I'll let people have a quick peek to see if they can guess the rules perversion that we tried, it shouldn't be too hard to spot (although there were a couple of times where the modified rules were accidentally not followed).

Game #686884

I'll spill the beans in a day or so.

i guessed the variation even without entering the game ;) should I spoil the fun?

You're probably right with your guess, Gregorio, as there aren't a large number of rules perversions to chose from.

It was a fun game - a little frustrating at times because you kept saying “if only I could do what I'm used to”. However, that's just habit. I don't believe that it decreased the strategic or tactical nature of the game significantly. If anything you have to be more strategic, as it takes longer to perform some blocking moves.

I recommend others to give it a try; I'd like to hear other opinions on the game. I would advise that while playing the game you keep a constant conversation going in the messages, otherwise you'll forget to play by the right rules.

Phil, have you tried the game of Neutron? I think it might be the original game with this type of movement (please correct me if I'm wrong). Without having actually tried the Amazons variant, I would say that it is not an improvement to the game of Amazons, while Neutron itself is worth a try (and also Neutreeko, of course).

I think my perversion is far closer to amazons than it is to either of those two games. Note also that I was not claiming it to be an improvement, merely an interesting variation worth a quick play in a spare moment.

He he, of course it is closer…it's just a tip.

Time for me to spill the beans, for anyone reading this who might not have figured it out.

I'm pretty sure the rule is this… Once an arrow is shot, it must travel as far as it can possibly go. (Meaning, the arrow is not allowed to stop in the middle of the board. The arrow must continue until it hits the edge of a board, or another arrow, or an Amazon.)

Of course, Ed spotted it. I presume Isometry and Gregorio did too. It was a fun perversion.

I once tried another variation (but not possible here in LG): once you move an amazon, the four arrows in North, South, East and West are moved away until another arrow, edge or amazon is found. Something like antigravitational Amazons… However, enclosing yourself was extremely difficult, and game lost interest :(

Three other variations I thought of were adjacent-arrow, line-of-sight arrow, and suicide-bomber Amazons.

Adjacent-arrow Amazons is the complementary perversion to the maximum-arrow perversion above. You have to plant the arrow next to you. This is possible on LG. Anyone want a game just for fun?

Line-of-sight arrow Amazons would permit you to fire anywhere where your Amazon has line of sight, not just on the axes and diagonals.

Suicide-bomber Amazons is more radical. Rather than firing an arrow, you could blow yourself up, and all 8 neigbouring arrows would be removed from the board. You'd of course lose an amazon, but the resulting 9 spaces might be enough for one of your other amazons to achieve something interesting.

Does the suicide-bomber amazon take possible enemy amazons on those 9 squares with it?

I was thinking not, such that one didn't try multiple-target suicide attacks, but of course we can split into 3 sub-variants:

a) Yes;

b) No;

c) they stun the opponent(s) such that it/they may not move next move.

Nice idea :o) I played through the game quickly and didn't spot the variant (not very experienced, I guess - just looked kinda normal to me!). White doesn't obey the rules on moves 9 and 33, which is my excuse for not spotting the variant! (Will they buy that?)

I'm happy to give the “must shoot arrow next to you” variant a try.

The “Suicide-Bomber” variant is politically sensitive. I'd suggest you use the name “Suicide Amazons”, and you might want to clarify the idea whether the Amazon must be totally trapped to suicide or can it still have one or more moves. Then play test it a bunch of times to decide whether options a,b,c is best. Personally I'd reject option (a) which is not really in the spirit of the game. Can't decide between b/c, though.

Just for reference, Alain and I had a quite fun game of the limp-string variant (arrow lands next to you). I boobed once, but don't believe that made an effect to the outcome. The growth of walls is slightly different from my usual amazons game, but with a sample size of 1 it's hard to know if it will always be that way.

Anyway, I've just come up with another minor variant! Vorpal Amazons. With this variant, which may be used to modify any of the above firing variants, if another amazon is in line of sight, you may chose to fire at the amazon herself! However, this does not harm her, she has reactions sharp as any arrow! Instead she dodges, to an adjacent square - the opponent choses which one. The arrow replaces her.

This variant prevents an amazon from speculatively just sitting in a 1-wide entrance to a region, hoping to expand it later. She can be shot at, and must chose whether she's to be inside or outside that region. You may shoot at your own amazon, but your opponent still choses whither she moves.

This variant is not playable on LG. If anyone plays it in real life, please report back.