Nim — take the last stone
Twelve stones in three heaps and one rule about taking them. There is no luck at all. Whoever takes the last stone wins, and after a few games you start to see that the winner was often settled several moves before the end.
From Nim, an old strategy game for two.
What it shows a designer
No luck and nothing hidden, yet the winner is often settled many moves before the end by a pattern the players can't yet see. It shows why designers add uncertainty to a game that can be solved.
Credits
- Made by
- Traditional; named by Charles L. Bouton, who worked out its theory in 1901
- Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim
What you need
- 12 coins, pebbles or bottle caps
How to play
- Set up. Make three heaps: 3 stones, 4 stones and 5 stones.
- Take from one heap. On your turn, take as many stones as you like from ONE heap, at least one. You may take the whole heap.
- Never two heaps. You may not take from two heaps in the same turn.
- Last stone wins. Whoever takes the last stone wins.
- Play again. Play three games, taking turns to go first. Notice when you knew how the game would end.
After playing, talk about
- When did you know who would win?
- Was there a position you wanted to leave your opponent?
- Did going first help?
Its blocks
How its blocks were checked against BoardGameGeek
- Nim: partly checkable, nothing against it. mostly skill: not checkable. full information: not checkable. abstract: not checkable. take turns: not checkable.
In boardgameBuilder, Open game puts its blocks on the canvas. Changed, the same file can come back here from Propose a game.