It seems like this could take a very long time to end if the fugitive forms a living shape and the detectives don’t want to resign, especially since suicide is allowed and detectives can kill each other (right?)
Pedantic question 1:
Suppose detective blue just played at the marked point next to some other detective stones. So all four detective stones in the corner get removed, right? (There’s no preference given to new stones?)
Pedantic question 2:
Do you still reveal the chain somehow if it happens to get immediately captured? For example, suppose the detectives have just played at the marked positions here:
The blue stone has, for some reason, not made it onto the board. The previous position could have been like this:
in which case the red stones were “revealed” and immediately captured, or like this:
In which case it was the blue stone that was captured, and there are two hidden stones left to discover. Will the detectives somehow know the difference?
EDIT: fixed this example.
Please sign me up for the top-secret kibitz thread!
Yes, simultaneous capture can happen among the detective stones.
I’m a bit confused by this question. Could you please clarify the hypothetical positions of the fugitive stones?
If there were only two fugitive stones in that corner, they would still have liberties, and would not be captured, right?
If a fugitive chain is revealed and captured in the same detective turn, I will clarify that those stones were found, where they were, and that they have been captured.
I was the one who was a bit confused. It’s hard for me to think in four colors.
I’ve updated my example to something that I think actually works, but it sounds like you’ve answered it - they’ll learn the details of any revealed stones, even if they are immediately captured.
So far, the kibitz log has been extremely quiet. I’m the only one that has posted in there, and it is mostly just logging the hidden state of the game.
I think that is because the current kibitz space doesn’t really meet the typical conditions, since one of the players (I, the fugitive) is part of that chat. Thus, if kibitzers start discussing the game and sharing their thoughts, they may feel that they, and probably actually will, influence the game through affecting my play. Perhaps the current “kibitz” thread should be viewed as a Malkovich log instead, and serve to mostly just deliver information in one direction and provide a place for private rules clarification questions for the spectators.
Alternatively, if the spectators actually do want to discuss the game privately among themselves, without worrying about influencing any of the players, perhaps they could set up their own private kibitz space, without me in it.
There might even be two types of kibitzers, those that want to see and discuss the hidden state of the game, and those that want to preserve the suspense while chatting in a spoiler-free environment. So, maybe two additional private kibitz threads are needed?
It is offset by the convenience of having everything in the one thread, your comments and ideas and also the true game state
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It’s a tad more awkward on mobile I find but the syntax is simple enough to type. Also maybe just having a post people could bookmark and they copy and paste the syntax of they want.
I also find it useful to preview things without the summary tag closed so temporarily one can break the tag and then Unbreak it at the end of editing.
This is a very interesting concept. I would like to be a detective if possible in a future game. I am not highly ranked so I would need players that will indulge me.
It’s a neat idea, was it inspired by Scotland Yard? I haven’t thought about that game in a very long time, it used to be a family favorite among my cousins and other extended family… lots of confusion and claims of absent minded mistakes by grandparents when they won playing the “fugitive” equivalent
Yes, it was inspired by Scotland Yard! I forgot to mention that.
It’s also interesting that @mark5000 noted the similarities with Battleship, although I had not thought of that when designing this variant.
Actually, I was originally considering something that more closely resembled Scotland Yard, where there would be playing pieces that moved around on an irregular go board, and some complicated rules about how pieces could move around. However, I eventually settled on making the game have a more Go-like design.
I think what the game could gain from, is having the fugitive needing to give away some clues every now and then, like in Scotland Yard there being the information of what transport had been used.
Perhaps something like the fugitive having to name a certain number of columns / rows where their move was made in, or some quadrant? The nice thing is that this could also become a strategic tool: the fugitive could try to distract the detectives by playing a move away from where they’re actually building a living group.
I’ve never played/heard of Scotland Yard. The “transport” though makes me think of the fugitive having to say things like the relation of their new stones to the old ones:
In Scotland Yard, the detectives are chasing around the fugitive on a transport map of London. The fugitive can move from transport hub to transport hub, but at their turn, they have to show which mode of transportation they used (e.g., they could move from one bus stop to another, and say they used the bus, or they could hop on the train, but have to announce that they took the train). If the detectives have some suspicion of where the fugitive is, then this information helps limit the places they have to look: if the fugitive just took the train, they must now be standing on a train station.
Yes, limiting the movement of the fugitive like this was exactly what I was thinking of. I would have also added a form of fast transport that could jump between hoshi (like the metro in Scotland Yard).
But with moving pieces around, I began to think that it was aesthetically departing a bit too much from Go and starting to more resemble other games with superfluous, fanciful styling, like a medieval war with infantry, cavalry, fortification, palace intrigue, and even the machinations of the clergy. Hmmm… maybe that could make for an interesting Go variant?
Well having to use a limited set of fixed moved types like the kosumi, ogeima etc could be one idea. It makes me think of that variant @le_4TC had up at one point Anton's youtube channel - #16 by antonTobi “knights moves only”
So while the stones wouldn’t move their “movement” would be limited in how they relate to previously placed stones. Maybe the fugitive could make kosumi, knights move etc in relation to the detectives stones too to make it easier id needs be.
Or the fugitive must announce after every move what color stone (including their color) is the fewest number of orthogonal steps away from their move. If there is a tie, the fugitive may name any of the tied colors and does not need to reveal there was a tie.
