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Game Reviews by RobertoLavieri
Panal: a hexagonal chess. A double-royal piece variant on a 61-hex board. (Cells: 61) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]It seems to be a very interesting game. I have not played PANAL yet, but I´m going to realize some tests of playability, although my first impression is hightly positive!
PromoChess. Everything but the king can power up. Mix of Japanese/Western/fairy pieces. (9x9, Cells: 81) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Excellent, great playability, the game play is really nice. For me, one of the best 'western chess with oriental flavour'
Ready Chess. Pieces cannot capture right after capturing, they have to be restored first. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Good!.What about this idea inserted on little board Shogi variants?...
Hex Shogi. A new family of hexagonal Shogi variants.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Dr.Duniho: I have had some fun playing Hex Shogi, but my impression is that Zillions game play (actually modest skill) can be improved, (as you did with your Shogi version). Why don't update Hex Shogi using the same ideas?. Yours, Dr. (it doesn't matter a lot, you may say 'Mr.' also) Roberto Lavieri
Rook Mania. Game where all pieces have different sorts of Rook-like moves. (7x7, Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have briefly play-tested the game, it is interesting and should be ranked as 'good', nevertheless, there is an observation: Basilisk seems to be extremely powerful on a board of 43 squares. Playability must be better on a longer board.
Mortal Chessgi. A Chessgi game in which captures reduce material. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]What a nice idea for like-Shogi games!. I have play-tested Mortal Chessgi, playability is really good and decisions and the emerging situations are usually very interesting. Zillions plays Mortal Chessgi with a medium-good level. Why not MORTAL SHOGI?. I think that MORTAL SHOGI should be a great game...
Heroes Hexagonal Chess. Hexagonal variant with special Hero piece which enhances other pieces. (Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Beautiful game. The concept of HEROES is nice, and adds a new dimension to the game. Dynamic is a bit slow, but this fact correspond to the 'on purpose' characteristics of the game, with reminiscences of ancient variants. It is one of the most clear Hex Chess games I have played. Enjoyable.
Ryu Shogi. Large modern shogi variant. (7x12, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I like this game and the mobility of pieces depending on the ZONE they are on. It has some elements of historic variants, but it is a modern like-Shogi game with a really good game play. Excellent.
Voidrider Chess. A 43 square variant with movable spaces. (7x9, Cells: 43) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Excellent playability. The game play is surprisingly more interesting than it appears at first.
Hippodrome. Solitaire game using a small board. (4x4, Cells: 16) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating] Outback Chess. New pieces on plus-shaped board. (10x10, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I like this game, I have playtested it, and it is interesting enough for make a comment. About Platypus movement, I should prefer limit the three forward only to its first movement, or perhaps only from the first rank. It is a promoting piece, and it can promote to a powerful piece in this game, but it can reach the last rank in three steps. The argument that it is not easy is partially valid, but not at all, it depends on the instance of game you are playing. No more details, it is a very good game.
Yesterday night I have made some tests, And I must admit Michael Nelson is right, if the forward Platypus movement is reduced to one with exception of movement from first rank, the game slows too much. Perhaps if the range is equal for the horizontal and vertical, say range two except from first rank, the result is better, but the game has its own idiosincracy as is, and now I accept that, but first I have to try for being convinced. Platypus is a clever piece in the game, it can promote to a piece more powerful that any other piece in the game, but the promotion is not a necessary win for the team of the promoted Platypus, it depends on position. I like this 'Australian' game, but the duck faced Platypus made me take some minutes of atemption
Glenn's Decimal Chess. A 10x10 blend of FIDE, Shogi, and Xiangqi influences. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I have not downloaded the game yet, Perhaps I'm going to test it early tomorrow morning, but it appears to be a very good game. If I were the author of the game, perhaps I should try a 4x4 fortress, because of size of board and power of some pieces, but It is only an idea not yet tested. The game looks at first well balanced and undoubtely well thought, it is not merely a collage of ideas from some cultures's games. When tested, I'll provide you my impressions. As first commentary, I'm greatly impressed with the ellegance used to take advantage of the castling rule without really castling, and without loss the essence of Xiang Qi Fortress.
Game dynamic is interesting in this game, it is faster than I thought at first. A 4x4 Fortress should be an alternative to be considered, but I have not tested it yet. The power of pieces is well balanced. I would prefer a change in initial setup, change positions of Pegasus and Gryphon, to allow more stable openings. Early direct attacks against the enemy king aren't usually desiderable, because defense is normally enough to contrarrest the attempt, and the attacking team may fall to inferior positions after attack if it is not well analyzed about positional consequences, so the game must be fundamentally positional and strategic until cleared enough. The game is faster than some others DECIMAL chess games, I have tried a few games against Zillions, with an average number of about 80 moves to finish the game, with a little standard deviation. It is a game very playable and enjoyable. I like it.
