Chess-like game for kids
Moderator: Forum Moderators
- Sgt. Groovy
- Art Contributor
- Posts: 1471
- Joined: May 22nd, 2006, 9:15 pm
- Location: Helsinki
Chess-like game for kids
I work in a kindergarten, and after getting tired of the kids kicking my butt in Memory, I've started inventing new board games for them. This one is intended as a "gateway drug" into chess, designed to be simple enough for kids from 3 years up to play, but containing the basic elements of chess: pieces with different movement, grid board, capturing and an intended target to attack.
The board with the initial positions of the pieces is shown below:
There are two players, white and black, each with five pieces of two kinds: foxes (F) and wolves (W). Foxes move one step in any direction. Wolves move one or two steps in any direction and they can jump over foxes. Pieces are captured as in chess, by moving your own piece to the hex occupied by the captured piece. Capturing is not compulsory. Each player moves one piece on each turn.
The gray hexes are called "lairs" and the objective of the game is to move one of your pieces to the lair on the opponent's side of the board. The game is also won if you capture all opponent's pieces.
There are two modes to play the game in:
1. The blitzkrieg mode: It is enough to move one of your pieces to the lair. In this mode the games tend to be quite short. This mode should be better suited to very small kids, since the objective is simpler. In this mode, it might be good idea to restrict the movement of wolfs in straight lines.
2. The war of attrition mode: To win, you must not only have your piece in the opponent's lair, but none of the opponent's pieces must be in a position where they could capture your piece in the lair on the opponent's next turn. This way, it becomes much harder to take the lair and the game becomes about capturing. The problem with this mode is, though, that with skilled players playing without taking risks, the game can easily end in a draw.
The game is still under development, so far I've only playtested it with my dad. Here's a set I made him for Christmas:
Here's a board to print for anyone who wants to try it out, you'll just have to fashion out the pieces somehow:
The board with the initial positions of the pieces is shown below:
There are two players, white and black, each with five pieces of two kinds: foxes (F) and wolves (W). Foxes move one step in any direction. Wolves move one or two steps in any direction and they can jump over foxes. Pieces are captured as in chess, by moving your own piece to the hex occupied by the captured piece. Capturing is not compulsory. Each player moves one piece on each turn.
The gray hexes are called "lairs" and the objective of the game is to move one of your pieces to the lair on the opponent's side of the board. The game is also won if you capture all opponent's pieces.
There are two modes to play the game in:
1. The blitzkrieg mode: It is enough to move one of your pieces to the lair. In this mode the games tend to be quite short. This mode should be better suited to very small kids, since the objective is simpler. In this mode, it might be good idea to restrict the movement of wolfs in straight lines.
2. The war of attrition mode: To win, you must not only have your piece in the opponent's lair, but none of the opponent's pieces must be in a position where they could capture your piece in the lair on the opponent's next turn. This way, it becomes much harder to take the lair and the game becomes about capturing. The problem with this mode is, though, that with skilled players playing without taking risks, the game can easily end in a draw.
The game is still under development, so far I've only playtested it with my dad. Here's a set I made him for Christmas:
Here's a board to print for anyone who wants to try it out, you'll just have to fashion out the pieces somehow:
- Attachments
-
- eskarishakkilauta.pdf
- (2.93 KiB) Downloaded 440 times
Tiedäthän kuinka pelataan.
Tiedäthän, vihtahousua vastaan.
Tiedäthän, solmu kravatin, se kantaa niin synnit
kuin syntien tekijätkin.
Tiedäthän, vihtahousua vastaan.
Tiedäthän, solmu kravatin, se kantaa niin synnit
kuin syntien tekijätkin.
Re: Chess-like game for kids
Looks like quite a nice idea! Though I must admit, my first thought was something along the lines of "Chess meets Wesnoth"...
("Move x unit to the signpost by going across the hexes
Alternative objective:
Defeat all enemies)
Er sorry, but...
