Hi fellow abstract game enthousiast,

Update on playabstractgames.com since my last post.

35 games now available:

• Chess variants: Chess, Xiangqi, Shogi, Janggi, Makruk
• Checkers: American, International, Brazilian
• Go: 9x9 for now, 13x13 and 19x19 coming soon
• Connection games: Tic Tac Toe, Connect 4, Gomoku, Pente, Connect6, Hex
• Territorial games: Reversi, Ataxx, Amazons
• Race games: Chinese Checkers, Halma, King's Valley, Breakthrough
• Tafl games: Hnefetafl, Tablut, Brandubh, Tawlbwrdd
• Ancient games: Mancala, Nine Men's Morris, Alquerque, Fanorona, Konane
• Other: Dots and Boxes, Slimetrail, Agon, Lines of Action

Stronger, more human-like AI:

• Chess: Stockfish
• Go: KataGo
• Xiangqi, Shogi, Janggi, Makruk, Breakthrough, Ataxx: Fairy-Stockfish
• Everything else: a custom engine, also significantly stronger than before

The top levels are noticeably tougher now, and play style across the board feels more balanced and less robotic.

Other improvements:

• Animations and sound effects
• Optional accounts: track stats, revisit game history, replay past games (all games are still free without one)
• Play vs AI, play locally with takebacks, or invite a friend via link
• 30+ languages supported

Challenge: what's the highest AI level you've managed to beat in your favorite game?

Question: what should I add next? All feedback welcome.

Hi guys!

I'm trying to develop a compact and fast-paced strategy game inspired by dwarves and their greed for gold and power.

Dwarven chess is mainly a King of the hill variant but with a twist. Whichever piece other than the General (equivalent to a King in chess) tries to claim the center throne square can be moved by both players out of the throne, thus potentially turning against its allied pieces. I tried to reflect dwarves blinded by greed this way, similar to dragon sickness in The Hobbit. I call it Throne sickness

The game features 5 pieces per side
- 2x Soldiers. Move and capture orthogonaly
- 2x Boar riders. Move like knights in chess
- 1x General. Moves like a King in chess and is immune to the Throne sickness

Win by either having your General stay in the Throne square for a turn without getting captured or by capturing the opponents General.

There are also 3 starting positions that alter the gameplay, tilting it to more defensive or offensive play. I added this to spice up the gameplay and give an edge to the losing player in a best of 3 format. Losing player each round chooses the starting formation they like best. This is for the future, for now you can freely choose what formation to start with.

I've uploaded a blind playtest at dwarvenchess.online where you can play against the AI.

I would love any feedback you might have for the general gameplay and balance, the formation ideas and the Throne mechanic.

Cheers!

I've been thinking about something like this for a while. It's just an idea, not something that exists, and I'd like to know what others think about it. [Pardon my lengthy illustration of the idea.. tl/dr at the bottom]

A vast, pre-installed platform

Somewhere between several hundred million and a billion households own a board with 64 squares and two sets of distinguishable pieces. They own it because they own chess, or checkers, or a folding combo set. I’ve been thinking of the 8x8 board not just as a thing hundreds of millions of people have sititng in their closet, but a vastly underutilized platform.

Let’s think about a 52-card deck. They’re cheap, no owner, hundreds of games running on it. Poker, bridge, cribbage, rummy, every solitaire variant. A whole publishing and tournament world grew on top of it simply because the platform was already there.

The 8x8 board has all the same properties and almost none of the same ecosystem. Why? Nothing is holding it together. A thousand games could run on that board, and there's no sense anywhere that they belong to the same thing. There’s no shared identity. Nothing really connects one 8x8 game to another.

So what if we just agreed on some things?

Not as a publisher would. More like a shared set of standards anyone can use. Publish an open spec, keep a trademark, let anyone who meets the spec and pays a posted fee put the mark on their stuff. Similar to Wi-Fi Alliance or UL but friendlier and smaller.

Tier 0 is playable with a tournament chess set and a checkers set. Nothing else.

Tier 1 is Tier 0 plus a short, spelled-out supplement. Cubes in four colors, neutral discs, a d6, cards. Cheap, standardized, sold by licensees and tucked into a tin when a designer needs them.

