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        Arimaa >> General Discussion >> A 9x9 variant of arimaa
        
(Message started by: IdahoEv on Mar 12^th, 2007, 12:20pm)

Title: A 9x9 variant of arimaa
Post by IdahoEv on Mar 12^th, 2007, 12:20pm

If you've been around here very long, you know I'm incapable of leaving well enough alone.

Proposal for a 9x9 variant of Arimaa, I'm just curious how people think it would play. Each player has 18 pieces, and the board has five traps, positioned like this:

http://idahoev.com/arimaa/images/arimaa-9x9-small.png

I have debated with myself a couple of different combinations of 18 pieces that might be interesting:

Standard pieces + 1 rabbit + 1 camel
Standard pieces + 1 rabbit + 1 rhino *
Standard pieces + 1 rabbit + 1 rat**
Standard pieces + 1 rabbit + 1 cat

* rhino defined as an officer that is smaller than an elephant but larger than a camel (same as Fritzlein's "lion").
** rat defined as an officer that is the "same size" as a rabbit, except that it is "larger" than an elephant. i.e. a cat, dog, horse or camel can freeze or push it, but it can freeze or push an elephant. (Note I am thinking of renaming the 'rat' to the 'mouse' because my originally proposed mouse is boring and probably turns the game into a defensive stalemate, and everyone knows that elephants are scared of mice so it's the funnier name.)

I'm just curious how these would play out. It breaks the fundamental symmetry of Arimaa's traps - all are equivalently valuable.

The extra officers (two camels, or camel plus rhino) turns the game into a little wider ranging proposal with more simultaneous attacks possible. The rat idea is to have a way to break the obvious deadlock of two elephants around the center trap.

Does this variant need 5 steps/turn because of the increased distance between traps? (traps occur at higher spatial density, but the rectilinear distance between any two traps is 3 instead of 2.)

Too bad none of you dudes live closer (los angeles?) to playtest. Purplebaron's too busy planning his wedding next month... ;-)

Title: Re: A 9x9 variant of arimaa
Post by clauchau on Mar 13^th, 2007, 11:19am

In case it helps, here are 4x4, 6x6 and 10x10 variants where the ratios

nb of pieces/nb of squares
nb of traps/nb of squares

and the nb of moves needed for a piece to cross the board is about the same as the original game:
r r c d 2-step moves
. . . _
_ . . .
R R C D

r r r r c c 3-step moves
. _ d h _ .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
. _ H . _ D
R R C C R R

. . . _ . . _ . . . 5-step moves
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . rrrrrrrrrrrrcccdddhhmme + 1 dragon + 1 whale
_ . . _ . . _ . . _
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
_ . . _ . . _ . . _
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . _ . . _ . . .

Title: Re: A 9x9 variant of arimaa
Post by clauchau on Mar 14^th, 2007, 3:08am

Oops, I got the number of traps wrong - twice as much as normal. Your 9x9 board is better.

Title: Re: A 9x9 variant of arimaa
Post by RonWeasley on Mar 14^th, 2007, 6:57am

I think 5 step turns would make trap tactics different, favoring the strong pieces more. Assuming then 4 step turns, overall trap density is the same as the 8x8, but more dense in the center. These factors make me think the 9x9 version would have a higher capture/turn ratio if the forces engage with multiple pieces. This might drive players to favor conservative strategies in the opening, but there's more room for innovation on the bigger board later in the game.

Title: Re: A 9x9 variant of arimaa
Post by OLTI on Mar 14^th, 2007, 9:27am

I think this version of 9x9 board increase the tactics. For example there are more possibility for forking the pieces and threats of capture.