It does look like a nice idea, and I especially like the relationships foxes and wolves have to pawns and knights. Also, on the board in the screenshot, shouldn't the "lair" be marked in some way, for beginner players?
("Move x unit to the signpost by going across the hexes
Alternative objective:
Defeat all enemies)
Er sorry, but...
It does look like a nice idea, and I especially like the relationships foxes and wolves have to pawns and knights. Also, on the board in the screenshot, shouldn't the "lair" be marked in some way, for beginner players?
"What do you mean, "a dwarvish dragonguard with marksman is overpowered"?"
Story of a Drake Outcast | The Nonsense Era
Played HttT-Underground Channels? Thought it was rubbish? Help us develop it here!
Story of a Drake Outcast | The Nonsense Era
Played HttT-Underground Channels? Thought it was rubbish? Help us develop it here!
Re: Chess-like game for kids
Reepurr:
He, why not?
So the little children are going to like Wesnoth, too. That's a nice way of advertising
Sgt. Groovy:
This sounds indeed interesting. It should also be possible to implement it in WML, so we can really widen our community
However, I don't understand the second sentence in the Blitzkrieg description:
Crend
He, why not?
So the little children are going to like Wesnoth, too. That's a nice way of advertising
Sgt. Groovy:
This sounds indeed interesting. It should also be possible to implement it in WML, so we can really widen our community
However, I don't understand the second sentence in the Blitzkrieg description:
What do you mean with this? How do the wolfs go normally? I thought they are able to jump over foxes, but that is a straight line...In this mode, it might be good idea to restrict the movement of wolfs in straight lines.
Crend
UMC Story Images — Story images for your campaign!
- thespaceinvader
- Retired Art Director
- Posts: 8414
- Joined: August 25th, 2007, 10:12 am
- Location: Oxford, UK
- Contact:
Re: Chess-like game for kids
No - with no restiction on movement, a wolf could move from its starting square to any of the three squares in front of it. If it could only move in straight lines, it would be unable to reach the square in the middle.
For the Attrition mode, I suspect a slightly bigger board would be useful - my instinct is that the game will really grind at this size if you have to prevent your opponent from being able to capture your lair at the same time as you capture his.
For the Attrition mode, I suspect a slightly bigger board would be useful - my instinct is that the game will really grind at this size if you have to prevent your opponent from being able to capture your lair at the same time as you capture his.
http://thespaceinvader.co.uk | http://thespaceinvader.deviantart.com
Back to work. Current projects: Catching up on commits. Picking Meridia back up. Sprite animations, many and varied.
Back to work. Current projects: Catching up on commits. Picking Meridia back up. Sprite animations, many and varied.
- Sgt. Groovy
- Art Contributor
- Posts: 1471
- Joined: May 22nd, 2006, 9:15 pm
- Location: Helsinki
Re: Chess-like game for kids
It is, the lairs are the gray hexes.Also, on the board in the screenshot, shouldn't the "lair" be marked in some way, for beginner players?
It would still be also able to move only one hex, so it would be able to reach any hex on the board. An for clarity, any direction means that the pieces are not restricted to moving forward, the can also move backward.If it could only move in straight lines, it would be unable to reach the square in the middle.
My dad made the same suggestion, but I said he's only saying so because he kept losing.For the Attrition mode, I suspect a slightly bigger board would be useful - my instinct is that the game will really grind at this size if you have to prevent your opponent from being able to capture your lair at the same time as you capture his.
But yeah, that might be worth trying out.
Tiedäthän kuinka pelataan.
Tiedäthän, vihtahousua vastaan.
Tiedäthän, solmu kravatin, se kantaa niin synnit
kuin syntien tekijätkin.
Tiedäthän, vihtahousua vastaan.
Tiedäthän, solmu kravatin, se kantaa niin synnit
kuin syntien tekijätkin.
Re: Chess-like game for kids
Nice idea, but since it's supposed to be a kid's game; kittens and bunnies, KITTENS AND BUNNEHS! lol.
No but seriously, looks like a really nice game.
No but seriously, looks like a really nice game.