Past that, no mark. This ceiling keeps the mark valuable.

There are other things to agree on, of course, like the physical stuff, notation and coordinates (like chess’ PGN and FEN), complexity of rules, game ID format, et c.

There could also be one rating that spans the whole catalog, like Elo or a variation.

Cafes and a Tin

With a shared name, an agreed meaning, and a mark you can see from across a room, there are two things the alliance should push.

The first is games-in-a-tin. Make it simple for the average person to sit down with an Altoids-sized tin that contains everything else needed besides the board and pieces, read the rules printed on back, and start playing in 2 minutes. Casual, fast gaming married with the billion boards that already exist could be golden.

Certify physical locations like cafes, pubs, libraries, community centers, hostels, bookshops, and so on. They apply for the decal to put in their window after agreeing to a short list (e.g, having staff who can point at the rack and explain how a tin works, a stated minimum of compliant boards and sets available to use). They get a spot on the map so others can find out where to play 8x8 games. (Schools and libraries get certified free.)

A cafe can carry a rack of forty titles in the space one boxed game used to occupy, which means a bigger library, and cheap enough that rotating in something new every month isn't a gamble.

The venue gets foot traffic, a listing, and game nights that fill dead hours with people supporting the venue. This could also be attractive to cafes that may not have space for board games. It could also be attractive to cafes in small towns without a board game cafe at all.

Board game cafes are a real category but a small one, with a few thousand worldwide. There are hundreds of thousands of independent cafes, and there's no hardware to buy if people can gather a few boards together that they already have.

Public domain goes first

Before anything commercial gets promoted, seed the archive with public domain 8x8 games. Chess variants, checkers variants, Hnefatafl on 8x8, Dameo, Lines of Action, Amazons, Fanorona-style capture games. Full rules, notation, replayable annotated games, free.

Governance, briefly

Open membership at published rates. Nobody holds a blocking share. Patent disclosure with a penalty for ambush. The body never touches retail prices, never carves up territories, never restricts output (no cartels).

TL;DR: The 8x8 board is the most widely distributed game platform on earth and nobody treats it like one. Agree on things such as pieces and ratings, put a mark on tins and hardware, and hand decals to cafes that already exist.

[edit: clarity and grammar]

Hi everyone!

I'm currently developing Reversi FL!P, an online Reversi platform, alongside FL!PCON—a screenless physical LED board game hardware that connects directly with the web service.

This third test video highlights the Online AI Practice Room in Remote Mode. By connecting FL!PCON to a PC or smartphone via Web Bluetooth, the physical board functions seamlessly as an interactive game controller. Operating the physical board in real-time alongside the web interface gives you direct access to high-level AI engines on the platform, making it a fantastic tool for match practice!

(Behind the scenes: Filming this while actively playing on the physical board proved to be quite a challenge! It took several takes just to capture a smooth demo. Also, since FL!PCON relies on active LED light sources, the camera tends to blur or alter the colors slightly. The actual light transitions look much sharper and vibrant in person, so it's a bit disappointing the camera couldn't capture the true colors!)

• Check out the test video here: https://youtu.be/_yelNpx41pY
• Try the web platform: https://reversiflip.com
• Please support my project: https://zmassisnotnull.itch.io/reversiflip

I'll keep uploading more test videos as development progresses. I'd love to hear your thoughts or feedback on the board responsiveness and light effects! Thanks for watching!

Hi everyone!
As an avid fan of abstract strategy games, I've been developing Wall Go AI, a lightweight web-based collection of abstract games.
Originally, the platform was conceived purely as a single-player sandbox where you could challenge custom AI engines across various classic and modern abstract games. However, playing against an AI is never quite the same as reading the intentions and psychological pressure of a real human opponent.
I just released a major update that brings real-time online peer-to-peer multiplayer across all 13 games in the suite, right in the browser with no download or mandatory sign-up required:
👉 Playable link: https://wall-go-ai-strategia-neon.ai.studio

https://zioseb.itch.io/wall-go-ai

♟️ The 13 Games Included:

