TwixT
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Twixtboard185132.jpg
TwixT is a two-player abstract strategy board game invented by Alex Randolph. It is a member of the connection game family, along with games such as Hex, Havannah, Y, and Star.
Twixt is played on board with a 24×24 grid of holes, with the four corners missing. The two players are Red and Black; the topmost and bottommost rows belong to Red, and the leftmost and rightmost rows belong to Black. (Different sets may use different colors.)
The rules are as follows:
- The players take turns placing pegs of their respective colors on the board, one peg per turn.
- A player may not place a peg on the rows which belong to his or her opponent.
- Red places the first peg. To counteract first-move advantage, the pie rule is suggested. (One-move equalization is part and parcel of the original rules as written by Randolph, but some sets sold in the US did not mention it.)
- After placing a peg, you may link one or more pairs of pegs on the board which are all your own colour. The links can only go between two pegs a knight's move away from each other, and cannot cross another link; they block other links, most importantly the opponent's. You may remove your own links (but not your opponent's) in order to rearrange the sequence of links on the board.
- The first player to make a continuous chain of linked pieces connecting their two sides wins. If neither side can achieve this, the game is a draw.
3M originally published TwixT as part of its Bookshelf Games line; Avalon Hill took over publication at a later date. It is no longer produced in the United States of America, although Schmidt Spiele produced copies of the game in Germany, and Kosmos published a version of the game in 1998.
References
- Twixt web page (http://www.gamerz.net/pbmserv/twixt.html) on Richard Rognlie's Play-By-eMail Server
- Intro to Twixt (http://www.msoworld.com/mindzine/news/proprietary/twixt/twixt1.html) on the *Mind Sports Olympiad website (http://www.msoworld.com/). Besides the rules, there are example games, positions, and puzzles.
- Funagain Games (http://www.funagain.com)
- Little Golem's TwixT Page (http://www.littlegolem.net/jsp/games/gamedetail.jsp?gtid=twixt) TwixT platform featuring tournaments and championships
- K2Z (http://www.k2z.org), where one may play real-time TwixT for free.
- Twixt puzzles (http://www.gamerz.net/~pbmserv/Twixt/puzzles.html) created by Alex Randolph
- Twixt page (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/949) on BoardGameGeek
- Information about computer-programs playing Twixt (http://www.johannes-schwagereit.de/twixt.html)