The GIPF Project is a series of seven abstract strategy games by designer Kris Burm. [1]
The series is named after the first game, GIPF . All the games take place on some form of hexagonal board. Each of the games, including GIPF, may be played individually. When playing a standard game of GIPF the game is played with normal pieces and GIPF pieces.
However, the series also allows players to link the GIPF game to the other games in the series or even to any game at all. It does this by introducing into the game of GIPF certain new pieces with special powers, called "potentials". Before you start a game of GIPF with potentials, the players decide to which game they link each potential piece. For example, the ZÈRTZ potential piece to a game of ZÈRTZ and the DVONN potential to a game of DVONN. But they could decide just as well to link the ZÈRTZ potential to a coin flip and the DVONN potential to a dice roll. Now, when playing the GIPF game with potentials, they can introduce potential pieces whenever they like (according to the playing rules). As soon as they want to use the special power of one of their potential pieces during the GIPF game, they put the GIPF board aside and play the game linked to that specific potential piece (in the example above ZÈRTZ and DVONN, respectively a coin flip and a dice roll). Upon victory the active player can use the power of the potential piece in the game of GIPF. If the active player loses, the special power of the potential piece cannot be used in the GIPF game. [1] [2]
The idea of introducing additional games that can be used to affect the outcome of the main game came from Burm's childhood, when he and his brother would "race" cars around a rug. For each turn, they would play another game, and the winner of that game would get to roll six dice to determine his car's movement, while the loser would roll just five.
As of 2022 [update] , YINSH , TZAAR , DVONN , LYNGK , ZÈRTZ , GIPF , and PÜNCT are, respectively, the 3rd, 8th, 11th, 19th, 20th, 35th, and 80th highest ranked Abstract Games on Boardgamegeek. TAMSK , which was officially removed from the series, is nevertheless ranked 87th. [3] YINSH, DVONN, and ZÈRTZ have each won the Mensa Select award. [4]
The games are based on elements: TAMSK (time), ZÈRTZ (water), DVONN (fire), YINSH (air), TZAAR (earth), and PÜNCT (the interconnectivity of the brain). These elements are brought together in GIPF.
Most of the games in the series can be played free online (for example, at BoardSpace.net) or against freely available computer opponents.
GIPF derives from the German word for a mountain summit ("Gipfel"), where the original game was conceived.
Subsequent games were named to include one vowel and 4 consonants, but to otherwise remain unrelated to existing language. TZAAR is the only game deviating from these naming conventions, due to disputes with the game publisher. [ citation needed ]
Ludo is a strategy board game for two to four players, in which the players race their four tokens from start to finish according to the rolls of a single die. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo originated from the Indian game Pachisi. The game and its variations are popular in many countries and under various names.
The Smart Game Format (SGF) is a file format used for storing records of board games. Go is the game that is most commonly represented in this format and is the default. SGF was originally created under a different name by Anders Kierulf for his SmartGO program.
Parcheesi is a brand-name American adaptation of the Indian cross and circle board game Pachisi, published by Selchow & Righter and Winning Moves Games USA.
DVONN is a two-player strategy board game in which the objective is to accumulate pieces in stacks. It was released in 2001 by Kris Burm as the fourth game in the GIPF Project. DVONN won the 2002 International Gamers Award and the Games magazine Game of the Year Award in 2003.
Kris Burm is a Belgian game designer specializing in abstract board games. He is best known for his award-winning GIPF series of games. He was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1957 and moved to nearby Schilde in 2005.
GIPF is an abstract strategy board game by Kris Burm, the first of seven games in his series of games called the GIPF Project. GIPF was recommended by Spiel des Jahres in 1998.
TAMSK is a two-player board game designed by Kris Burm. It was originally published in 1998 as the second game in the GIPF Project series of abstract strategy games, although it was later dropped from the series in favor of TZAAR. Players move sand hourglass timers and drop plastic rings around spaces on a hexagonal board in an attempt to limit their opponent's moves. Each player starts the game with 32 rings, and the player with the fewest remaining rings at the end of the game is the winner. The game is unique among the GIPF Project games in having time as a central game component, and the manner in which time is used is possibly unique among board games in general.
ZÈRTZ is the third game in the GIPF Project of seven abstract strategy games. The game features a shrinking board and an object that promotes sacrifice combinations. It is impartial: since neither player owns on-board pieces, maintaining the initiative is of fundamental importance.
YINSH is an abstract strategy board game by game designer Kris Burm. It is the fifth game to be released in the GIPF Project. At the time of its release in 2003, Burm stated that he intended it to be considered as the sixth and last game of the project, and that the game which he had not yet released, PÜNCT, would be logically the fifth game. However, the series was later expanded to seven games with the release of LYNGK.
Dice chess can refer to a number of chess variants in which dice are used to alter gameplay; specifically that the moves available to each player are determined by rolling a pair of ordinary six-sided dice. There are many different variations of this form of dice chess. One of them is described here.
PÜNCT is a two-player strategy board game. It is the sixth release in the GIPF project of seven abstract strategy games, although it is considered the fifth game in the project. It was released in 2005. PÜNCT won the Games Magazine Best Abstract Strategy game for 2007.
Aeroplane chess is a Chinese cross-and-circle board game similar to the Western game of Ludo and the Indian game of Pachisi. Developed in the 20th century, aeroplane chess features airplanes as pieces instead of the more abstract pawns and beehive-shaped pieces found in the games from which it is derived. Aeroplane chess has spread around the world, especially in Africa.
TZAAR is the seventh game released in the GIPF series and Games Magazine's 2009 Game of the Year. It officially replaced TAMSK, which was originally published as the second board game in the GIPF Project.
Headache is a board game in which two to four players take turns moving cone-shaped pieces around a board until one player succeeds in capturing every other piece on the board.
Marrakech is a board game designed by Dominique Ehrhard in which players are competing carpet traders in the city of Marrakech. It was first published in 2007. Its German edition has been renamed Suleika.
This glossary of board games explains commonly used terms in board games, in alphabetical order. For a list of board games, see List of board games; for terms specific to chess, see Glossary of chess; for terms specific to chess problems, see Glossary of chess problems.
The Duke is a two-player abstract strategy board game played on a square-tiled gameboard, with 36 squares arranged in a 6×6 grid. The game has been compared to chess and chess variants, while retaining notable differences in unit movement and overall gameplay.
The following is a glossary of terms used in tables games, essentially games played on a Backgammon-type board. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, but applicable to a range of tables games.