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DVONN® -

Mini-Project for XP Spike

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A Hands-On ApproachDaniel H. Steinberg Daniel W. Palmer

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What is DVONN?

• Games Magazine’s “Game of the Year” 2002

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What is DVONN?

• 2-player abstract strategy game– has features similar to Go, Checkers, and Othello

• Invented by Kris Burm – creator of the Gipf Project

• Copyright holder: Don & Co.

• More Info: www.gipf.com/dvonn/index.html

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Why a DVONN Mini-Project?

• Simple enough to understand, yet unfamiliar

• Complex enough for a non-trivial example– unlike tic-tac-toe, etc.

• Unfamiliarity gives more realism to spike’s client interactions– students will not have preconceived ideas– will rely on client to explain the features

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How to Play DVONN

• The DVONN board is an elongated hexagon. The game uses 23 white pieces, 23 black pieces and 3 red DVONN

pieces.

x 23

x 23

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How to Play DVONN

• Initially the board is empty. The game begins with the players alternately placing the DVONN pieces on the board. They then alternately place their own pieces.

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How to Play DVONN• Only pieces that are not surrounded (at least one of the six

adjacent locations must be empty) can move. Initially, only the edge pieces can move.

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How to Play DVONN

• The players make moves by stacking pieces.

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How to Play DVONN

• After moves have been made, some pieces previously surrounded can now move.

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How to Play DVONN• Single pieces may move 1 space in any of 6 directions,

stacks of two pieces may move two spaces in a straight line, etc.

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How to Play DVONN• A stack must always be moved as a whole and a move

must always end on top of another piece or stack.

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How to Play DVONN

• Pieces (single stacks) and taller stacks must always remain in contact with some DVONN piece, either singly or in a stack.

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How to Play DVONN

• If pieces or stacks do lose contact with all DVONN pieces, they must be removed from the board.

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How to Play DVONN

• The game ends when no more moves can be made.

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How to Play DVONN

• The players put the stacks they control on top of each other and the one with the highest stack is the winner.

2 + 4 = 64 + 4 = 8 winner!