Building Games
These are games in which the object is to build something before the opponent does. This is usually a row of a certain number of pieces of your own colour. Some hybrid games use building as a means to another objective, such as games where building a row of three allows you to capture an enemy piece; these are more properly battle games with a building component.
Achi
Achi is a three-in-a-row game. It is played on a grid of three rows of three points. Players each have four pieces which are entered onto the board, in turn, one at a time. Once all the pieces are placed, they move from one point to an adjacent point. All the while players are trying to form rows of three along a marked line, for doing so wins them the game. History of Achi Achi appeared in one of ... (read more...)
Captain's Mistress
Known more widely as Connect 4, this is a game in which players must drop pieces into a vertical grid, attempting to form a row of four of their own colour. Dating from the turn of the twentieth century at the latest, it is one of the earliest games to use gravity as a mechanism of play. History of Captain's Mistress The origin of this game is unknown. It certainly dates back to about 1900, though it could be ... (read more...)
Dara
Dara is a row-building game from North Africa. Players enter their pieces one at a time, attempting to form a strategic arrangement. Once all pieces are placed, they move around the board, trying to form rows of three, which allows capture of an enemy piece. The first player reduced to two pieces loses the game. History of Dara There is an interesting family of games sometimes known as shiva, which are played across the Sahara and neighbouring parts of ... (read more...)
Eleven Men's Morris
This is a variant of the game nine men's morris, with eleven men per side. It is played like twelve men's morris on the junctions of a board of three concentric squares, with the corners and edges joined. Whereas it is possible in twelve men's morris to jam the board up full of pieces causing a draw, eleven men's morris nearly always leaves the players a little room to move. History of Eleven and Twelve Men's Morris Eleven and ... (read more...)
Five Men's Morris
This is a merels game from Europe, functionally almost identical to six men's morris which was favoured for a time in continental Europe. Each player has five pieces to be placed, then moved, on a lined board. Forming a row of three along a marked line allows an enemy piece to be taken. The player who is reduced to two pieces loses the game. History of Five and Six Men's Morris Six men's morris was popular in mediaeval Europe. ... (read more...)
Nine Holes
The most direct ancestor of today's familiar noughts & crosses is a more advanced game called "nine holes". Unlike noughts & crosses, nine holes cannot be played as a pencil and paper game, but requires pieces that can be moved around. This makes it a true board game. The board is usually, literally, nine holes cut in three rows of three, each hole big enough to take a pebble or other small piece. The rules of the game are ... (read more...)
Nine Men's Morris
Nine men's morris is a classic game of pure strategy. It has been described as "noughts and crosses for adults", as it shares the simpler game's aim for forming rows of three, but weaves that aim into a much more sophisticated game of wits. The rows of three, called "mills", are not the main aim of the game, they are a means to an end. The board starts empty, and players place their pieces in turn; forming a row ... (read more...)
Renju
Renju is a Japanese game more popular in its homeland than abroad. Two players, black and white, place stones on a grid, attempting to form a row of five. Because the first player normally has a great advantage in such connection games, there are limitations placed on the first player's formations that do not apply to the opponent. This makes the game fairly well-balanced and suitable for serious play. History of Renju For many years in Japan, games have ... (read more...)
Six Men's Morris
This is a smaller counterpart to the better-known nine men's morris. Each player has six pieces to be placed, then moved, on a lined board. Forming a row of three along a marked line allows an enemy piece to be taken. The player who is reduced to two pieces loses the game. History of Five and Six Men's Morris Six men's morris was popular in mediaeval Europe. It is mentioned in a French source from 1412, and a sixteenth ... (read more...)
Sixpenny Maddell
This curious combination of Six and Nine Men's Morris was played in Wiltshire in England, and was observed in 1897. The game is played with six men per side on a board of three concentric triangles joined at the middle. In a similar way to Nine Men's Morris, it allows a row of three men to be formed on the lines that connect the triangles together. Rules for Sixpenny Maddell Rules for Sixpenny Maddell 1. Sixpenny maddell is played ... (read more...)
Three Men's Morris
One of the simplest board games in the world is three men's morris. Each player has three pieces, and the board is a grid of nine points, in three rows of three. Players enter their pieces one at a time, in turn, trying to form a row of three. Once all pieces are on the board, players move their pieces along the marked lines until one player or other has a row of three, that player winning the game. ... (read more...)
Twelve Men's Morris
Twelve men's morris is a strategic three-in-a-row game. Two players each have twelve pieces, and play on a board of 24 points. The players strive to make rows of three along the marked lines, first by placing the pieces on the board one at a time (as in tic-tac-toe), and then by moving the pieces from one point to another along a marked line. Forming a row of three pieces allows a player to remove an enemy piece. A ... (read more...)
Comments
Why isn't HEX on your site because if it isn't it should be
i think that Hex is a terriffic game
David Munns - 22:59, 13/03/2017
Thanks for your query, David. I decided when I built this site to list games no more recent than 1900, as there are simply too many games (proprietary and otherwise) published since then. Hex is a good game, but it was published in the 1960s.
Damian Walker - 14:40, 26/04/2017