- A few dozen building pieces. The game was designed for Icehouse piecesIcehouse piecesIcehouse pieces are pyramid-shaped gaming pieces invented by Andrew Looney and John Cooper in 1987, originally for use in the game of Icehouse.- Description :...
, but LegoLegoLego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
bricks, MagnetixMagnetixMagnetix was a magnetic construction toy consisting of a combination of plastic building pieces containing embedded neodymium magnets, and steel bearing balls which can be connected together to form various geometric shapes and structures...
, coins, numbers and words can be used. - Two dozen "marking stones", half white and half black. Alternatively, the Master may designate two halves of the playing space as "white" and "black" and move each koan to the appropriate side.
- At least a dozen "guessing stones". These are usually represented by green stones, but coins work just as well.
- Two "answer stones" for each player: one white, one black.
Choosing a rule
The Master must devise a secret rule for koans to follow. Rules may refer to anything about the pieces or their contact or alignment with the playing surface, but may not refer to external conditions such as the posture or words of any player, or their alignment relative to anything outside the koan. A koan will "have the Buddha-natureBuddha-nature
Buddha-nature, Buddha-dhatu or Buddha Principle , is taught differently in various Mahayana Buddhism traditions. Broadly speaking Buddha-nature is concerned with ascertaining what allows sentient beings to become Buddhas...
" and be marked white if and only if it complies with the rule; otherwise, it will be marked black. Rules should be formulated in very specific terms so that the Master does not accidentally misjudge koans or wait until the middle of a game to ponder an ambiguity.
Some example rules, listed in increasing difficulty, are:
- A koan has the Buddha-nature if and only if it has at least one blue piece.
- A koan does not have the Buddha-nature if and only if it has any green pieces.
- A koan has the Buddha-nature if and only if it has an odd number of blue pieces.
- A koan has the Buddha-nature if and only if the number of blue pieces touching at least one green piece is odd.
It is worth noting that rules are often harder for Students to solve than the Master expects, and that extremely short games are not as disappointing to Students as extremely long ones are frustrating.
Initial koans
Once the rule is created, the Master will create and mark one white koan and one black one. This pair will give the Students some idea of where to start in inducing the rule. A helpful pair has many similarities, and an unhelpful one has few or none. The Master is encouraged to ask the Students whether they want a helpful or unhelpful pair of initial koans, but the Master should decide how helpful he or she wants to be.After this, the Master will take the role of a moderator and judge, and the Students will begin to play, beginning with whomever the Master picks and proceeding clockwise.
Turn order
In a turn, a Student should:- Build a koan using pieces from the box. Koans may be built in any way as long as they do not touch other koans or objects other than the table. If a piece the Student wants is not available, he or she may ask the Master to break a koan down. The master is encouraged to consider the input of other players in making a decision and may deny the request.
- Say "Master" or "Mondo". "Master" is a request for the Master to mark the new koan white or black. "Mondo", on the other hand, requires all Students to guess whether the new koan is white or black. Each Student, including the one who called Mondo, should hide an answering stone in one fist, hold that fist over the playing field, and reveal the stone when everyone is ready. The Master will then mark the koan appropriately and award a guessing stone to each Student who guessed correctly.
- Guess the Rule (optionally) by giving a guessing stone to the Master and clearly stating a guess of the rule. If the guess is ambiguous, the Master will ask the Student questions about the guess until it is clear. The Master will return the guessing stone if any koan on the table violates the guess, or if the Student is unable to articulate a guess which is clear to the Master. It is the Master's responsibility to make sure guesses are unambiguous and not contradicted by existing koans, but help from other Students is encouraged. Once a clear guess is made, the Master will try to disprove it by building and marking either a white koan which the guess would rule black, or a black koan which the guess would rule white. If the Master disproves the guess, the Student may repeat the guessing process until he or she runs out of guessing stones.
Winning
If a Student makes an official guess which the Master cannot disprove, that Student has discovered the rule, achieved enlightenment, and won the game.Awards
- Zendo won the 2003 Origins Award2003 Origins Award winnersThe following are the winners of the 29th annual Origins Award, held in 2003:-Hall of Fame inductees:* Larry Bond* Bob Charrette* Ed Greenwood* Reiner Knizia* Klaus Teuber* Loren Wiseman-External links:*...
for "Abstract Board Game". - Zendo was named one of the 2005 Mensa Select games by American MensaMensa InternationalMensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test...
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