Lines of Action

iggamecenter.com

23 pointsfogus3 comments

I once wrote a self learning AI to play Lines of Action.

Due to an incorrectly placed minus sign it got worse at the game over subsequent generations.

After 1000 generations I couldn't even make a forced win against it so wily was it at avoiding success

I love alternate rulesets and obscure games but this doesn't look that interesting to me.

It may be because most games are about dominance or resource building and ownership, or capture; this is about grouping. In such it doesn't appeal to any "real world" experience I have had and I feel disconnected from it.

I like that it deviates from the "dominance" conflict based game design, which was popularized in times of war and direct political conflict which feels a bit dated today. This is more adversarial problem solving. Being the first to build a superior network is a common mechanic in games like Ticket to Ride, power grid, to some extent Settlers of Catan, and this is a much more elegant streamlined version of that mechanic.

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