Take Over Chess. Jump across pieces to take them over from your opponent. (7x7, Cells: 41) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]This is a very, very nice game, I don´t know how would be the game play and dynamics in a bigger board, but it may be even better in someones, worst in others, depending on board size. It is a good project to think about a bigger board version of Take Over Chess, it has merits enough to try.
Maxima. Maxima is an interesting and exiting variant of Ultima, with new elements that make Maxima more clear and dynamic. (Cells: 76) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The Rating 'excellent' is for Antoine, once in a while I can hear brilliant observations, I haven`t tested the game with Guards that don´t freeze, but my intuition says to me that this idea is really interesting to be considered. My decision of select the Mage as the piece immune to Immobilizer was because the different and long movement of Mage (Gryphon movement), making the work of the immobilizer less effective many moves. One of the problems with ULTIMA is the overpower of immobilizer, many times a game of ULTIMA is almost-blocked by the effect of immobilizers, because the lot of pawns in the game are a strong defense against the other pieces, unable to attack the injuring immobilizer. But the dynamics of a game of MAXIMA with immune GUARDS would be really interesting. Actually, Guards are surprisingly strong in this game when they act in conjunction with other pieces, the effect is that the game tendence is to be more open, due the danger of action of Guards in closed positions. If they are immune to immobilizers, the effect should be higher. Guards are dangerous in the ends when they survive, if a Guard acts at least in conjunction with Coordinator, a Chameleon or a Mage, because the danger of construction of a checkmate net against the enemy King, a King that is not in fact easy to be put in checkmate!. Thanks for the suggestion, it is not other random idea, it is a very good idea to be considered.(a variant?). I`ll test it for MAXIMA v1.4...
Jacks and Witches 84. Variant on 84 squares with special pieces and special squares. (12x8, Cells: 84) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]I wrote the last comment. Antoine, have you tried this game without the hole in the middle of the board?. (It is not Bilateral Chess, I mean Jacks and Witches without the killed squares)
The Game of Nemoroth. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Insane?. May be, but as my first impression, I think that this game is playable. It is a good candidate to be in the PBM system, and it is possible that there are candidates to play a well-thought test game of Nemoroth. Perhaps, I am one of them.
Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Robert Abbott has to officially say what are the definitive changes. I have ever been interested in ULTIMA, and I have played it enough for feel myself some of the problems with the game play, but it is necessary to say that regadless of its problems, ULTIMA is a great game. When cleared the new rules officially, perhaps I can try an implementation on Zillions, and in every case, the game can be played NOW with the new rules (if desired) using the PBM system...
Magna Carta Chess. Black has the FIDE array, White has a Marshal and an Archbishop instead of a Queen and King. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]The game play is strange. I have tried the game last night twice against Zillions. I could win with black with kamikaze attack, in a game full of 'taking back' from my part, trying to analize it. My impression is that white´s advantage is difficult to use completely, because the possibility of mad attacks from black against the objective pieces, without being careful on material. I think that, surprisingly, black has an advantage in this unusual game.
Anti-King Chess. Each player has both a King and an Anti-King to protect; Anti-Kings are in check when not attacked. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!)[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]Anti-King Chess II is a very good game. It is nice, deep, interesting and the anti-king adds a new dimension to the game. As almost everybody, I prefer Anti-King II over the other variant, I suggest change the name of Anti-King Chess II to Anti-King Chess, and let the other as the variant II
Magna Carta Chess. Black has the FIDE array, White has a Marshal and an Archbishop instead of a Queen and King. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating](RN, BN) vs. (rb,kn) seems to be a good alternative. The game must be balanced in this way.
Amazons. Queens fire arrows to make squares unpassable. Last player that moves wins. (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]'El Juego de las Amazonas', from Walter Zamkaukas, is one of the best territorial games I have seen, it is interesting, deep, nice, and with an impressive simplicity of ideas involved. But it is a complex game, it is not an easy matter the construction of a good computer player (Try with Zillions and see how it plays!). Strictly speaking, Amazons is not a Chess game, but it is a very good abstract game that appears in TCVP as guest, I think because it has some elements of Chess. I like this game. Maybe I´ll prepare a Courier Preset for this game (or a variant...) Variants?: It is easy imagine a lot of them, some of them as near to chess as you want. Any interesting Ideas?.
The Game of Nemoroth. For the sake of your sanity, do not read this variant! (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]You seem to be a very good programmer using Zillions, and I think you are clearly better than me in this kind of work, so my help to you in coding may be close to inutile. But I can offer high-quality (?. Subjective opinion) graphics for pieces and boards, and certainly, a lot of work play-testing this great and unconventional game!
Time Travel Chess. Pieces can travel into the Future. Kings can also return to the Past! (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]25 comments displayed
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