This is not a tutorial on how to invent abstract games. I wouldn’t encourage anyone. Nor is it a comparative investigation, because inventors cannot escape the suspicion of bias. At most it may serve as a basis for either or both, for whoever decides to embark on this course.

Between 1979 and 1986 I invented some fourty abstract games, most of which can be found in the Arena and the almost complete games section at MindSports.
Dameo is an exception in that it was invented, quite unintentionally, in the early spring of 2000.

Looking back now, from a safe distance, and with the benefit of hindsight, I’d like to clarify how and why I invented these games, and more specifically why not.

read on ...


photo: students union – university of the arts – london