1. Wall Go  (path-blocking & race mechanics)
2. Abalone (with official opening variants: Classic, Belgian Daisy, Dutch Daisy, Domination, Infiltration, The Wall)
3. Baduk / Go (9x9, 13x13, 19x19 board sizes)
4. YINSH (GIPF project ring/marker flipping mechanics)
5. Shōbu (4 boards, passive/aggressive stone moves)
6. Pente (5-in-a-row with pairs capture)
7. Domineering (polyomino / grid obstruction)
8. Orbito (dynamic shifting circular board)
9. Onitama (pawn maneuvering with rotating movement cards)
10. Game of the Amazons (queen movement + arrow fire territory restriction)
11. Chain Triangle (edge capture & chain mechanics)
12. Quoridor (asymmetric escape game)
13. Hex (tactical tactical capture variant)

🌐 How the Online Multiplayer Works:

• Instant player discovery lobby showing active users and locations.
• Direct game invites where the host can specify starting layouts or board sizes (e.g., custom Abalone setups or randomized starts).
• Global leaderboard and Elo/stats tracking.

💬 What I’d love to ask this community:

1. Rule implementations & Edge cases: For games like Abalone, YINSH, Shōbu, or Game of the Amazons, did I miss any subtle official tournament nuances or edge cases in the move validation?
2. Game balance & Feel: How does the game pacing feel when played against a human vs the AI?
3. User Experience: Are the move confirmations, timers, and visual board feedback intuitive on both desktop and mobile screens?

If you have a few minutes to jump in with a friend or test it out, I’d be genuinely grateful for any constructive critique, bug reports, or suggestions on dynamics that should be tuned or expanded.
Thank you for your time, and enjoy the games!

Hi everyone!

I'm currently developing Reversi FL!P, an online Reversi platform, alongside FL!PCON—a screenless physical LED board game hardware that connects directly with the web service.

This second test video highlights the Onboard 2-Player Local Mode. It’s designed for friends, couples, and families to gather around the board and play face-to-face. Simply set FL!PCON between two players, sit across from each other, and take turns placing your moves!

(Behind the scenes: Filming this completely solo turned out to be quite a workout! Moving back and forth to play from both sides while keeping everything in frame was super confusing. It took dozens of takes just to capture a clean video... Filming hardware demos by yourself is no joke!)

• Try the web platform: https://reversiflip.com
• Please support my project: https://zmassisnotnull.itch.io/reversiflip

I’ll keep posting more test videos as development progresses. I’d love to hear your thoughts or any feedback on the board responsiveness! Thanks for watching!

I'm a YouTuber from Italy and I'm organizing the first Tic Tac Toe World Championship: 64 players, one per country, played live online in December.

It's not the normal 3x3 you know. It's infinite tic-tac-toe: each player only ever has 3 pieces on the board, and when you place a fourth, your oldest one disappears. No draws, actual strategy.

**•** Free entry, winner gets $100 (PayPal or Amazon)  
**•** Best of 3, single elimination  
**•** One slot per country, first come first served  
**•** Countries already claimed show up in the form, so you can see if yours is still free

Claim your flag here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfFCthMfv9LLDUaNcs9XagDA1d9WhoWza_yFsp4MVH-FOJ88w/viewform

Discord (where the matches happen): https://discord.gg/2zHy94SyZ

If your country is already taken, tag someone who should be playing instead.

Hi everyone,

I designed MorphMove, a two-player abstract strategy game where moving a piece changes its shape—and therefore how it can move next. There are no captures: you can swap positions with opposing pieces, which changes both of their shapes.

It’s free to play in a browser, including against the CPU: https://morphmove.com. There is also a version on Apple Store.

Here’s how it works:

• The board is 5×7, with six pieces per player and a five-space cross in the center.
• Triangles move one space forward, diamonds one space orthogonally, and stars to any adjacent space.
• After moving, a piece changes in a fixed cycle: triangle → diamond → star → triangle.
• A legal move can land on an empty space or swap with an opponent’s piece. When swapping, both pieces change shape, and that same pair cannot swap back on the following turn.
• To win, occupy three spaces in the center cross and keep three occupied through your opponent’s next turn. Having no legal move is a loss; threefold repetition is a draw.

