01-31-2024, 04:16 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-05-2024, 05:32 AM by Alain Busser.)
Having played to this game (including with children), I came up with what seems to be the simplest rules compatible with de Flacourt's writing:
As for the last sown seed, there are 3 cases:
Case 1: it falls into an empty pit. This marks the end of a turn (this is why it is forbidden to begin a turn with an empty pit).
Case 2: it falls into a nonempty pit in the inner row such that the facing pit (in the enemy's inner row) is not empty either. In that case, one takes all the seeds from the facing pit, and sows them beginning by a tsibongy (leftest or rightest pit from one's inner row) of one's choice, in the direction of the other tsibongy.
Case 3 (all the rest): the last seed falls into a nonempty pit which is in the outer row, or such that the opposite pit is empty. In that case, one takes all the seeds from the arrival pit and sows them, one by one, beginning by the following pit (keeping the direction of sowing always the same during the turn).
At the beginning of the play, each player has 26 seeds in his store and 6 seeds on the board (one in each of the the inner pits). At his turn he takes a seed from the store and uses it as if it was the last seed of a sowing (which it is, actually). More precisely,
- one should not sow this seed in an empty pit (which means that the first player whose inner row is empty, looses the game)
- if there is a nonempty pit in the inner row, such that the facing pit is nonempty too, one must play such a pit
- if all the nonempty pits from the inner row face empty pits, one is in case 3, and sows one's own seeds from the chosen pit. In that case, one sows this way until the end of the turn (if you don't take seeds at the beginning of the turn, you take no seed during all the turn).
These rules, coherent with de Flacourt's description, are playable (as said before, even by children) except that de Flacourt did not say what happens if no inner row was emptied after the 26 turns by player. A child suggested that in that case the winner is the player who has the most seeds in his part of the board.
It is possible to adapt these rules to smaller boards, like 4×6 or even 4×4 (tested).
As for the last sown seed, there are 3 cases:
Case 1: it falls into an empty pit. This marks the end of a turn (this is why it is forbidden to begin a turn with an empty pit).
Case 2: it falls into a nonempty pit in the inner row such that the facing pit (in the enemy's inner row) is not empty either. In that case, one takes all the seeds from the facing pit, and sows them beginning by a tsibongy (leftest or rightest pit from one's inner row) of one's choice, in the direction of the other tsibongy.
Case 3 (all the rest): the last seed falls into a nonempty pit which is in the outer row, or such that the opposite pit is empty. In that case, one takes all the seeds from the arrival pit and sows them, one by one, beginning by the following pit (keeping the direction of sowing always the same during the turn).
At the beginning of the play, each player has 26 seeds in his store and 6 seeds on the board (one in each of the the inner pits). At his turn he takes a seed from the store and uses it as if it was the last seed of a sowing (which it is, actually). More precisely,
- one should not sow this seed in an empty pit (which means that the first player whose inner row is empty, looses the game)
- if there is a nonempty pit in the inner row, such that the facing pit is nonempty too, one must play such a pit
- if all the nonempty pits from the inner row face empty pits, one is in case 3, and sows one's own seeds from the chosen pit. In that case, one sows this way until the end of the turn (if you don't take seeds at the beginning of the turn, you take no seed during all the turn).
These rules, coherent with de Flacourt's description, are playable (as said before, even by children) except that de Flacourt did not say what happens if no inner row was emptied after the 26 turns by player. A child suggested that in that case the winner is the player who has the most seeds in his part of the board.
It is possible to adapt these rules to smaller boards, like 4×6 or even 4×4 (tested).