Monte Carlo Methods for the Game Kingdomino

zayenz.se

47 points·mzl··6 comments

Thanks for introducing me to Kingdomino. I like the concept of using domino-style "digit-matching". To create a turn based "area capture" strategy game ;)

It's a really fun little game!

The follow-up game, Queendomino, introduces more game-play mechanics and a greater amount of interaction and strategic choices, making it more of a gamers game. I like them both, and it depends on the mood which is the most fun to play.

It won the "Spiel des Jahres" (Game of the Year) in 2017. If you liked it, odds are you will like many of the others [1]. The criteria are loosely that it's a family friendly, easy to learn, short (15-20 min) game. They have added a "Connoisseur" and "Childrens" category in recent years for more complex/simpler games. If you enjoy board games, it's worth a look.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiel_des_Jahres

Great article, have to wonder if somebody should great a version of alpha go zero as a "control". Then compare the level of effort in implementation and results.

Thanks!

It would really be interesting to see how AlphaZero style game play would work out. In particular, the very wide branching factor (when accounting for stochasticity) and relatively shallow game tree might change the characteristics noticeably.

One thing that might be hard is to construct a reasonable game state representation for the neural network that is efficient for learning.

That's why it would be a fun comparison!

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