Hexapawn is a deterministic two-player game invented by Martin Gardner. It is played with pawns only, on a rectangular board of variable size, most famously 3 by 3 squares. On a board of n by m squares each side starts with m pawns, one on every square of the row nearest to them. A player wins by advancing a pawn to the far end of the board or by leaving the opponent with no legal move, including by capturing all their pawns. The 3 by 3 game is solved, and with perfect play White always loses. Gardner built it deliberately with a tiny game tree to show how a heuristic machine could learn it, using matchboxes in the manner of Donald Michie MENACE; only 24 matchboxes are needed. Its 4 by 4 variant, octopawn, is a forced win for White.
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Playing Time Game Category Game Category Game Category Game Category Game Mechanic Minimum Players Maximum Players Classification
Player Count Sport
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1. Hexapawn (source article)
Lead
Hexapawn is a deterministic two-player game invented by Martin Gardner.
Lead [game-type-category]
It is played on a rectangular board of variable size
View the Source2. Hexapawn (BoardGameGeek)
- Origin Year: 1962
- Playing Time: 5
- Designer: Martin Gardner
- Publisher: (Web published)
- Game Category: Abstract Strategy
- Game Category: Educational
- Game Category: Math
- Game Category: Puzzle
- Game Mechanic: Grid Movement
- Minimum Players: 1
- Maximum Players: 2
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