Hi~
I’m working on a Go variant and would like your feedback. Nothing is fixed yet — I want the community to help refine the rules
Shared Rules
- Board: Perlin/fBm noise. Dark = land, white = ocean. Remove tiny fragments; larger inland seas/islands may stay.
- Normal Go: turns, liberties, captures, ko, no suicide.
- Live UI: show estimated territory for both sides, live capture count/score, and suspected dead stones.
- Dead-stone marks are estimates only. Final dead stones and occupation scoring are confirmed at endgame.
- Captures during play: +2 per stone, scored immediately.
- Endgame dead stones: +2 per stone to the capturing side.
- Dead-stone points: score 0 occupation points, but still count as empty points for enclosure.
- Endgame enclosure: an empty region fully surrounded by Black belongs to Black; fully by White belongs to White; touching both is neutral (0).
- Terrain liberty effect: optional / TBD. If used, liberties must be allowed to reach 0.
- White komi: suggested 3–7, TBD.
Option A: Divided Territory — Black Land vs White Ocean
- Map: land/ocean near 50/50, difference under 5%. Compensation to the side with less starting area.
- Scoring:
- Black encloses original White ocean: +2/point
- Black encloses original Black land: +1/point
- White encloses original Black land: +2/point
- White encloses original White ocean: +1/point
- Dead-stone points excluded from occupation points.
- +2 captures, +2 dead stones.
- Terrain compensation + White komi.
- Pros: strong theme, fierce invasion of enemy terrain, coastlines matter.
- Cons: more complex, initial balance matters, inland-sea ownership needs a rule.
- Open question: Should inland seas count as White ocean terrain? TBD.
Option B: No Owner — Scarce Land, Unified Scoring
- Map: land = 70% of ocean area (about 41% land / 59% ocean).
- Scoring:
- Enclosed land: +2/point for either side.
- Enclosed ocean: +1/point for either side.
- Dead-stone points excluded from occupation points.
- +2 captures, +2 dead stones.
- No terrain compensation. White komi TBD.
- Pros: simpler, fairer to generate, no initial territory disputes, easy to test.
- Cons: weaker theme, ocean may matter less, land value needs testing.
- Open questions: land ratio, scoring balance, komi.
Vote
- Which option? A or B?
- Terrain liberty effect? No / own +1 enemy -1 / Black land +1, White ocean +1 / other.
- White komi? 3 / 5 / 7 / other.
- First board size? 13×13 / 19×19 / other.
- Option B: land = 70% of ocean area? Yes / too little / too much.
- Option A: inland seas as White ocean? Yes / No, neutral / test.
- Live dead-stone marking? Estimate only / auto-final / none.
Check: Live territory is an estimate; final occupation scoring only at endgame. Live dead stones are suspected only; final dead stones are confirmed at endgame. No new final-decision algorithm added.
Any ideas, rule changes, or playtesting suggestions are welcome. Let’s refine this variant together!
