Help For the Game Of Hexma

Introduction

Welcome to the network Hexma server. The Hexma challenge command is described here. Other commands are the same as for all pbmserv games.

    hexma challenge userid1 userid2 [userid3]

Starts a new game between userid1 and userid2 (and optionally userid3 for a three-player game).

Rules

Hexma is a connection race game played like Chinese Checkers, except that each player starts with 13 pieces and the goal is to connect opposite sides of the board.

Each player starts with their 13 pieces set out as follows:

                 x                                 .              
                x x                               . .             
               x x x                             . . .            
              x x x x                           . . . .           
     . . . . . x x x . . . . .         x x x x . . . . . y y y y   
      . . . . . . . . . . . .           x x x x . . . . y y y y   
       . . . . . . . . . . .             x x x . . . . . y y y    
        . . . . . . . . . .               x x . . . . . . y y     
         . . . . . . . . .                 . . . . . . . . .       
        . . . . . . . . . .               . . . . . . . . . .      
       . . . . . . . . . . .             . . . . . . . . . . .     
      . . . . . . . . . . . .           . . . . . . . . . . . .    
     . . . . . o o o . . . . .         . . . . . o o o . . . . .   
              o o o o                           o o o o            
               o o o                             o o o             
                o o                               o o              
                 o                                 o               
          Two-player version              Three-player version

Players alternate taking turns. Each turn the current player must move one of their pieces either:
   1) To an adjacent empty point, or
   2) In a series of hops over single pieces of any colour.

For instance, the piece labelled 'a' below can move to any of the empty points marked '*'. The piece labelled 'b' has no legal moves at this stage.
                 b                   
                x x                    
               x x x                   
              . x x x               
     . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
      . . . . * . . . * . . .      
       . . . . x . . x . . .       
        . . . . * x * . . .         
         . . . o . . x . .         
        . . . * . . . * . .        
       . . . . o . . . . . .     
      . . . . . * . . . . . .    
     . . . . * o . o o . . . .   
              a * o o                    
               * o o                     
                o o                       
                 o                  

Aim: A player wins by completing a chain of their pieces between their home and away board edges.

The diagram below shows the home '-' and away '+' edges for player O. In the two-player version player X also attempts to connect the same edges, but in the three-player game the home and away pairs are different for each player (a player's away edge is always opposite their home edge).

                 +              
                + +                   
               + . +                  
              + . . +                 
     + + + + + . . . + + + + +  
      . . . . . . . . . . . .     
       . . . . . . . . . . .       
        . . . . . . . . . .       
         . . . . . . . . .          
        . . . . . . . . . .         
       . . . . . . . . . . .       
      . . . . . . . . . . . .   
     - - - - - . . . - - - - -
              - . . -              
               - . -              
                - -                
                 -                

Notes

The following board shows a three-player game won by Y, who has completed a chain of 'y' pieces between their home and away edges.

      abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy
      | | | | | | | | | | | | |
  1               .               1
  2              . .   Y's home   2
  3             . . .      |      3
  4            . . . .     V      4
  5   . . . x . y y y y . . . .   5
  6    . . . x y o . . . . . .    6
  7     . . o y x o . . . . .     7
  8      . . y y x x . . . .      8
  9       y y o y o x o . .       9
 10      . . o x o y . o . .      10
 11     . . x y x o . o . . .     11
 12    . . . x . . . x . . . .    12
 13   . . . . . . o . x . . . .   13
 14            . . . .            14
 15             . . o             15
 16              . .              16
 17               .               17
      | | | | | | | | | | | | |
      abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy

The square board labelling is different to that used for the server's verion of ChineseCheckers, but was found to be easier to interpret.

It's possible for an obstructionist opponent to form their pieces into a blockade that spans the board, making it impossible for a player to win. However it's believed that clever play can always defeat such attempts to kill the game, and that there is no need for a complicating rule to address this.

Syntax

O moves first, then X, then Y. The move syntax is:    

    hexma move board# userid password from-to

where "from" and "to" are the board points that the piece moves from and to (eg q11-k13 is a valid move involving two hops on the above board). There is no need to specify the intermediate landing points in a series of hops, however perverse players may do so if they wish to.

References and History

Hexma was invented by Cameron Browne in November 2003.

The game's original name (Chinese Hex) sounded a little dodgy, so the name Hexma was coined instead. This still embodies the two driving forces behind the game, even if it does sound a bit like an unpleasant skin condition.

Implementation and help file by Cameron Browne, November 2003.