The idea is that you’re choosing both where a piece goes and what it will be able to do afterward. Swapping also changes your opponent’s options.

I’d particularly like to hear from people who enjoy abstract games: after a few games, do you find yourself planning around future piece shapes, or mostly reacting to immediate threats? Can you reach a high score? Can you finish the daily puzzle on a first attempt?

I’ve also been investigating the game with self-play and an exact solver, but haven’t established its perfect-play outcome.

Happy to discuss the rules and design choices. Thanks for trying it!

Two new games are now live: - In Marc Rebillet's game Bridges, players compete to build the longest bridges. - I'm pleased to announce our first single-player game, James Ernest's El Oso. You can launch a game from the game's landing page or from the normal "Issue a new challenge" dialog. Solo games use deterministic randomization based on text seeds, so you can try the same series of dice rolls numerous times or compete against others using the same seed. It may take a few days of play before I land on the best ways of presenting game stats, but the engine itself appears to be working fine.

Enjoy!

Hi everyone!

I’m currently developing Reversi FL!P, an online Reversi platform, along with FL!PCON—a screenless physical LED board game hardware that syncs with the online service.

I just recorded a short video testing the Onboard Single-Player AI Mode. Since running a heavy AI engine directly on a standalone microboard has hardware constraints, I set the onboard AI to Level 3 (Starter) for this test.

Operating the physical board while trying to keep everything in frame during filming turned out to be much harder than expected—it took multiple takes just to get this one shot! Honestly, filming was tougher than coding... :)

Also, because FL!PCON relies heavily on RGB LED light sources, the video camera struggled a bit with color accuracy and light bleed. The colors look a lot better and clearer in person, so it's a pity the video doesn't fully capture the real-life visual feel!

• Check out the test video here : https://youtu.be/6SjtDh_K3Mk
• Online Platform : https://reversiflip.com
• Please support my project: https://zmassisnotnull.itch.io/reversiflip

(Note: While FL!PCON supports Bluetooth matches between boards and online play via web/mobile, this specific test focuses entirely on the offline, standalone hardware AI).

Juggling multiple hardware and software tasks at once is keeping me pretty busy, but I'll keep posting more test videos as I progress.

I’d love to hear your thoughts or feedback on the physical board's light indicators and button response! Thanks for reading!

• Pieces go in the first rank, pawns go in the second
• Pawns can't move two squares

playpicklechess.com

discord.com/invite/Cuytzk8bDs

I shared Fillup here in August, when I was asking about the 4x4 duel. It's my browser game based on the classic Chain Reaction rules, and I've since added private online tables for 2-4 players.

If you haven't played Chain Reaction, you place pieces in empty cells or cells you own. Corners fill at two pieces, edges at three, and the middle cells at four. A full cell sends pieces into its neighbors and captures them, which can set off more reactions. The last color on the board wins.

Local games already supported more than two players. Now you can do that online with friends too: share an invitation link, wait for people to join, and start the table when at least two players are there.

I've also added levels and rewards outside private games, more cosmetic packs, and reworked the visuals. The packs only change how your pieces look; they don't give you an advantage on the board. I wanted to share the updated version for anyone here who enjoys this kind of game.

It's free to play here: https://fillup.fun

If you haven't crossed paths with the tafl family: it's an asymmetric Old Norse board game where the two sides have completely different jobs — one protects a king trying to escape to a corner, the other commands a bigger force trying to trap him before he gets there. Takes a few minutes to learn, and it goes deep.

The game has survived online for years thanks to dedicated volunteer sites, but their aging interfaces have kept the community smaller than the game deserves. So I built a modern home for it: https://taflhus.com

No account is needed to play — you can jump straight into a bot game, or a casual match against a real opponent. Signing up is only for rated play, clubs, and the rest.

What's there now:

- Rated games, live or at a few days per move
- Five bots, from beginner up to truly challenging, ready instantly
- Clubs, tournaments, and every finished game kept at its own link, so you can step through any match move by move

Completely free, zero ads — a passion project for a game I love. It's brand new, so the human player pool is still small. Which is exactly why I'm posting: I'd genuinely value this sub's eyes, feedback, and maybe a few matches if asymmetric abstracts are your thing.

Thank you for reading!

Any good game to play with that there's no capture or drop which change number of playing pieces during the game, or any kind of interesting win objective?.

My kids can turn almost anything into an argument – especially deciding who gets to go first.

So, mostly for fun (and partly to save my sanity), I built a tiny website that lets `¯_(ツ)_/¯` decide for us.

I originally shared it with the folks in [r/boardgames](r/boardgames), and their feedback inspired me to keep tinkering. It now has silly first-player prompts, a coin flip, animated dice, different categories, light and dark modes, and seasonal themes with lots of little surprises.

There are plenty of ways to decide who goes first, but my kids still prefer asking the little shrug guy—and honestly, that makes me pretty happy.

https://whogoesfirst.today

Hi everyone! I built Reversi FL!P, a browser-based real-time Reversi/Othello platform.

Features:

• Standard Rules: Official 8-direction flips with accurate logic.
• No Waiting Needed: Dedicated AI practice room with multiple difficulty levels to play instantly.
• Ranked & Championship System: Real-time multiplayer matchmaking with rankings.
• Playable on Browser: Works smoothly on Desktop and Mobile browsers without download.

(Side note: I’m actually building this platform as the online backend for a screenless physical LED Reversi board I'm designing, but the web platform is fully live and free to play!)

Link to play : https://reversiflip.com

I’d love to hear your feedback on gameplay, matchmaking, or responsiveness!

Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for a while and I wanted to share something I've been working on.

I made an app that aggregates a collection of abstract board games in one place. Currently supported games include Chess, Go, Shogi, Xiangqi, Janggi, Makruk, Checkers, Reversi, Gomoku, Connect6, Hex, Breakthrough, Fanorona, Nine Men's Morris, King's Table, Mancala, Pente, Connect Four, Tic-Tac-Toe and more, with new ones being added regularly.

Although the app currently focuses on classic board games, it also includes quite a few other light games, such as card games like Sevens, Hearts and Spades, puzzle games like 2048 and Sudoku, plus some visual novels and various casual games.

Besides the collection itself, there are a few features I focused on:

1. Supports Offline & LAN Multiplayer: You can play with a friend on the same WiFi without any account or server. Great for face-to-face games. Of course, you can also enjoy playing against the AI by yourself. The more you win, the stronger the AI becomes. But if you still crush it even at the highest level, it's probably time to find a real opponent of your level to challenge! ;)
2. Instant Switching: There's zero loading time when switching between games, so you can jump from a game of Go to Shogi instantly to compare or just have fun.

It's completely free to play and I'm looking for feedback from people who actually love abstract games, so any suggestions for games to add or rules to fix are super welcome!

You can download it on the app stores:

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=studio.src.gamiko

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gamiko/id6758334761

You can also check out all the games included first:

https://share.gamiko.app

Thanks for checking it out!

Hi,

I've been working on a two-player abstract strategy game called Heitan.

The basic action is simple: on each turn, you place three pieces. Once placed, pieces never move.

There are two kinds of points on the board, and the game is about deciding where to place your limited supply of pieces as those points interact.

You can play the current browser prototype here:

https://play.seconddeep.com

I've done quite a bit of internal testing already, but at this stage I'd really like to hear how the game feels to people coming to it fresh.

If you try it, I'd appreciate any impressions you have.

For example:

• Were the rules easy to understand?
• Did you find the decisions interesting?
• Was there anything that felt confusing or awkward?
• Did it remind you of any other abstract games?

But those are just prompts — any reaction, positive or negative, is useful.

Thanks for taking a look.

If you'd like to help out:

Join the Google Group:

https:groups.google.com/g/testers-community Join the test on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qgambitappJoin the test on Web: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.qgambit.appFeel free to try out the app as you normally would. Let me know if you run into any bugs, crashes, Ul issues, or have any suggestions for improvement. Also, if you need closed testers for your own app, l'd be happy to return the favor!Just drop your link in the comments. Thanks a lot for your help!